Gratitude 20140130

~getting past the icy hill in my neighborhood in my little Civic
~getting to work on time despite the ice
~Pictures of otters - so very cute!!!
~Bellydance class

~today's creativity - updating my choreography notes. 

Darn pants!

I've had these black pants for quite a long time; I intend to keep them going for as long as I can.  Now the inseam is wearing through, so I'm darning them. 

No picture tonight - I'll need better light to show the dark stitches on the black fabric. One worn seam is repaired, the other half done.

This would be faster with a sewing machine, but I enjoy the hand stitching :)

Creativity 20140128

Look!  I finally made up this headband :)

The knitting had been done for mumblethreemonthsmumble. Tonight I added the elastic, finished it up, and wore it. Yay!  It fits exactly as well as I'd hoped. Long ago I wore a headband quite often - pretty much until I wore out the comfy headband I'd made way back then.  I'm excited to have this option again. 

I'm especially tickled by how I added the elastic. 

I had a hair band split open a while back. I threaded the broken hair band through either end of the knitting, then tied it back into a loop :)  It works beautifully!

Sunday Creativi-tea

Follow this excellent recipe I made up the spice mix

Cooked it up as directed

And it was pretty darn good!

At some point I will try this iced. I drank the whole pot this time, instead of saving some to cool and refrigerate. I'll just have to make more next time :)

Also, I am not at all sorry for this post's title :)

Hat Progress

Had to pull out a few rounds to fix a mistake, but still - there is progress!

Gratitude 20140124

~wearing a purple silk scarf
~expanding my belly dance notes to cover yesterday's class
~bowling with my family tonight
~my sneakers survived the washing machine!
~vanilla caramel tea
~considering doing A Month of Letters this February
~Making progress on the red knit hat

Gratitude 20140123

Well, drat. I tried to schedule this post to go up last night, but it never actually posted. Ah, well - will try again another time :)

~enjoying the lovely frost flowers on the windshield this morning
~knee-highs that fit and stay up
~making up a reasonably pretty gift basket for a co-worker recovering from surgery

~Bellydance class!!! Even more fun for having written notes and practiced the choreography :)
~being able to schedule posts :)

Gratitude 20140122

~annual medical checkup went well

~mail order prescriptions

~outstanding short fiction by Ursula Vernon

~creating written choreography notes, to help me learn the current belly dance routine

~having a legal copy of the belly dance music

Gratitude and Shoe Shopping

About a week ago my last pair of dress shoes died.

Let me give some background. I wear 8.5EEE shoes, sometimes listed as 8.5WW. This means not just wide, but wider than regular wide width shoes. No shoe store in Raleigh carries this size, and most of them can't even order it. I have always had very wide feet, and I have always hated shoe shopping: these two facts are probably related. So, when my dress shoes died, my heart sank. I don't have to wear dress shoes to work, but shoes totally contribute to looking professional. I need new dress shoes.

I've bought sneakers from Zappos.com, so I returned there to order dress shoes. I even managed to find a pair on sale! The shoes arrived yesterday. The shoe box is labelled 8.5WW, just like I ordered. I took out one shoe, admiring it's sleek, petite lines.

Wait, what? There's nothing "petite" about 8.5WW. Inside the shoe I find the size 8M. I had to laugh. The other shoe is an 8WW, which doesn't even come close to fitting. It's just too ridiculous to be upset about :) Thankfully Zappos.com has a really easy system for returning shoes for no charge. I called them to make sure they didn't just re-shelve the box with the wrong shoes in them. As soon as I explained what happened, the rep apologized and put a $25 coupon on my account - I really appreciate that :) They would have re-sent the correct size, but the shoes were on sale and I had gotten the last ones. Clearly, I was not meant to have this particular type of shoes!

Hopefully there won't be any excitement in my next order :) I do still need shoes for work.

Tuesday Gratitude!
~finding rubber bands to keep my knee-highs up
~$25 coupon from zappos.com to apologize for sending the wrong size shoe
~having enough flexibility at work to take my headache home this afternoon
~really good short SF/F stories online like this and this
~Really enjoyed listening to One Among the Sleepless by Mike Bennett
~writing the bit of narrative non-fiction above :)

Gratitude 20140120

~Everyday Einstein podcast! Makes my nerdy little heart go pitter-pat
~Only a tiny bit sore after yesterday's aerial silks lesson - really, really want to do that again!
~Saturday's cooperative storytelling in Middle Earth (aka in-person RPG set in Tolkien's Middle Earth) (Saturday's creativity)
~Sunday's Aerial Silks lesson - So! Much! Fun! (Sunday's creativity)
~Sharing Weird Al's "The Saga Begins" with someone who didn't know it exists
~Today's creativity - got some writing done on an RPG character journal!  Will post when it's more readable. 

Gratitude 20140117

=> having a portable knitting project - currently a very simple knit cap
=> learning this session's fabulous bellydance choreography
=> having all my tax documents ready to do my income taxes
=> watching the Clash of Clans videos with Blaine before work today.
=> great fun having dinner with another family

=> making some progress on the aforementioned knit cap

Creativity 20140116

The flower scarf/neck warmer is all done! Ends are woven in, it's had a bath, and now it's hanging to dry :)

I mostly followed the pattern*, just changing the button to be knit in the round, and in one piece with the ribbed section. 

