Christmas in GA

     Well here we are, 5 days into December, 19 more days before Christmas Eve, and I am not stressed.  I find this amusing to me, normally I am looking at my calendar and seeing so many things on my list of things to do and trying to figure out how to do more.  Not this year, I am taking it to heart that Christ is the reason for the season and I am not going to run around and make myself crazy with shopping and trying to get a million things for the kids under the tree so they feel loved.  That is not why they feel loved, they feel it because Eric and I show them our love by doing for them.  Eric is the den leader for Alex, he has to leave work early on Monday's and with his new position will have traveling, but he makes sure he is there for Alex.  I make sure that the kids have good healthy food to eat, that I spend time each day with them and play, that they have clean clothes and a relatively clean house to live in.  I make sure they go to church to learn about God and Jesus and what that means for us.  We take them to do things like pack food for families that have nothing, caroling for older folks who have no one to visit them, making sure they realize just how lucky they really are to be living here in the USA and that they have a house, and clothes and stuff!

     I am going to be knitting somethings for Christmas, I have to plan the party for Alex's class as I am class mom.  Trying to figure out how to spend the precious few days we have up north with our families so that the kids get the quality time with their grandparents, and they get to experience Christmas the way we had growing up.  The kids are hoping for snow!!  Secretly, so am I, but not while we are driving!! 

Well now I have to get going, have lots of clothes to wash, vacuuming to do, and a kitchen to scrub down to get it ready for the month.  I will be going back to my Flylady roots and getting a schedule going again for my housework.  This way I stress less and enjoy my life more and have more time to knit!!

     I am planning on writing more in the new year, and trying my hand at some designing of simple items for knitting and crocheting.  If you want to learn how, I would love to teach you and if you live in Suwanee, drop me a note and we can set it up!!  If not, find a local yarn shop or look on YouTube, there are tons of videos out there.  You can even get books and videos from the library!!

Take care and Merry Christmas!!

11-11-11

Once a century we have this date, happens for each of our months.  But this one is special, this is Veterans Day here in the US and we remember all those men and women who either were called to duty with the draft or volunteered to serve our country.  These brave men and women took a stand and said that our freedoms here in the USA are more important to them then the possible loss of their lives.  I cannot fathom this concept, I would give my life for my kids, but to be in the military and do it for the people I don't know, that takes a special person to do it.  I salute and send my undying gratitude to all those that serve, including my Dad, who was in the forgotten war, Korea. 

Today I want to try and honor those that have served, so I will be visiting the site, www.veterans.com, I saw it on a video yesterday on Facebook.  I want to see what I can knit for them to keep them safe while they are at war, and we are at war.  I have seen some helmet liners and I want to see what else I can make.  I hope to add this to my ministry at church at some point, but right now, my ministry is floundering, I am not being a great leader in this.  Life is getting away from me, I am slipping, and now I need to refocus on my family and my God, putting God first and doing his work here.  There are a number of places that I might be able to add my handiwork, I will have to do more research and get back with you!!

On a funny note, my son who is 8 has decided that he wants to be a soldier when he grows up.  I am proud of that, know it will change, but told him that if he wants to do this I told him that he wants to do this, he needs to go to either the Naval Academy or West Point.  He would have a better chance at the Navel Academy as his great grandfather was in the Navy and we have ties there, but his choice.  He thought that would be cool as he thinks officers get better weapons!!  What an 8 year old mind thinks!!! 

God Bless you and God Bless those that serve and have served!!

Getting back in the swing of things!! Needing more readers and orders!!

Well here we are, nearing Christmas and I have no orders to make.  I thought this would happen, in the past few years I have made a number of golf club covers but this year, it is quiet.  I have a lot going on personally in my life, so I think God is giving me this time to sit back and rethink what I am doing and where I want to go with my life.  I have kicked up my knitting, I am teaching at church on Wednesday night and I want to start teaching others for money, but I am at a loss on how to do that.  I have days when I have a few hours to go and teach, but I am not sure how to go about it.  Giving that to God and he will let me know if that is where I need to be.  I do not want to get a job on someones schedule, right now I have so many things juggling that I need to keep my options open for travel.

Something else I have been playing with is starting to create my own patterns, I have been following patterns for so long that I am feeling the urge to create.  I have created a mitten pattern for boys, I will post it here again.

Gloves I created for my son

I enjoyed figuring out how to do this, it was not as hard as I thought.  I would love to do more, I have to let the fingers flow.  I have found a new mitten to make, called the Bella Mitten from the movie/book series Twilight, and they are going to be fun.  There is a new method called the magic loop and I need to learn how to do this one!!

If you would like the pattern for this glove, just look here.

In any case, I need direction in my life and I hope that God will show me what and where I need to be!!  I just feel that there is more for me to do in my life and I need something in my life.  Now that my kids are in school all day, I am missing something to keep me busy but be able to be at school when they need me to be.  I want to use my talents to make some money, but I want to work from my house on my hours and my schedule.   Big order for me to ask God to fill, I know he has given me this opportunity to do something to help my family financially and I really need to do this!!

I am starting to use my Ravelry account account now to track what I am making, I need to keep up with this more and get my fingers out in this world.  I think that is the only way I will get any year round work for my knitting.

God bless you and yours!!  Thank you for following me and please bring me more, I want to get known in the blogging world to hopefully open the working world and get my business restarted again!!

Starting Sunday

I have lost 8.8 pounds in 2 months, including a 2 week vacation where I lost 1 pound during it!! I credit that to a change in my thinking, I am much more aware of the portion size that I take and my amount of bad foods that I am allowing in. I am having tons more fruits and veggies when I am hungry, taking a que from my kids who ask for fruit and veggies to eat before junk. Not that they are perfect or I am, but it has been a change in my thinking that I know is making a difference. I am feeling better and eating is a big part of it. If I can keep up my energy with this eating, I will lose the rest of the 43 pounds that I want to lose, maybe more! I also have changed my exercise thinking. I actually walked during my vacation, took out my clothes and shoes and got my butt outside and walked, one Sunday morning for an hour! Since I was not at church I used that time to commune with God, talking over a lot of things with him about life and what I will have to do to make it better. That has been a big change for me also, really coming back to God, making time for him also.

This was a good vacation for me, I am really trying to make the time for me to be with God and take care of myself. Taking time to cook real food and nutrious food for the family, better snacking and exercise for me.  I also need to take time to relax with reading and knitting/crochet.  I have been getting more orders from that part of my life, so I need to get more time set aside so that I can make those items made and sold and make that extra money.

This is a starting Sunday for me, restarting my life!!

