For A Friend. Finally....

For months now in some of my posts here and there I've been talking about a knitting project I was working on. It took me like 7 months to complete because I am a newbie at knitting so I am learning different kinds of stitching and what certain terms mean etc. Plus, I didn't work on it full time. Only when I had some spare time which in my house is not a lot. So, it took quite a while but I am finally finished and since I don't believe he reads my blog I can now show you what I have been working on.. 

Ta-Da...

Not the best lighting. Sorry about that. Each square has a different pattern to it. This lapghan is for a friend of mine who has been going through chemotherapy. He was diagnosed with blood cancer back sometime last year. He is also a priest and a wonderful priest at that but the parish where he served and the area he lives in is very isolated. Isolation and illness do not serve each other well. It can make one lonely, depressed, feeling unloved. I've been there myself in my twenty years of chronic illness. So, I made this lapghan for him to use when he goes to chemo if he would like.

If  you notice up ontop there a few squares that are put together incorrectly. Not perfectly. I did that as a reminder that none of us are perfect but we are perfectly loved. I also hope that everytime he uses this lapghan he will remember that each stitch was stitched with love and that he is loved and cared for by many...

No Spending Strategy.....

May is coming to a close and as for April's finances, they are way behind me thank goodness.. In the last weeks I've been trying to come up with tactics to not spend unless I have no choice. And, I've settled on it. Cleaning and organizing. I know this may sound like a trivial way to spend time but let me explain..

This guy here...

My hunka hunka burnin love..

Has been unable to do much of anything besides lay on the couch and go to the doctors in the last three, almost four years. That is until last November when he finally had a great surgeon at Duke University Hospital in North Carolina reconstruct his entire spine. Because of my own physical limitations you can only imagine the disarray my home has fallin into not being kept up in the last four years. Painting, nothing organized etc. I can do some but I need a whole lot of help. The Mans second follow up with the surgeon at Duke was last week. Doc gave him the go ahead to lift up to 50 pounds, go back to his regular activity but be smart about it. Lift correctly and when he gets tired or the muscles begin to hurt to stop for a while.. so NOW, The Man can MOVE!.. Which means, we can finally, finally begin to get this house in some kind of shape..I have a guest room that needs to be completed because it never was, I have a home office / craft room that needs to be completed because it never was. I have a brand new still in the box computerized Brother Sewing Machine for the last four years that I would like to USE!...

I started out small last week beginning in my kitchen which I posted about here.

And this past weekend I moved onto my Linen / Medicine cabinet in the small hall way by the guest bath ..

All those bottles in the front there, yeah, those are The Mans pain meds, nerve pain meds, cholesterol, acid meds etc..Looks like a lot doesn't it? Thats nothing compared to what it was before his surgery. Anyway, Im sorry I didnt take before photos. I always forget to do that but trust me when I tell you, nothing was in bins, nothing was in groups of like kind together, everything was thrown all over these two shelves and I threw out an entire garbage bag of stuff.. I grouped all of The Mans medications in one bin. There's another bin in the back that has cold medicines, sinus meds,upset tummy stuff. There's another bin in the back for older medications The Man isn't using anymore but we're hanging onto just incase and the top shelf with the large basket is holding big things like Baby oil, peroxide, alcohol, Cotton balls etc....

Next I moved onto my towels in the master bath. 

I originally had the towels on these shelves but they were in baskets and while it looked nice it wasn't very functional. So I took them out of the baskets and refolded them. I"m not sure if I like how this looks yet but it is much easier to get to towels, hand towels and face cloths now than it was before.. 

So there ya have it ladies and gents and this isn't even the tip of the ice burg. There is SO much more to be done in this house I will be busy for the next year. I just have to keep reminding myself to take before photos.

What does this have to do with not spending money? Simple, if Im busy at home, I have no time or need or energy left to go out shopping. May not sound like a strategy to some but it is one that works for me and I get my house the way I like it in the process..

Part Of Getting Older?

This post may seem a but naive but well, I guess I am naive when it comes to getting older. I've never done it before!.. LOL ... But, in all seriousness, my mom passed away when I was 29 so I really don't have anyone to ask questions about getting older.. So, I am turning to my blog readers who may be a bit older than me..

During my early 20's and all the way through my late 30's I always had fake nails. I had a friend who was a licensed nail tech who used to do them for many years and I went to her so much that by the time I was 27 I had learned how to do a full set of tips by myself. After that, I took over and always did my own tips, manicures etc..Once I hit around 36 though for some reason I didn't want the tips anymore so I took them off and never put them back on until recently. Since turning 40 (that was 3 yrs ago now) my nails decided they would no longer grow on their own. They peel, split and are soft. Well, last month for some unknown reason I decided I missed long nails so I went to Sally Beauty and spent an embarrassing amount of money for all the supplies I knew I'd need and, I put my first set of tips on in almost seven years.