*http://www.ravelry.com/projects/hopeevey/flower-scarf-english

Gratitude 20140115

+> cello music while I work
+> a buttered bagel for breakfast
+> Paid time off!
+> finishing the body of this scarf

Gratitude and Creativity Catchup

Creativity Catch-up:
Saturday - free-dance during Nia, class! I love Nia so very, very much.

Sunday - I'm not sure I did anything creative on Sunday. Does trying to navigate the emotional landmines of conflicting expectations, and conflicts between expectations and lived experience count?

Monday - Re-organizing my Clash of Clans village

Here's the village, all nice and tidy.  The builder's huts, with an ocean view, and close enough to the forest to wildcraft on their days off. Their huts are close to each other to conserve warmth in the winter, and so they can visit each other often.  The army camps and barracks, with lots of room for practice, close to the ocean. The troops can swim and beachcomb when they're not training.

Yes, I do know that the vast majority of what I've just typed only exists in my head. I quite enjoy imagining my little village as a happy place :)

Today - folded the propellor from Easy Origami

Gratitude List
>> joining Kiddo's clan in Clash of Clans It's been remarkably fun to share this game with him
>> wearing jewelry I've made
>> Nia!!!!
>> unexpected bagels at work
>> seeing some blue sky between the rain clouds
>> quiet hang-out time of an evening

Creativity 20140110

My little Clash of Clans village :)  I plan to enjoy it before another player comes and knocks it all down.  

Gratitude 20140109

~important work stuff got done before the power went out

~rather than have us sit in the dark, the powers that be sent us all home

~napping!!!  I so needed that!

~bellydance class!!!

~Another origami butterfly pattern

Gratitude 20140108

~Happy Birthday Elvis! I listened to Elvis' music all day, and posted quotations important to him on my door at work :)
~Working with an excellent team

~building a paper praying mantis with my nephew

Gratitude 20140107, Writing, and a frozen water bottle

~having a box for recycling by my desk at work
~Kiddo's adorable attempts to pick-pocket me*
~fixing today's lunch yesterday
~telephone headsets - at home and at work, I love being able to use my hands while I talk on the phone
~Wake Co recycles a lot of plastics these days
~using pretty sticky notes
~Kiddo showing me how to start playing Clash of Clans (resource management game for iOS)
~I wrote! It's very rough-draft character background, but it still counts as writing :)

It was so cold over night, the water bottle in my car froze solid

*The disturbing part is how quickly his stealth is improving. One of these days I'm going to get to the office and find he's made off with my back-up brain (aka Ipod Touch)

Gratitude 20140106

(sorry! didn't get this posted on the actual 6th!)

~have written monring pages every day this year!
~going back to bellydance and nia classes this week!!!
~staying in touch with long distance friends (thank you, G-chat!)
~assembling a paper ladybug!

Paper Ladybug!

So, eleventy billion years ago, I collected some insect-themed kids meal toys, which I unearthed tonight. I'll ask the Kiddo* tomorrow if he wants to build a set of paper insects. Tonight I had a blast building a ladybug :)

The vividly printed prices go together quite cleverly. I had to resist the temptation to make another one!  I'm hoping Kiddo will want to build them together - they're quite fun. 

*my 11 year old nephew

Gratitude 20140105

-hanging with my belly dance peeps!!!

-getting to meet a sweet little baby!!!

-being able to go back to belly dance and Nia classes 

-chipping away at the clutter on my workable 

-dragon egg dice bag is complete!!

-

Gratitude 20140104

+} sleeping until I was done with sleep

+} delightful morning walkies

+} 4 for 4 in morning pages

+} clearing space on my work table 

+} accidentally awesome snapshot of the rose drying in my car

+} finishing up characters for a Middle Earth RPG (role playing game)

+} finished the body and started the drawstrings of this dragon egg dice bag!!

+} phoning the recipient of the aforementioned dice bag while working on it, knowing the recipient doesn't know about it :)

Gratitude 20140103

**getting more 2013 calendars to cut and fold
**baby sweet peppers
**am still delighted with my current twitter userpic
**3 days of morning pages in a row so far!!!
**fun dinner company

**folding the butterfly from _Easy Origami_

Gratitude 20140102

~The Night Circus read by Jim Dale. I finished listening a couple days ago and immediately requested the hardback from the library, so I can enjoy it again that way. So. Good.
~Intelligently discussing books :)
~knitting in fisherman's rib - easy to memorize, fun to knit, makes a warm, soft fabric
~2 days in a row of morning pages!!!
~putting up 2014 calendars
~This outstanding short story being available online So touching I cry each time I read it
~Daily Science Fiction has a new series - epistolary flash pieces! Will post a link once it's on their website :)

~hanging a rose to dry in my car :) 

~cutting pictures and folding origami boxes from last year's calendar

Gratitude 20140101

}} Hanging out with Kiddo while he's building a Lego set and singing along to music we both enjoy

}} morning pages!!

}} folding this butterfly: page 140 in <u>Practical Origami</u>

}} and this frame, page 74

}} seeing The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug!!

}} Starting to read my first Postal Reading Challenge book

}} gathering pretty, outdated calendars to eventually be made into postcards

}} making a postcard template - thin cardboard with a 4"x6" window cut into it