Rapture part 2

Funny, was not thinking about the Rapture much until this pastor gave us a date.  Made me think, am I ready??  No, not really, but then that is why God has not given us the day or time that it will happen.  We cannot presume to know his mind or plan, so how can we "calculate" the date that it will happen.  Now to cover his butt, the pastor is now saying that we will be hit with a fireball on October 21st.  Is he kidding??  That so many people were going crazy about this is more comical and sad.  That they will put so much into this, selling everything, canceling things in their lives, how sad.

I will be knitting and crocheting and taking care of my family when the time comes, I have a feeling.  I might be on the computer, typing out this blog and in mid sentence




Gotcha ya!!  Anyway, I hope this is just a little sanity in an insane world!!  Will post my baby cardigan tomorrow or Thursday, it is 6 rows from finish!!  Then sewing and making it look nice!!

Go with God!!

Sunday in HotLanta!!

Wow, it is so hot!!  We hit 92 in Atlanta and my thermometer in Suwanee said 94.  Had to be out today, we had church this morning, was great to be with my preschool kids and then teaching an adult class.  But it was hot this morning, and just before sunset, it was hot.  I knew being in the south would be hot, but this is killer!! 

My son moved up in cub scouts today, became a wolf!!  He is growing like a weed and the more I think about it, I miss my baby boy!  I am so proud of the boy that he is becoming, he is really starting to blossom.  I still worry that he follows too many kids, I keep telling him that he needs to be more of a leader.  I know that will come in time, and the scouts are helping him alot.   I am just a worry wort. 

Been knitting so fast that my hands are hurting.  I am 3/4 of the way done on the sleeves, then it is sewing it up and then knitting the button bands.  School ends on Friday, so I have a huge deadline!!  I have also gotten 3 new knitting orders, just finalizing price and item needed, so this is big for me!!  Seems I am getting popular on my work, and I thank God for blessing me with it. 

I have to say, the whole Rapture thing that went on this weekend just fascinated me.  Heard about looting parties and other silly things that would have happened if it actually happened.  I hope that my faith would have had me going to God in that first round, would miss my children too much, but then, I really don't know.  Have been thinking and talking a lot with God about it, so hopefully I would have made it.  We shall see when it does happen if I am alive for it.

Well, I am wore out from my Sunday!!  I normally get a nice quiet afternoon of knitting and napping in, but today we had so much going on!!  One last week of school for my son, we find out Friday who his new teacher will be, and then the figuring out what to do each day starts.  Have some ideas, but if it is hot, we won't be going out as much, my asthma is aggravated by the heat and smog and last summer we were trapped way too much!!

Hope this week is fun and relaxing!!  Will write more soon!!

Wacky Wednesday!!

Well my day started well enough, got up at 6:30 and watched the news, relaxing with my 7 year old snuggling with me.  Having 1 more week of school, my schedule will be changing, but I am looking forward to being able to snuggle more!!  Also will give me more blocks of time to knit, there will be swim team practice, playtime at the park and fountain while they run around, and some more time on the weekends hopefully.  I have a couple of projects that I would love to start plus my prayer shawl ministry projects. 

Racing at this moment to finish up a baby cardigan for my son's teacher, working on a sample for a friends yarn shop, and starting to think about the prayer squares I need to make for my prayer shawl ministry.  I still need to send out an email to the group to alert them to start making the squares so that we can have the 100 or so needed for July!!  Anyone who wants to help us make these items or prayer shawls, just email me with prayer shawl in the subject and I will get back with you. 

Life is good right now.  My 5 year old daughter decided to have a fit at preschool just now because she did not say goodbye to a friend.  She screamed that she did not open her car door and just was so broken that in my rage I finally saw through that she needed a nap!!  Funny how I have been able to stop myself now and take control so that I can take control of the situation.  Before I would have just blown up and we both would need a time out, but somehow I am able to muster myself to be calm and deal.  Did a bible study about just this thing, "scream-free parenting" and it really has made a huge difference in my life.  My DD is happily sleeping right now while I type, I get to watch Days of our Lives and relax.  Need a snack and a BIG mug of tea and then I think back to knitting.  Maybe some Wizzards 101 later with my son and grilled chicken, veggies and rice for dinner.  I even have some Free Rita's Ice coupons, so maybe we can do that for dessert since we will not be going to swim team tonight.

Signing off for now!!  Hope you continue to follow me and if you have any creative ideas about what I should write about, just let me know!!

Go with God!!
Christel

Back to work Monday

Well, after being so not motivated to write, I am getting the feeling back!!  Miserable Monday here in Suwanee, overcast, cold (55 degrees in May is so not normal, more like 75) and I am not feeling 100%  I have had a lot on my mind lately, lots of changes going on in my life.  My youngest has her last week of preschool and she is already wanting to go to Kindergarten.  As I will be happy to have the extra hours alone, I will be sad as my kids are growing up.  I do miss the younger years, hard as they were, but that season of my life is over.  Now I have to figure out what to do with my life.  That is not as easy as it seems.  I still want to be home when the kids get home, and I guess I could start doing a lot more at their school.  I will have more time to knit and crochet and make more things for my prayer shawl ministry at church.  But not having a child home to teach and grow, I am letting the schools take that over for most of the day.  I worry about bullies, about the morals that they will see and hopefully pick up the good ones and not have "bad" friends. 

Well this mom will be getting so much more involved with the schools now that I will have the time.  I hope that maybe a part time job around my kids schedule to bring in some extra cash to do some fun things, like a trip to Disney.  I will just keep praying and letting God show me the way!!

Go with God!!

Tuesday is tiring!!

Wow, I am finally finished with my last golf club order from Feb, this was a 4 piece one so it took a little longer.  I am also working on my daughter's Easter Dress, I am almost at the waist, then to the top should move quickly.  I think have to make the front of the dress and sew it all together.  If you hear some screaming, that would be me trying to make the sewing of the pieces look decent!!  I do love the knitting, but the finishing is a bear, but that is also the beauty of it, getting the pieces together and looking good.  When I am done with the back, I will post it.

I am also working on some Easter Bunny Baskets,  these are for the teachers of my kids.  They are too cute and are easy to whip out, so I just have to make sure I have enough White Yarn and Easter Ribbon.  This is a way for me to change my hand movements so that I don't cramp up!!  These are crocheted items, so hands move so differently!!

I have been asked to knit a sample for my local yarn shop, pretty cool as it is a self design from the owner, my friend Kay, and that she trusts my knitting is a great compliment to me.  I really want to get into some designing, I can see things for my kids in my mind, but to translate it, that is the gift I do not have, so I have to learn.  There must be some books or online class that I can take, I will have to start looking for that.

