What's Happening Wednesday

It is me.... checking in again to give you an update on what I am working on. I wish that I could show you my REALLY BIG PROJECT..... BUT..... I can't. I don't want the recipient to see it.  As far as I know the person does not have any idea that I am even working on something for them. (That is part of the fun with these things.)

I did recently crochet a doggie sweater for our lovely dog Rudy. You see, Kari was getting ready to run in the conference race at the end of Union College's Cross Country season. Glenn and I were going, sporting our Union gear of course, and I really felt that Rudy needed something too. A quick Pinterest search and I came up with a pattern for THIS:

Isn't he adorable? He was a hit at Saturday's race in North Carolina. Everyone kept oohing and aahing the sweater and I even got an order from another Union doggy momma for a sweater for her dog! I love crocheting, but I love seeing others enjoy my work even more!

I actually have a couple of Christmas sewing projects in the work, all for another sweet returning customer. A couple of crochet orders also..... then I will get back to work on my own projects. I am loving the fact that retirement has provided me with time to do some of the crafty things that I enjoy so much! When I taught full time it seemed like I was always trying to just squeeze things in. Now I can find the time to try new things and do projects for customers too!

Cleaning Calendar----- Trial One

Yesterday it finally happened----

After two weeks of Christmas break and an unexpected extra week of time off thanks to snow, ice, and the polar vortex, the day came when I had to return to school. This meant a return to early mornings, after school meetings, and paperwork.

But this time things were a bit different.....

When I chose my word for the year I decided to focus on evolving, changing, and rediscovering the joys of living. One of the big steps in making that happen has been to begin thinking about ways that I can actually reclaim some time for myself.

Like any other household, a large part of our time is spent cleaning. When I get started, it inevitably turns into a cleaning marathon. My daughter (Bless her heart) often complains that when I start cleaning I keep cleaning and it turns into chore after chore after chore. What might have been a Saturday afternoon of fun becomes a Saturday afternoon of exhaustion because of a Saturday morning full of cleaning.

This is the year that changes!

While cruising through Pinterest a while back I came across a great post about a Cleaning Calendar. Jennifer Scott (Bakerette as her blog is named) is a woman after my own heart. She really wanted a clean house but she wanted to break things down into smaller, more manageable bites, so she created a daily/weekly kind of breakdown that would enable her to have set things to do each day rather than try to get it all done on a Saturday.

I have downloaded her calendar, shown it to my hubby, and shared it with my daughter. This is only our second day trying to use it, but I think it may work. Things were much smoother yesterday and I actually got to relax for just a few minutes in the evening (even after our weekly after school faculty meeting).

Don't get me wrong..... the piles of things here and there are still bugging me. I have to figure out how to get dear daughter and sweet hubby to realize that stacks of things (organized though they may be) can still be clutter and need a home other than the kitchen table. Or maybe...... I will just have to change and learn to live with their stacks-------

Here is a link to the blog entry about Jennifer's Cleaning Calendar, just in case some of you would like to give it a try too!

Getting Organized: A Cleaning Calendar