Monday, December 28, 2009

Is it time to relax yet?

18 days between posts.. that is unacceptable! I will try not to go so long, but its been a crazy couple of weeks. Christmas is over (as I sit here yawning..) Time to catch back up on life.

I finished all but 2 of the projects I had going.. One I didnt even get started, will save it for a ways down the road, I am just plum spent on the whole crafting and sewing issue right now. I have one other project that is 90% done, I need to finish it because I still intend on giving it as a gift this year.. It's hard to get motivated to finish it, I am so done in my head with all this! lol

I got some great gifts this year, will be making a trip to JoAnn's in the future to spend some gift certificate money; most likely will buy some material and quilting things.. I really loved making the hanging snowman quilt this year, want to attempt making a quilt for the bed, what the hell... didnt I just say I was so done with crafting! (yawn) Give me a month or so and I'll be back at it .

It was a nice holiday season, our entire family (mom's side) attended Christmas Eve this year, which was GREAT!! My uncle Paul even came, I think its been 20+ years since he's been to Christmas Eve. We played "Christmas Jeopardy" that I put together, it was a blast! Eric & Andreas dogs got into a berry tart that was left on the porch (to keep cold) and devoured the entire pie, it was quite hilarious to see how guilty they were.

Derek was out hunting yesterday and I had enough of just sitting around, so I saddled up Edgar and went for an hour ride around the neighborhood, the first time back on a horse since Halloween. It felt great to be out, Edgar enjoyed it too. While I was riding, I videod with my cell phone Edgar's head walking down the trail and then I sent it to Derek to let him know what I was doing! He said to me "I didnt give you permission to ride my horse!" lol

This week will entail getting caught back up on all the chores I have been putting off for the past 6 weeks.. I intend on getting ALL the dishes done (at the same time!) cleaning some floors that desperately need it, maybe do a little dusting and oh the laundry pile is ridiculous!! Then I'll focus on getting the horse club books all caught up for the year and try to start the new (yawn!) year fresh.

New Years Resolution: Hmmm.. I dont usually set one, I think I want to just enjoy another year of fishing, camping, lots of horseback riding, accomplishing more projects around the farm and maybe work on shrinking my figure a little, eat a little better and just work towards maintaining a better life. :) (yawn, stetch)

Tootles for now..

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Tick Tock...

the good thing is that Christmas and time seems to be on the slowdown right now.. the days are taking forever to get through which gives me extra time to get my projects done! :) It probably feels like the days are so long because it is dark at 4:30pm so by the time I go to bed at 11, it's been darker outside longer than it's been light practically! lol

This has been the week of the "Deep Freeze!!" as the news likes to put it.. I just call it winter.. ;) I love this cold, I dont particularly enjoy being out in it for too long of periods of time, but it is dry and other than the damn static electricity shocks I keep getting, it has been great! I dont even have to put on muck boots to pick up apple turds, hard to complain right now. Okay the downside is that I will not be happy with my PUD bill in 2 months! There, I found the negative of this great weather.

I am happy to report I have completed 4 of my 7 projects! The last 3 are still very big projects and I am realizing I have.. OMG only 2 weeks til Christmas!! Shit! Maybe I was fooling myself above in thinking time slowed down... I need every spare minute to continue crafting and well when I have to deliver hay tonight, plans tomorrow night I cant get out of, horse club dinner Sat night.. well I guess Sunday is gonna be an all day crafting marathon!! I need to put a big dent in my projects! Seems that's all I talk about lately, but seriously thats what my life is all about for now.

Work for me has been okay, can't complain since I still have a pretty secure job as long as the company is open, I am 95% certain I will continue to always have a job! Because things are slower the boss did change/cut the insurance benefits to a cheaper plan which really sucks and I'm not at all happy about that, I now have to spend $2000 more per year and my copay went up $15 per visit... grrrrrrr That big change only saves the company about $1000/yr for the cost of me, which is frustrating and makes me want to look elsewhere. If I'm going to have shitty benefits and zero long term benefits, why the hell am I wasting my time here! But there are perks and job security is a pretty big one these days..

Dereks job is going okay, he has been put back on 5 day work weeks which is great since he had been cut to 4 days. Part of me is skeptical and wonders if they are doing it so he gets his work done faster so they can lay him off before January comes and his insurance kicks in... I know it's not the most positive approach, but if I dont think worst case scenario, then I'm not preparing myself for the what-ifs in life! :)

The new plan is to use some cash and build a fire-room off the back of the shop. We have most of the wood we'll need, we are building a room that he'll put a wood stove in that will vent all the hot air into the shop to heat it in the winter. This way the fireplace is not in the shop with the fumes.. We have been searching CL for a used wood stove, if you have one, do tell!!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Still Bogged Down..

Well I have finished 1 of my.. hmmm how many projects did I take on this year? Oh that would be 1 of 7 and then there is one more I'd like to try to do if I can swing it. I am 3/4 done with one of the other big ones, 9/10th done with another big one, 1/3 done with another and not even started on one, not even started on another, oh and maybe 1/2 done on one that must be done by the 12th! :) I think I can, I think I can.. finish in time!

whew.. Well Derek still has his job, for now :( We are thinking he'll be out of that job by Christmas unfortunately, but he's got a side job lined up that will consume all his free time once he gets laid off, which is good and he's got some other ideas floating around in his head, so we'll see where the road takes us next year.. Hopefully not very far from this house, but would love to go on a financial uphill road! lol We are trying very hard not to stress out right now, sometimes we are successful and other times we have slight meltdowns.

I think I might even be too busy with projects and stress to deal with decorating the house for Christmas this year. Plus we want to avoid large expenditures (like a tree) when possible. I'm not too upset about it, I just feel overwhelmed at the moment with all that is going on and I just dont want to deal with a tree, but I definately will miss the smell and glow of a beautifully decorated tree.

Oakley is doing great in his training with Luanne and Shannon. They told me to pull him off the internet this week, they are going to work him more on the barrels next week and get video of him and then they'd like me to up his sell price to $6500 next week!! WoW. I am super excited to have a horse worth that much, Shannon is a professional barrel trainer, so I am along for the ride on this and letting her tell me how to market/sell my horse. Derek & I are really excited to see where he might end up, can you imagine maybe some day I could be watching my horse on TV at the NFR! :) Shannon believes he has that potential to go all the way with barrels, so we'll see. I'd love to offer her a deal to train him and take 1/2 of what she can train then sell him for. Might be an option, we'll see where this road takes us.