This is a short blog today, I am very tired, have been dealing with migraines with the horrible weather GA has been having these past few days, so I am not doing much but trying to keep up with the kids and laundry!!  We have spring break next week, no plans as my hubby is on Jury duty or he is working, he did not take time off, so we are stuck home.  Now to find things to do.

Go with God!!!

What a weekend we are going to have!!

What a week, and the weekend to come!!  The pollen has been horrible, so my asthma has been horrible!!  So looking forward to the rain coming tomorrow, it will make it better for a few days, just have to have it all bloom quickly so that this all leaves us sooner!!

My weekend is going to be interesting.  For the first time, our church is NOT having church on Sunday as normal.  We are not even having it at church, if you show up at the building, we will not be there!!  Instead, starting tonight, we have 1500 people packing food to go overseas!  We wanted to raise enough money to buy the supplies for 100K meals, and we got enough to do 300K, but we have to pack it all.  For more info on who this ministry is, here is the link.  CLICK HERE

So Saturday afternoon from 1-3, my kids, my husband and myself will be with another larger group packing.  We have shifts starting Friday night and a number of them Saturday and Sunday AM.  1500 people spread out over those 3 days.  What an incredible undertaking.  We are also bringing food to resupply the Gwinnett Food Co-op in Buford and we are also raising money for some ministries we support at our church, so it is a multi-faceted weekend for us.  We are reaching overseas and right here in GA.  How cool is that!!

Sunday at 2PM we are having church at the Gwinnett County Fairgrounds, if you are around please come!!  This is going to be a really cool and interesting service, we always have great ones and this is going to be a celebration of all we have accomplished this coming weekend.  I am volunteered to help out at the volunteer check in from 10:30 to 2, so if you are coming, I will be there for you, stop by!!  If you come to church on Sunday, remember your chair or you will stand for the service!!

Well, I need to get ready for bed, I am bushed and can't breathe well, so that makes for a bad sleeping night, but I think God will get me through!!

Go with God!!!!

Happiness is playing a game with your kids!!

Well not that I have a ton of knitting to do, but my son, home sick today, talked me into helping him in Wizards 101 online.  I love to play games and loved playing D&D in college, so this is right up my alley.  3 hours later, I am so behind, I still have a couple of loads of laundry to do and knit and get dressed for a women's ministry dinner at church tonight, but I love my son and it makes him happy, so I play.

Well I am now off that game and I hope that I don't get sucked in again for a while!!!  Games suck me in and I could play day and night!!

Well I am off to knit, trying to finish cover #3 to start the oversized 4th one.  Got to get cracking!!

If you could, please spread my blog around, I need to get more followers.

Go with God!!

Christel

Happy St. Patricks Day

Erin Go Braugh y'all!!

  I started this week after my birthday with a bad chest cold, will be coughing for weeks!!  I did not  hardly get anything knitted, but last night I was asked to knit 3 clover items for 3 men who were just deployed.  The group that they have here use shamrocks for a symbol and I was asked by a member if I could knit something.  I found 2 really cool items,  I square with a shamrock on it and a small shamrock that could be worn.  I have made the square last night and I will make the small wearable one this weekend.  I have some pins that can be attached to it, so it should be interesting.  I will bring it back to my grow group on Wednesday and we shall see what is the better choice.  I can of course make both. 
I am still working on my last order of golf club covers, here is a look at the first one made.  I thought the purple was bright, but the customer loved it, so I am still knitting!!  I need more orders, I really need to my knitting promoted and possibly get some knitting lessons going, I think if I charge 10 dollars an hour for lessons, that would be fair.  I have heard others charge 20 an hour, since I would either come to them or they could come to me, that price would not be too bad until gas really gets bad.  I would then have to charge more.  I really need to get a second stream of money coming in with more regularity, I am praying that God has a plan for me to earn money without having to get a job.  I still want to be home and be able to be there for the kids when they need me.

Well I have lots to knit and the day is wasting away!!!  If you are reading this, please follow me and get others to follow me also, I really need to start getting my Etsy store rocking and I want to be so busy that I cannot go online except to update the blog.  I think instead of writing every day, I will update on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.  Also the days I need to start walking, actually need to do it everyday!!  But that is for another post!!

Go with God!!

Sunday night at the Oscars!

So far, I have been entertained by the Oscars, I do like the new pairing they did of Anne Hathaway and James Franco.  They have good chemistry between them and the show has been very well done.  My favorite so far has to be Kirk Douglas giving out the award for Best Supporting Actress.  The man can still be so funny even with the stroke and he is just an awesome man!  We will lose someone special when God calls him home.

Being Sunday night, I need to plan out my week, so I asked the kids what they want to have for dinner this week.
This is what it will look like:
Monday - Breakfast for dinner
Tuesday - Spaghetti
Wednesday - Dinner at church so the kids get pizza and I have pot luck in my Grow Group.
Thursday - Chicken, probably oven fried
Friday - No plans as yet, I could not think this far ahead!!

We normally do not plan that far ahead and I don't keep things in the house to make.  With the weather getting warmer, I hate to cook too much in the house, gets way too hot.  So I have to plan more crock pot meals!  If anyone can suggest some for me, that would be awesome!!

Well that is all for now, I am too tired to think much more!!

Go with God!!

Great Saturday!!

What a great day I have had so far.  We did the Circus last night with the kids and had a wonderful time.  This was the first time either child has seen a real circus live, so it was just so cool to watch then enjoy and marvel at the tricks.  One loved the clowns and the other loved the motorcycles, you guess which.

Today I had to pick up some knitting needles for my dress that I am knitting for DD and in visiting the shop I got an offer to help them out from time to time with items to finish.  That will be a great little savings helper for me!!  Maybe I can pick up enough work to help pay for a trip to Disney!!  It will help me start savings for it at least!!  The more work I can get in knitting items or finishing, the quicker I can save for that trip.

DD and I are planning a great weekend in a few weeks when Daddy and DS go on a camping trip with the scouts.  Movie afternoon, painting toes, eating bad things like sundaes!!  Anyone with good ideas for this, just post a comment!!  I am also looking for new followers, I need people to keep me honest on this blog!!

Go with God!!

