Time is on my side

Every once in a while I start to let age get to me.  I start looking back instead of looking ahead.  Back I see missed opportunities.  Back I see half a century.  Back I see a girl who had many dreams. 

I'm not completely unhappy where I am now.  I think everyone dreams big and over time realizes it's quite impossible to do everything and be everything.  But we certainly still want to, don't we? 

I know that somehow I am exactly where I am supposed to be.  The people and places I've come in contact with are all part of the plan for me.  Finding that piece of the puzzle in everyone and everything is often hard.  I don't leave anything to chance.  I believe everything happens for a reason.  I often over analyze looking for that reason.  It's hard to accept God's plan without question.  "Jesus Take the Wheel" seems like the perfect phrase right about now. 

TGIF

Snowing like crazy here.  It's hard to keep my mind on the business at hand.  I would much rather be on my couch, hook and yarn in hand enjoying the snow falling from my window at home.  Not much expected; 1-2 inches, but it seems we've already gotten that.  Time will tell, I suppose. 

This is the recent Signature throw that's been completed and already sold.  It's a very nice feeling blanket; heavy yet so much that you have to shed it after only a few minutes.  It's a very fast moving blanket because you change colors every second row.  Stopping off at the store to pick up my next colors.  I have some scrap yarn coming to me from one of the yarn gang gals on Sunday.  Can't wait to see what she gives me! 

So far for us 2014 is looking up.  The DH and I are very excited about what this year holds for us; some financial relieve, 20 year wedding anniversary, campout #2, additional pasture, train room....  All smiles here. 

The DD and I are headed to Nashville next weekend.  We got her tickets to the I Love Lucy musical and she and I are making it a girls trip.  :)  Can't wait.  I've been working out on my alcohol tolerance because she's gonna hurt me.  LOL 


It's time

I've been wrestling with this for about a year now and I think it's time I became official. By that I mean, claim my crocheting as a legit business with income, expenses and such. I've been doing a lot of research on line and the income I've received through Etsy should all be listed as income and I should be paying taxes on it. By doing that I also get to claim expenses, so I am hoping it will balance itself out. This year I plan on keeping very detailed records and making it all official for 2014 tax filings. Does anyone have experience with this? And if so, what are the biggest problems you've encountered? Tips? We have sold the house in California. You can cheer now - loudly. We should close between 2/7 and 2/15. We made a little money, which will go towards the truck we are buying and put a little in savings and pay off one bill. We are so happy that is a done deal. Sadly our renters left us with quite a mess and it cost more to get it ready to sell than we expected. We sent the old renters a balance due (in excess of their deposit) and haven't heard from them. We doubt we will. I don't know how people can just do that - ignore bills and treat it as if it's the RIGHT thing to do. It's no wonder they are in the financial situation they are in... Enough said. We have Direct TV and as of yesterday they no longer carry The Weather Channel. They have replaced it with Weather Nation. I am divided on this. You see, as a weather geek (self-proclaimed) I watch the weather - a lot. Lately the Weather Channel has disappointed me with their reality shows. The weather should be "raw" - with radar screens and maps. I don't care about prospectors. Weather Nation is definitely more raw. However, the Weather Nation lacks one thing - Jim Cantore. I shall miss seeing him. I've been a nail biter for most of my life. In fact, I remember specifically starting to bite my nails in order to stop another habit that my mother didn't like. Little did I know how destructive nail biting would end up being. I bite my nails, but I also bite and pick at the cuticles more so. One way I seemed to do less of that was to get acrylics. Due to our finances over the past 3 months I've had to quelch that and oddly enough my own nails are now coming along nicely. I am not sure how or why. I don't remember telling myself to stop biting my nails. I still pick and bite at my cuticles a little, but no where near as badly as I did before. I am thankful for this. It makes me feel good. Okay, lunch is over and work calls. Hope you all enjoy your day!

When is enough, enough?

Driving in to work this morning I started feeling like I would have rather been anywhere else but driving to work. I get this way sometimes. Maybe it's the hour and fifteen minute commute I have each way? Maybe it's that my job isn't really where I would like to be? Maybe it's that I feel like I'm wasting my time. Maybe, just maybe, it's all of the above. Have you ever felt like you were destined for something more? Something greater? Something better? And by "better" I think I mean better by me. My better might not be someone else's better. I don't have to be famous to be better than I am right now. I just have to feel better inside. Better about what I do, how I do it and living life how I always planned. With that in mind I consider my job as a means to an end. It's not long term. It's not for much longer. After that I can be who I feel I am supposed to be. That person is inside, waiting for the chance to "be". A friend of mine told me they were heading out to ride their Harley one day when we were texting. I told them they were lucky. My friend replied, "No luck involved. It's a choice." How much of life is choice and not luck? Do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life. Hmmm, I think I lost that somewhere along the way. Between paying bills and making ends meet I traded my soul for a job. Which is why I crochet with unbridled passion, I suppose. I create with my hands because 10 hours a day they are tied doing something they'd prefer to not have to do. I suppose it's all about what you want and what you need. How much is enough?

Time

Has it really been since May that I last posted? I'm not going to dwell on that. Recently a friend (Rachael) told me she writes and gave me her blog to check out. Of course I did and that started the ball rolling. I wanted to comment on some of her posts and when I tried I remembered I had a blog as well. :) So I'm back. At least for now. I won't try and catch you up on life since May. You can exhale now. It's alright. I wouldn't want to read that either. So how about we just pick up like old friends do? Things are going well at the Ranch. The girls have survived winter, in spite of the very wet and at times, frigid temps. Last week we were hit with that Polar Vortex like the rest of the country. We hit a -12* with a windchill of -40*. The girls took it all in stride and if they noticed the cold they didn't show it. I was a little nervous the first night and went out to check on them around 10PM. I think by doing so I startled them. Needless to say I won't do that again. They were just fine. Their barn is awesome; warm and dry. They always have plenty of good hay and water. We have electric buckets to keep their water from freezing. We opted to not blanket this year and I'm glad we didn't. Both of them have a good winter coat and in spite of the frigid air, they were both warm and toasty. We have 3 cats now. We rescued WT (short for White Trash) in July. She was about 2.5 weeks old. Separated physically from her mom and litter mates, eyes crusted over and on her deathbed. She was covered in fleas and was being used as a toy by a litter of very large and playful puppies. We scooped her up and took her home. With the help of our vet friends she bounced back. She was quarantined for about a week from our other two cats. She is white and literally her skin was black from the fleas. Most disgusting thing I've seen in a very long time. She's not very big, but she is a gorgeous, healthy kitty now. Hooters and WT are best buds. Dumpster doesn't pay her much attention. My crocheting continues with earnest. My focus has been on my signature throws, although I did a favor for someone and made an Ohio State blanket. She wanted it for a Xmas gift. The RYG (Red's Yarn Gang) is in it's 2nd year this month!!! Three of us never missed a month and we have grown quite close. We continue to share ideas, life and recipes once a month. They are so important to me. I look forward to reading blogs and I will post some pictures soon. Happy to be back! Oh, and if you get a chance please check out my friends' blog: One day at a time