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The quandary of what to do for a planner for next year . . .

For several years now, I’ve been using a homemade planner, and while it has worked well for me, I decided that for 2024, I would purchase a ready-made planner. I shopped for weeks. It feels like I looked at every planner in existence, and I still wasn’t sure I got what I need. So many of them have things I don’t need, or don’t have things I DO need. Some of them would make me spend so much time writing in them that I ...

Grab your cuppa — this is gonna be a long post chock full of information you may or may not be interested in!

This topic has been consuming me for quite a while, and altho I’ve been steadily working on it for a couple years now, as the title of this post proclaims: It’s Time to Get Serious.

Back in August, I turned 61 years old! Back in my twenties, I never thought I’d make it this far. But here I am, on the downhill slide — haha!

(By the way, my daughters think I’m being morbid for ...

I've got time change woes! I can't seem to get to sleep until much later than usual and, hence, waking up much later! I can't let that happen tomorrow, as I need to be on the road EARLY! Let's hope my clock resets tonight. I have no idea how people who travel through different time zones a lot can manage!

After spending most of the morning doing paperwork and answering e-mails, it was time to move on to something else. I will say that the unsubscribing I've been doing seems to make a big difference ...

No bananas for breakfast! It's been so hot, I haven't been walking in the afternoon for THREE days! It's cooler now, so I should be able to get out. Yep -- I could take the car, but where's the fun in that? I'm happy to do without the bananas rather than going in the car to get them. 

And boy, oh boy -- I've been so lazy! I'm getting stuff done but at a snail's pace, which is OK. But when you have loads you want to do? Well, you just take it one ...

Another year has rolled around! It's my birthday today!! There's no need to discuss the numbers -- birthdays are about celebrating the fact that we are still here and able to live a pretty normal life.

I look forward to the following year, and who knows what that will bring. It's about keeping the mind open and the body in somewhat decent shape to do what the mind wants! 

It's about creating, it's about adventure and exploring, and it's about ME time. But best of all, it's about friends, sharing, and well --- it's ...

 I'm such a good talker, but am I a good doer? 

This is the issue with my e-mail. Look at the number of e-mails in the inbox and how many of them are unread!! Yep --- it's a huge issue and it didn't take long for this to happen. 

That's a lot of JUNK e-mail

OH MY GOSH --- Murphys is a "branch" manager!! I LOVE that! Does she get a raise for the job? Thanks, Anne, for the chuckle!

And yes, Elle -- I just keep plugging away at this mess. It's kind of therapeutic in a bizarre way. One box at a time, and thankfully, the number of boxes has been significantly reduced since I took on the task. Does it get any easier? Maybe - it's still mentally challenging, and I swear, this is a SKILL we should be teaching our kids from the moment they get their first possession! 

Speaking of possessions ...

OK -- so where has our warm weather gone? It feels like March! Rainy and cool, but that is better than snow, so we shouldn't complain, and it provides me ZERO temptation to be outside in the gazebo while I have quilts to do! 

Here's the latest customer quilt. This is the Green Tea and Sweet Beans quilt I ran as a sew-along last year, and while the colors in this quilt are NOT my choice, I love the quilt, and it makes me happy to look at it. 

Customer quilt - DONE

One minor issue with the quilt. OK ...

 I literally fell into bed last night. I hadn't slept well the night before, and at one point, I needed sleep! Thankfully, it was at the end of the day! But I had a great sleep, so I'm ready to go today!

It's my Dad's 90th birthday!! He is the hardest person to catch on the phone, as he is never home when I call, so I'll try and catch him later today. Happy Birthday, Dad!! Oh gosh --- it was only when I went to open the picture file that I realized his birthday is ...

We all love to shop --- lots of goodies -- patterns, threads, fabric, and whatever else there is to buy! I started quilting in 1998, and I had no problems buying stuff. Or even worse -- getting freebies from various places. I see so many people winning things they will NEVER use -- why do they even bother to sign up for it? It's all a big marketing ploy. Sure -- they will sell or give it away, but then it will sit in someone else's house. We are KEYED to want free stuff! 

Sadly, I learned a bit too late about accumulating ...

I'll start with the Virtual Challenge -- I have 10.33 KM to walk today to meet my goal, so that should be EASY!!! 

Here's the quilt of the day, and I'm happy to report that, while it still took a long time to quilt, I started much earlier in the day, so I finished shortly after dinner, and it wasn't a super late night - at least not because of quilting! 

Customer quilt - DONE

This version of Wanderer's Wife has large borders on all sides to fit a queen-sized bed! 

Another large one awaits me today ...

It was another late night, but only because I was outside for most of the afternoon. It was too nice to be inside, and I'd rather take advantage of the fantastic weather! 

We had a great time at Monday sewing, and it's been a while since I haven't had to zip out prematurely because of a work commitment. I got to stay until the end! 

Lots of stuff happened in Studio B, and I knew, with all my tidying, a couple of scenarios would arise - not being able to find something and refining already sorted areas. 

For ...

 So is anybody else doing their spring cleaning?  Since this is my 30th year of quilting, I thought it would be a good time to downsize the stash that I've been collecting all this time.  Recently we did over our dressing room/fabric closet and this is as far as we've gotten.

The Before

Notice what great shelves the upcycled church pews made?

I laughed when I read the comment about the sofa and the dog. We are NOT trying to keep Lexi off the sofa. I already put a blanket, which used to be in one of the dog beds, on the sofa. I don't want her to think she's entitled to sleep there 100% of the time. She needs to learn that there are rules in the house. We've already broken the one about being on the sofa, and those tables were for Murphy, not Lexi!

Lexi was too skittish to even think of jumping on the sofa ...

Something very weird is happening. I sent out an e-mail with a Zoom link this morning, and when I checked my inbox (I always send these to myself as well), the e-mail wasn't there. Hmmm --- so I checked my sent e-mails. Nothing. 

I decided to resend the link and saw it appear in my inbox. I made breakfast and came back, and the e-mail had disappeared? And it wasn't in the SEND box either. OK -- -what the heck is happening? I sent two Zoom links this morning -- one is OK, and the other is in LA LA land ...

 Why is it that an organizational project always looks worse before it gets better?  I knew this would be a big job but WoW it's a really big job.  I had no idea how much stuff I had stashed in that room over the years. I am taking it seriously though and as promised I'm documenting as I go.  I decided that I'm going to have three piles....fabric that is organized by color.....fabric that is organized by collection .... fabric that is going to be donated to the sewing programs at the Erie City Mission. The ...

Since I'm trying to get my life under control (LOL), and I didn't feel comfortable with that lottery business, I decided to contact the OLG (Ontario Lottery and Gaming). I got to the website and discovered I could talk to an agent on the computer. So we went back and forth, and she asked questions -- what time was I there, where did I buy the ticket, what date was the draw, etc. Never once did she say that this could never happen. She was very professional about the entire thing. 

I got a Reference Number, and she asked ...

Those birds were waiting for snow before they hit the birdfeeders! It was like a switch got turned on, and before I knew it, a pair of cardinals, a woodpecker, and many other smaller birds were feasting away, and I loved watching them. 

Mr. Cardinal

Small birds

Woodpecker

Of course, the girls were excited by the snow and couldn't wait to get outside. Our area hasn't had much snow, and it was like a winter wonderland walking in the morning. Then it stopped snowing, but we haven't seen the sun in a long time! Where is the ...