Friday but no 3 day weekend

Well here it is a Friday and most of America will be out of school on Monday.  We here in Gwinnett GA will not be as we have to make up snow days from January.  So most of the world will be home on Monday, we will have school, and my kids are bummed!!  I tried to tell them, but now they understand that they have to make up those days.  I would have loved to have Monday off, the kids would have had a wonderful day to play at the park, have lunch out at the park, and just relax, but now they have to work!!  Oh well, I don't get any days off, so that is fair I think!!  :)

Well I am not feeling too well, my throat is on fire and I can feel the cold coming on!  So glad that weekend we really don't have anyplace to go, so I can relax tomorrow and hopefully kick this.  I have tons to knit, will probably get at least 2 projects finished tomorrow.  I have 1 more order past that, will get the yarn hopefully on Monday and get that one knocked out by next Friday.  I love having knitting work to do and getting paid for it, that just does not happen nearly often enough.  I am using the money I make to help me pay for yarn to make the shawls and baby blankets for my Prayer Shawl ministry at Sugarloaf UMC in Duluth, GA, someday I would love to be able to do enough knitting to start paying for things for my family.  Pipe dreams, but they are mine!!

Go with God!

Knitting my life away!!

It is truly funny how life moves!!  Got some harsh news yesterday evening, not ready to share so don't ask, and it really rocked me to the core.  Not a good sleeping night, but one dream I did have was me knitting, relaxing and talking with God.  Yes, just sitting with him, and talking while I knit.  I knew when I woke up that God was trying to tell me something, he has got life planned, don't stress and you have to take it as it comes knowing he has it all planned out.  That is the hardest thing I can do.

The easiest thing I can do is to knit.  Now I know why I got 3 new orders last weekend and why 2 of them require me to retool a pattern to fit a need.  Keeps my mind and hands busy and you know the saying, "idle hands are the plaything of Satan!"  As long as I keep my mind occupied, I can't worry about things I have no control over, most of my life, and I will relax. 

I do love to knit, thankful God gave me that as my gift to give to other people.  I have been able to start a prayer shawl ministry at my church and be blessed by others and their talents.  I make things for my children that could never be bought and they know that I truly love them when I knit.  I am blessed in so many ways, I do thank God for giving me that dream last night, after that one, I was able to get some good sleep, just not enough.  I will be drinking coffee today just to keep up!!!

I hope you have a blessed day and that God touches your life and makes it just a little better today!!

Life is getting busy, must mean Spring is near!!

Well in the past 4 days I got 3 new knitting orders, talked to a friend about picking up work from her yarn shop, found out that I sold something in that same yarn shop, and got a great new book with kids knits. ( I have my daughter's Easter dress picked out, now I have to get the yarn to knit it with!!)  Had 2 birthday parties (one was my daughters) and then was Valentine's Day, which was busy at both schools!!  Can I take a nap please??  :)  I am busy making some additional golf club covers for a customer from Christmas and then I have to start on the next set of covers for the next customer.  I need to customize the size for some smaller clubs for this customer, so I will have to play with my pattern on this one.  I am thinking of writing a new pattern for smaller clubs, guess I need to find some local golfers to help me get the sizing correct on them.  Would it be weird for me to go into a store and start measuring clubs??  If so, then I am a weird person!!

This is going to be a short one today, I have lots to knit and need to get busy with that!  Spent way too much time this morning on the computer and never got to finish all I needed to today!  Will be back tomorrow to write some more on this!!

Friday again!!

What a week this week.

It started off so sad for me, Leroy Toliver passed away and it really effected me deeply.  He and his wife were one of the first people to welcome me into the church 14 years ago, when we met in a middle school, and they kept up with me and always made me welcome now that we have a huge building getting bigger.  He was a great man, you felt his love for God and his fellow man just looking at him and he was just a force!!  I miss him and pray for his wife and family who I know will be sad for a long time to come.  Made me start thinking about my family and how both my parents and my in-laws are getting up in years and how I will need to prepare myself for their passing.  It made me start to really think about how do I prepare my children for this, death is part of life and nothing that should be covered over for children.  I was taught young about death and that my faith in God and Jesus means that I will be in heaven and will be with those I love again.  Death is a transition only.  My kids very immersed in church and our religion and we talk about death when it happens, I don't try to sweep it under the rug.

The funeral was on Tuesday morning, was very draining, but my kids got to see something awesome on Tuesday night, the African Children's Choir.  Those kids have had such a rough life, but this ministry really gives them a leg up and gets them an education so that they can get back to their people and help them rise above!!  What a difference from the morning! 

Wednesday was my daughters 5th birthday!!  When did that happen?? I still remember being in the hospital with her, coming out hand first and shaking hands with the midwife, the emergency c-section and not being able to meet her until 6:30 AM after she got out of the NICU!  She came a month early, 7lb 4oz and healthy as a horse!!  This is her personality also, she is just above and beyond, reading almost at her brothers level, and he is in 1st grade.  I pray for her Kindergarten teacher next year, she is a great kid, but gets bored easily if not challenged.

This Friday is rough, both Katie and I are dealing with chest colds, of course hers is not as bad as mine!!  At least this gives me a chance to work a lot on her dress, I am crocheting a pretty summer dress for her, and hopefully finish up a scarf that is kicking my butt.  Knitting with feathery yarn is SUPER difficult, I keep adding or dropping a stitch since it is so hard to see the yarn!!

As I close, I just want to ask anyone reading this to please pray for the people of Egypt, and pray that the peace is kept and that there is no bloodshed!!! 

Pinewood Derby!!

Today was Pinewood Derby day for my son Alex.  The reason we joined cub scouts way back (per Alex) but now he really enjoys all the things that we do there.  He and his dad had a ton of fun designing and creating his car.

His is the #9 slot, the black fire car!  He was so proud of his car, the first time we have done this, and he was all full of excitement to race.  He did pretty well, not at the very bottom and he got a medal, patch and the knowledge he made his car.  Dad of course did most of the painting and I helped by putting on the stickers with Alex.
His sister also had a car, I have to get a picture of it yet, and she had a ton of fun playing with her buddy and watching all the races.  She also had her leapster with her to entertain her, thanks to me running home before the whole thing started.

All the boys were able to start one race, if they were in the first lane they were race starter.  Even Katie got to start a race, she was so excited to do that!!  It is great that the pack includes the siblings, makes it easier to do this as a family!!

It was a great morning, just one thing marred it for me.  I found out a wonderful man from church passed away suddenly last night/early this morning.  He was a great man, wonderful father and grandfather and a loving husband.  Really hit me, he was one of the first people to welcome me into the church 14 years ago and he and his wife were always so kind to say hello to me, ask about my family and myself and just be so great to so many people and our church.  He is with God now, as one person said probably being the greeter into heaven!  I have been saddened all day and took some from my enjoyment of the day.

I dedicate this page to Leroy, a wonderful man who is living the high life with Jesus!!  I know there is a huge room there for him!!  God bless you!!!  I know you blessed my life!!

Friday!!!!