Here's what they looked like when I was finished. 

I was so into it again, or so I thought   I even did a little sponge art for a manicure. These lasted two weeks when I decided they were too long and were driving me nuts. So, off they came and not in the correct way. You're supposed to melt them off by soaking your nails in pure acetone which by the way I did buy but forgot I couldn't stand the smell of it so I filed them off.. HUGE mistake, don't ever do this.. I got lucky and didn't damage my nails or cut myself this time..

I had them off for about a week and thought to myself, "you dummy, you spent all that money on all these supplies and what? now you're just going to let it all go to waste? No way, put another set on only this time cut them short enough to be active.. Okay, so another three hours last week and I had tips back on, shorter this time and I was pleased with the outcome. Here's what they looked like when finished. 

See that, I even did little crystals on them. Well, these lasted.....not even a week.. I find that now, I can not STAND the feeling of tips on my nails anymore. They feel suffocated and numb and the feeling drives me batty soooo, once again, on Saturday night yep, I did it again, I clipped and filed them off only this time I'm left with a few battle scars which I will spare you the photos of. Two bleeding nails. Yeah, I know.. So ladies, does this have anything to do with getting older? For many many years tips never bothered me. It was like they were just part of me but now, I can not STAND the feeling of them anymore. Also, since hitting 40 three years ago my nails also split, peel and are soft and thin. I've tried all the treatments etc but nothing seems to help them.. Any insight? 

The Lords Day

Today is the Feast of Pentecost  The day when the Holy Spirit came down upon our Blessed Mother and the Apostles in the upper room... I wish you a Happy Pentecost and may the Holy Spirit be with you and guide you all the days of your life..

Spam Anyone??

To my fellow bloggers.. Are any of you getting hit with a lot of spam on your blogs lately?

No I don't mean this kind of Spam. I like this kind.. Yes, I like the mystery meat that Spam is.. moving on.....

I mean this kind of spam.

 I am getting killed with it! All by "Anonymous" posters. I have my blogger Spam Filter on but I'm still getting inundated with it.. I really really hate to put that captcha thing on all my posts.. Does anyone know of any other way to top the Spam? Thanks :) 

Whats One To Do.....

when one isn't feeling well? Why rest of course!  Um, yeah, not for my body!....Instead...I spent the weekend...Organizing!....Am I feeling better? Not really.. I was.......but then I did what I always do. Whats that definition again of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome? Yeah, pretty much me.. I think it comes from being chronically ill.. When you are, as soon as you feel a little bit of energy you want to get up and go, go, go. It comes from being down so long and yeah, thats what I did this weekend. 

On Saturday I went over to the Dollar Store..Yes, you can get your home or whatever organized for cheap. You don't have to spend hundreds of dollars. I mean, you could if you choose but I choose not too.. The only thing I will spend a  bit of money on is food storage. For that I want air tight containers. Everything else, the Dollar Store works just fine for me. So, here's a look at what I got accomplished so far. 

In this photo are four cabinets on one side of my kitchen. The red bins are the only thing I bought at the dollar store and yep, for a buck each. The other containers you see here, we already had for a long time. So I just put things in the new containers, used my label maker and labeled each container with whats inside. Sorry I didn't get any before pictures but trust me, it was a mess!..Everything was just all over the place. Now, I just look at the labels and pull down a bin for what I need. 

Next I went under my sink. I found these cute little wire baskets that were two for a dollar. I bought some of those sticky plastic hook things and put one on each door. One holds my sponges and used Brillo pads and the other holds my cleaning rag.  Also, please dont pay attention to the mess on the bottom of the cabinet. I haven't gotten to that yet. A few weeks ago The Man put up my tension curtain rod an secured both ends with hooks and wire and I was able to hang all my bottles with handles on them giving me more room on the bottom of the cabinet. 

Lastly, I bought these red containers also from the Dollar Store for a buck a piece to store my dog food cans. They were taking so much space up in the cabinet. I was able to fit 8 cans in each bin. I had a new shoe box so I used that to put all my plastic ware tops in because I was sick of having to search for them. 

I also cleaned out old glasses and mugs and boxed them up for GoodWill which made room for the glasses and mugs we actually use and I also cleaned out another cabinet and was able to store my china now so it's accessible to me when I want to use it. I bought some shelf lining as well for a dollar. Maybe I'll put that in tomorrow.. 

Bloggers. Help!!

Photo Source 

OK so I am sure there are many bloggers out there who also like to read others blogs.. My question is, how do you read them all!?!?!... I ask because I have SO many bookmarked that it takes me HOURS sometimes to get through them all... 

So, how do you keep track of the blogs you read and how are you able to visit them so often?