What a great Friday it was!  Got on the scale and I am down 10 pounds after my surgery, so we are going in the right direction on that one!!  Now I get to start walking again and getting exercise will help my efforts even more!!  I have been able to eat much better and my cravings and pain are pretty much gone, so now I will hopefully get my health back and work from there!

My bible study was awesome, I am really going to enjoy it a lot.  We are talking about Sacred Parenting, based on the premise that the Bible really does not say much about raising children but is all about making ourselves into people who are more Christ-like and in doing that, our children learn from our example and themselves will follow in the same path.  As we become more holy as God asks us to do, our children see that and will follow and do the same, but they have to choose to.  I know I have been doing a lot of talking with God about how I can change myself so that my kids have the strength to stand up for themselves and do the right thing without me or my husband having to back them. 

I got my kids to eat some yummy salmon tonight, had to make tater tots for them to do it, but they both cleaned their plates!!  That really made me feel better, they will eat pretty much any vegetables and fruits, but some of the fish they are not into yet.  One thing I would love to make is some salmon bisque, I have to find a great recipe for it.  Had an old boyfriend that made it for me instead of Lobster since I am allergic to Lobster and it was so good.  Have been thinking about that bisque and now I will have to find that recipe!

Well, it is pretty late on Friday night, I have to get my butt to bed as I have a busy day tomorrow, can't wait for a party at a friends house, I have not had a good mommy afternoon in a long time!!  Good night all!!

Go with God!!

What a week so far!!

Wow, what a week.  Sorry I missed earlier this week writing, I have had a migraine, day 3 today, but it is MUCH better today.  I can sit up and even think, so I can write something today.

What to write.  I have the TV on to the news, twtiter is tweeting on my phone, and you know, I really don't want to know anything today.  Overload, that is what is happening to me, overload.  So much stuff coming at me, but then there are things I do want to know about.  All my friends up north, I worry about the snow that hit, was one of the worst so far this winter.  I worry about my parents and inlaws, less about the inlaws only because the retirement community they live in is so self-sufficent that even if something would happen, they have every thing right there.  My parents still are living in the same house (41 years this past Jan 3rd) and they are blessed to have my sister Heidi near by and to have some of the best neighbors that watch out for them and will help them with plowing.  But I still worry, something that I keep working on with God.  I try to give it to him before the worry makes me sick.

My kids are doing well, had some hiccups this week and it hurts as a mom to see any of your kids not happy, especailly with friends, but they have worked it out and seem to be on a smooth road again.  I know this will not be the last time, but I hope I can equip my children to be strong and stand up for themselves.  I want them to grow into God loving, empathic, strong and smart adults who find people that love them the way they deserve to be loved.

My husband is well, working hard and blessed to be working at all.  Being in the tech field is either a blessing or albatross and for him, it is a blessing that he has been with his company for 16 years.  He knows about some products they support that no one else knows, so he has his niche.  That allows me to stay home and take care of the kids.  I am not a good person for splitting my time between work and home, never have been, so being able to concentrate on my kids is a blessing from God that I thank him for everyday!

So being overloaded is good and bad, but when I can, I pray and talk with God about it.  Not that he does not already know, but getting it off my chest helps me and stopping and listening to God helps me to do what he wants me to do.  I know and trust in the plan he has for me, he has gotten me through so far the times that I have not listened have gotten me in trouble, but he brought me back from that also!

Now, to get up and start the day, have lots to do and lots to finish and wow, what is on TV now!!!  :)

Go with God!!

What a sad Monday it is.

I woke up today to hear that Jack LaLane passed away at the age of 96 yesterday.  I remember watching him in the mornings when I was young and kept up with him throughout the years.  He did so many amazing things and it was due to eating real foods and exercise.  Very simply put.  I remember reading an interview with him and he said many years ago that the US is heading down the wrong road with all the processed foods we are eating, we need to get back to real food and make it nutritious.  Now that is all you read about.  Talk about a man ahead of his time, I don't think he would have made such an impact on us if he were alive and young today, coming out in the 50's with the exercise cry got everyone going and he lead the fitness parade.  He will be missed and I pray for his family, wife of 51 years and his 3 children. 

His passing made me think again about my own health.  Hearing my doctor tell me I have the start of heart disease at 45 is scary to me, my kids are still young, 5 and 7, and they have so much to do  and I want to be here to do it with them.  I want to see them graduate, go to college, get started on their lives and start their own families.  I want to be Omi playing with the kids and babysitting for them.  I want to travel when we are older, go see parts of the US with Eric and enjoy our life and not be burdened by health problems and costs.  So to do that, I have to get back to walking and eating right.  Eat real foods and not processed ones.  I say that but until I get the all clear from my doctor to do that, I still wait.  I still am getting winded by just a little movement, so I know I am still healing, can feel the pain inside still, so I wait. 

Well I actually need to make some phone calls and take a quick nap before picking up Katie at school.  Weird, in just a few months she will be starting Kindergarten and I will have the whole day free.  No more excuses in getting the house finally put together the way I want, I will have much time to do it.  If I have the will, that will be a conversation for another day!!

Go with God!!

Sunday watching Football!!

Well I am sitting here watching the Green Bay/Chicago game and going to root for Chicago since GB beat my Falcons.  Then I will watch the Jets win!!  That is for my brother who is a die hard Jets fan!!!  Would be a nice birthday present for him on Tuesday to have the Jets going to the Superbowl.

Superbowl makes me wait to see the funny commercials, that is one of the best things about the game.  Sometimes there are lame ones, but then there are some that are just the best.  My all time favorite ones are the frogs selling beer.  They do make some really funny ones, here is another, the streaker.  I guess I like the game, but I am always looking for that really funny video to watch.  Not sure if we will watch at home or with friends, since the game is on so late we end of having to leave at half-time so the kids can go to bed!  Maybe we will have some friends here, not really sure yet. 

Well going to watch the game!!  You can find much more funny videos on You tube!!

Thank God it is Friday!!

Well I woke up yesterday and boy did I feel lousy!!  Dizzy, stomach ache, just plain yuck!!  My loving Hubby said he would work from home (he was not feeling 100% and this was just the excuse to tell his boss) and so I was out of taking care of the kids and could just rest in my body all day.  Boy did I need it!  Had no idea that the surgery would be so tiring in the 3rd week!!  The only good thing that came of this surgery besides pain relief is that my belly is now about 3 inches smaller and I am 5 pounds lighter, but still have 50 to go.  I am going to start walking again on Monday, so if you read this keep me honest and make sure that I keep on walking every day but Sundays.  I need 1 day off!!  In any case, when I woke up today, I felt so much better, now I am tired because I went to my Mom's bible study and had to mail out a hat/glove set that someone paid for so now I am resting the rest of today in bed!  Probably will get in nap as I am having a hard time keeping my eyes open right now!!  :)

Going to be a short blog today, just going to do some knitting on a scarf that I have to finish up, just a little more to do, and to knit up another pair of gloves!!  Have to get my prescription filled this weekend, hopefully I qualify for the first month free, and then I will be getting it for 5 bucks a month for the next year!!  Time to sign off as my soap is on, Days of our Lives!!!  Loving what is happening now!!

What the doctor told me!

Well, went to the doctor for a followup on some heart testing I had done last spring.  Yes I know that was almost a year ago, but there was a mix up in messages and I never got all the info.  From that, seems my heart is in good shape but the start of some blockage is happening, and it is happening in the walls of the arteries which is much more dangerous.  Most doctors look at what is already in the tubes, but most heart attacks come from the plaque that builds in the walls, like insulation between your inside and outside walls of your house.  That plaque is what most times will break off and cause the problems and because most doctors are not aware of it to look for it, they are surprised when someone has a heart attack.  In any case, I knew my risk was already high because of family history, so having this extra weight on was not helping.  Well most of my blood work shows that I am just over the border of normal, so we are catching it in the beginning and I can have a huge change go on.  I did find out that I am insulin resistant, so changing my eating is really going to help me there and I have to start walking, as soon as my surgeon says it is OK, and really start getting serious about it.  My doctor started a program, Plaque Busters where you can sign up and if you are part of a gym or your neighborhood has a moderator, you can earn points for exercising and losing weight and getting the health checkups to keep watch on your heart.  It is just starting out so the site is not fully functional, but I am hoping to get more people involved and get a group started to meet up for walking every day hopefully.

I knew that I have not been taking care of myself, but when I see the numbers and look at my young children, I know I want to be around a long time to see my grandchildren!!  I want to hear someone call me Omi!!  I do need to do a more low carb diet with lots of fruits and veggies to help me get my weight off.  I will be doing the Detox from my current read, Sexy Forever and from what I find at Suzanne Somers website.  If I become proactive with my health, my health will help and not hurt me in the years to come!!

I hope you have a wonderful day, even though it is dreary and cold here in GA.  The sun is starting to come out, so that should help!!

Go with God!

Dreary Tuesday in Atlanta

What a dreary day!!  Perfect to have the TV for background noise and to make some projects that I have to get done for my church.  I need to have at least 23 bookmarks, those are crocheted and go really quick, I cam make maybe 6-8 and hour, so that will be done by tonight, unless I take a nap which is a big thing today!  I then have a hat and gloves to make for a grandson of a high school friend.  Facebook is awesome, to keep in touch with all of those we went to school with, some for the entire k-12 school years.  I then need to get to work on prayer squares, which are basically 4x4 inch squares that the first graders at church will use during their prayer seminar on Sunday mornings in February.  We normally make larger ones, 8x8 inch ones for the mission trips that go out during the summer mostly, about 300 plus per year.  I am blessed to have a group of ladies at the church that are so great at making these items plus baby blankets for the newborns in the church and shawls and lap blankets for those in the hospital/sick that are visited by our care team at church.

The bookmarks are easy, they are about 4-5 inches long, depends on the yarn and crochet hook, and are just a simple thing given to the people in our starting point class.  That is a class for people who would like to join the church, they learn more about the Methodist religon, our church and how it all works at the church. 

I have a cool pattern for a prayer square that has a cross in the center.  I actually have to get the pattern from one of my members as my old computer is scrapped and a lot of those old patterns are gone.  So I am waiting on an email from one person that I remember has the pattern.  Otherwise, I have to re-write the pattern.  Either way it is fine!!

Well have to log off to go and do some crocheting, I want these book marks out of my to-do list.

The week starts again

Today is MLK Jr. Birthday remembrance day, no school for the kids or my hubby.  Pretty quiet day, Alex got to play at a friends, Eric and Katie worked on putting away the Christmas decorations.  I spent my last day resting and thinking again.  Over the weekend a radio producer here in GA, Royal Marshall, passed away from what was said today from a heart attack.  He was only 2 years younger then me, with 2 small children, just a few years younger then myself.  I also talked to my mom today, she has been very sick, she did not sound good and I could hear in her voice that she is giving up.  I am thinking that 2011 is really going to be a bad year for me and the whole family, but I have to believe that God has a plan and if this is the year that I lose my mom, it will hurt and I know I won't like it, but I trust in God and that I will see her again.  I also pray that I am really wrong about this.

All of this mortality and my reading the book from Suzanne Somers, Sexy Forever and her revelations about all the toxins in this world and what they do to our bodies, is making me look very hard at what I am eating and drinking and putting on my skin.  I have read other books on the subject, and hers really puts all the information in one place.  I do recommend reading it.  The library carries it and it is a great read.  Makes me think what I have been doing to my body and that of my family with all the processed foods we have been eating.  We need to change and I plan on starting that tomorrow!   I will be talking more about that, keep me honest and ask me about it when you see me or leave me notes here.  If you want to join me on this journey, that would be great also.

I have started on some bookmarks for the new Starting Point class at church on Sunday.  I also will be starting on some prayer squares for the 1st graders at church.  They will be starting a prayer seminar teaching them how to pray during February.  What a great thing, one of the reasons I love this church!!  In any case, since we make the squares for the adults as a way of having a little piece of the church with them to help ground them, I am praying that the kids will be touched the same and that they really take to the prayer.  I know that when I pray with Katie and Alex, it is a special time for us.  Katie is now making up her own prayer song for dinner blessing, she is turning into a little opera singer, don't know if there is talent, but I am not stopping her!!  It is such a blessing to me to see these little people just blossom into their own selves, I just wonder on where they are heading and I want to be there for the whole ride!!

Well it is getting late and the pain pill is kicking in, so I need to sign off.  I will be walking some tomorrow and going for allergy shots.  I also will be having my heart checkup on Wednesday morning and talk with my doctor about a lot of things.  I hope I can get her to read Sexy Forever book so that she might head down that road.  She has been really proactive with my health care, which is one reason why I like her so much.

Go with God!!

Happy Saturday!!

Got a good nights sleep after finally being able to get to sleep at 2AM!!!  Some nights it is rough and the more I read, the more I am seeing that it has something to do with my hormones and being out of whack.  I knew something has been out of whack for a while, so I really need to find out if I can be covered by insurance on seeing an anti-aging doctor, of which we have a few here in GA that are right in Duluth.

On a lighter note, you have to see this video, I was belly laughing so hard that my stitches, which are starting to dissolve and hurt all on their own, really started to throb!!  I will have to make it one of my favorites and for those that are not living in GA, she hits everything on the head, even the MLK Day school day that a few districts have had to do since they have been out of school for 9 days.

http://youtu.be/5N1Im1xbjWQ

I know you will really enjoy this a lot!!  I also took my daughter Katie to see the movie I promised her months ago, Tangled!!  What a great movie, Disney has another classic on their hands and yes, we are buying this one!!  I even teared up, at one point the entire kingdom lights paper lanterns and sets them to fly as a tribute to the missing princess.  All of a sudden, I had a picture of thousands of people doing this on 9/11 in NYC on the 10th anniversary, who do I have to contact to get the ball rolling!!  If you know, email me at cetrulson@mindspring.com and meanwhile I will be searching the web!!

I hope you have a great Saturday and enjoy the last of the GA snow!!!

Go with God!!!

Freedom??

Well the sun is out, they say it will be above 40 today, so the deep freeze is letting up.  Eric my husband said that the roads are passable, took him an hour and a half to get to work (normal 45min) and he says alot of the roads are still ice covered.  Don't care!!!  I so need to get out of this house, between the surgery recovery and the forced indoors of the storm this week, I am getting stir crazy!!  I can only knit for so long before my hands hurt, I can only surf the web so much, watch so much TV or read.  I need to see more then my messy house!!  I need to get out just to breath fresh air!!!

On my road to self discovery, I have been reading the new book by Suzanne Somers, Sexy at 40.  What she has in there makes a lot of sense, especially about all the toxins that we put in and on our bodies.  I knew a little about organic food, but the meat issues astound me!!  I have told my husband that we are going to buy certain food now only organic and we will start shopping more in Whole Foods.  I even started using my cast iron skillets, boy made some scrambled eggs this morning and they did not stick at all, who knew!!  I have started to read other things online about eating less toxic, it is amazing.  Hopefully in the next few days I will be starting my Leslie Sansone DVD walking again, too cold to do it outside yet, and while the kids are away, I will be doing my Fly Lady stuff again as I can.  I still am not able to lift anything heavy for at least another 2 weeks.  I have a doctor appointment next week to go over all my heart and blood tests and see where we go from here.  I wish I did not have a Kindle version of the Sexy at 40 book, my doctor is very much into doing things outside the box, I know she would enjoy reading this one.  Maybe a late Christmas present to her!!!

Anyway, off to take my shower and get dressed.  I might actually put on jeans today, my belly is not too sore and it has stopped being so bloated.  Now it is just FAT!!!!  Who am I kidding, I am fat and I have to get my body clean and healthy if I want to be around to see grandchildren!!  I hope today brings you all that you want, and that you learn 1 new thing today, no matter what it is!!

Go with God, who ever your think your God is!!!

Needing to make a change

Being bedbound from surgery and housebound this week due to the snow/ice that we have had in Atlanta has made me start thinking alot about me.  My life, my health, my kids and husband, where I am now, what my doctor has been telling me about things going on with my heart and circulation, my asthma, weight gain and not being able to lose weight.  Yes, the smoke was pouring from my brain!!  I had started researching thnigs about what has been happening in the last year with my health, my lack of sleep, my inablility to lose weight even with weight watchers and walking, my cravings especially late at night for carbs/sugar, I would wake and have to have something sweet!!!!  I felt like I was put in the wrong body, this was not my familar way of living and I knew something was going on.  Now my hysterectomy has helped with some things, but I know there is more going on.  I have been reading up on hormones for 45/46 year olds, and I know my doctor is very proactive and would do tests if I asked her to.  She has some tests that she now performs that are cutting edge, I just saw something about the new echo on the neck to check for thickening/hardening of the arteries, which I had done last year and there was the start of some!!  What a wake up call for me.  I know my cholesterol has been bad for about 4 years, I have been on BP meds for almost 2 years, have been told that I am getting to be borderline pre-diabetic, and again the weight, especially after having Katie in 2006, just will not come off. 

With all my research I came across Suzanne Somers and her Sexy Forever information.  I saw her interview on TV and her talking of toxins, hormones and how all of that plus other easily changable things things have made such a huge difference in her life, it peaked my interest.  Hearing what she said sounded like my own life.  I had seen her about 18 months ago on one of the shopping channels and she was looking might pudgy, but when I saw her recent interview, she looked totally different.  Her skin/hair looked so good, she was slim and not puffy at all.  I know she has cancer and all the things she did to get well, it made sense.  So I started looking into it more.  I started to read more online about the hormones, the toxins, and how it poisons us, and again, made sense.  I found her website, but in order to learn more, you had to sign up for 65 dollars for 3 months, and I thought, no way!!  Too much money for me.  Later yesterday afternoon, I was browsing through Kindle (got Kindle for the PC with getting a real Kindle in the future) and I saw her book there for less then 13 dollars and I said, that I could afford.

So, as I am reading more of the book today and planning on implementing the changes she says for our household, I hope to start a change for the better.  Eating healthy could not kill me, changing the way I clean the house, what we have in the house, moving more, things that are small but pay big dividends later, seem like something I could do.  I am only 50 pounds over weight, so no doctor will give me any magic pill or surgery, plus I know I can do it, I have done it before.  I lost 40 pounds when I had Alex, walked every day and ate really well, so I know my body can do it, I will just use this new information I have to see what changes I can make.  I have a bunch of walking DVDs from Leslie Sansone that I love to use and I will call my doctor next week to see if I can start walking with those next week.  I can make much better food choices for my family and myself, easy to fix foods are killing us!!!  So as I read on today and learn more, I will be making changes.  I hope to use this blog to work out my problems with my lifestyle.  If  anyone reading this has ideas or comments, please leave them, I do check on the blog.

Go with God!!

Boys Gloves for 5-10 year olds

Here is the pattern for the gloves I made for Alex.

Knitted gloves for Boys 5-10

Materials

1 skein of Super Saver yarn, any color or any 4 play yarn/worsted weight yarn

1 set of size 6 double point needles at least 4, if you have them 6.

1 yarn needle

1 stitch holder

stitch marker

gauge 6 rows= 1 inch

5 stitches = 1 inch

Please check your gauge and use the needles that work Very important as the gloves will not fit if not followed.

Instructions:

Cast on 24 stitches loosely, the long-tail cast-on works best, and distribute between 3 needles. Join, Mark beginning of row with stitch marker and K2 P2 rib for 2.5 inches (15 rows approx.)

Start Palm

Row 1 : Knit in front and back of stitch, K3, knit in front and back of stitch, finish knitting round. (26 stitches)

Row 2 and 3 Knit around

Repeat 4 more times then repeat row 1, you should have 34 stitches.

Slide 10 stitches to a piece of waste yarn, cast on 4 stitches, move start of row marker. ( 28 stitches)

Knit 4 rows around.

Pinky Finger

On start of next row, knit 10 stitches and slip those knit stitches to a stitch holder to make it easier to knit. Take next 8 stitches and place on 3 needles thus, 3 stitches, 3 stitches, 2 stitches. Leave the rest of the stitches on the needle or place on a 2^nd holder, your choice. (10 stitches left)

Knit stitches around and cast on 2 stitches to the end of the row, ending with 10 stitches for Pinky. Join round Place marker for beginning of row and knit 12 more rounds (13 total with starting round) and then cut yarn leaving about 4 inches of tail. Taking that tail, thread yarn needles and starting with beginning of round, take off marker and thread the tail through each stitch on the needles. Pull yarn through, closing up the finger top. Sew Top around, then thread yarn into finger and weave in end. (You can weave in ends when you are done with all the fingers.)

Join yarn on the stitches on the palm side of the glove. This means if you look at the glove with the pinky done, the pinky would be on the right side when you start the row. Pick up 2 stitches on the bottom of the ring finger and then knit 2 rounds.

Ring Finger

With Pinky finger on the right, take 4 stitches from the beginning of the row and 4 stitches from the end of the row and place onto 3 needles as such 3/2/3. Place remaining 14 stitches on holder. Knit 4 stitches, knit in the front and back of next stitch, round will join on next stitch, knit 4 stitches.(9 stitches) Knit 12 rounds and then finish off as with pinky finger. (round starts on the in-between of the Ring and pinky finger.)

Middle Finger

With Pinky/ring finger on left facing you, take 3 stitches from stitch holder closest to the ring finger (3 left on that holder, and 4 stitches from the needle holding the other stitches (3 left on that one). Place stitches on 3 needles as such, 3/1/3 and just as with the ring finger, knit 3, pick up 2 stitches on the ring finger, then knit 4, join round. Knit 12 more rounds and close off as with others fingers.

Pointer Finger

As with other, take remaining stitches, place on 3 needles 3/1/3 and again knit 3,pick up 2 stitches on the Middle finger, knit 4, join round. Knit 12 more rounds and finish off as previous.

Thumb

Take 10 stitches and place on needles as such 3/3/4. Knit as such, knit 3, pick up 3 stitches from palm and then knit 3, knit final 3 having 13 stitches. Then knit 2, K2 together, knit 2 knit 2 together, then knit 3. Knit 11 rounds and finish off as before.

Finishing

Turn glove inside out. There might be some holes at the base of the fingers, just take the yarn you started each finger with, weave between stitches to close the gaps and weave in the ends. Weave in the ends of all the fingers and tips and the start. Block if needed and enjoy!!

The Fun after the Storm

Well if you have had no power or phone and have not heard, we got some snow here in GA!!  Kids are excited that they have a 2nd day off of school, possible 3rd if this snow is not gone from the roads.  Hubby has been home, working from home at least and has a cold, so better for him.  I have been up in bed resting, did a bit too much over the weekend and that is why I am missing some days here, but I also have been forced to do my first knitting design, a pair of gloves for my son Alex.  He is 7 and I could not find anything in the stores that he liked and yesterday we tried a pair of mittens that looked like they would fit, but he ended up taking them off and getting really cold hands and would not go back out.  Hence my need to get him gloves.  Well after searching for almost 2 hours on the net for a pattern someone else created, I found a pattern that looked interesting but for large needles/thick yarn for adults and I took that and made it as a test.  Well when he tried it on, would not fit, so I punted and thought, this should not be too hard, I have made mittens in the past and fingerless gloves, so just had to use my knowledge and came up with a pattern.  I will post it seperately for those that would need to have it for thier own use.  In any case, it was a productive day, just have to finish typing up the pattern and then post it and send it in for listing at some sites.  I will then take some pictures and then make a few more in different colors and with some cool things for kids so I can post it on my etsy site (http://www.etsy.com/shop/gamomof2) for sale, hopefully I will be posting more and more items there for sale and I can start making this a year round business instead of just one at Christmas time. 

Feeling so much better, I learned from some friends at Hystersissters.com (http://www.hystersisters.com/) an online site for women who have a hysterectomy planned or recovering from one.  Has been a godsend to me as I was so clueless and it was a place to talk to others about all the ugly things that happen after the surgery that you would not like to talk about in public.  Lets just say potty talk and leave it to your imagination.  In any case, I have learned alot about the healing after this kind of surgery that even the doctors I don't think realize, even female ones.  Met some really nice people there and hope to stay around there and help others through this.

Well I am off to finish up the gloves and type up the pattern.  Pray this helps get me out there more and more people will hire me to knit things, I would love to really get my gift to help my family get ahead financially!!  2011 holds a lot of promise, God gave me this talent, hopefully he will bless it to help us prosper and bless others!!

Stay Safe and God bless you and yours!!

Go with God!!

First Friday in 2011

Well it was a rough night last night, the body is not healing like I would like it, so I have to change what I am eating and start to slowly move around more.  I keep laying in bed and thinking that I want to be around for my grandkids!!  I have to lose my 50 pounds and get healthy or else I won't see my kids get through High School!!!  Scary thought.

They are saying we will have a snow storm Sunday night to Monday, this should make for an interesting Monday for me.  Both kids would be home, but hubby says he will work from home, so that could be good or bad.  I have to ask him to do some laundry for the kids this weekend and also do some of our clothes, I won't be able to lift for another 5 weeks or so.  Hate not being able to do things, but it is nice to have a little vacation from housework.  Just hate that the house is getting messy and I cannot do anything about it.  Luckily I have a great husband who does thnigs without being asked most of the time.

Starting to get back into my reading, especially the Bible again.  I had forgotten what great help God placed in that book!!

Off to lay down and rest, I am beat from a 1 hour trip out!!!  Alex will be home soon, and then it is the weekend!!

12th day of Christmas

Well today is Jan 6th, the 12th day of Christmas and the day that the 3 Wise men made it to see the Christ Child.  Normally in our house we take down Christmas today and put it away until next Thanksgiving weekend.  With me being bed bound and not able to lift of bend, I can't get it put away and it will have to wait until the weekend.  I am not happy with that, but I have to live with it as I really don't have a choice about it.  I have tried to bend over and empty the dishwasher, and that was a REALLY BAD IDEA!!  Went to bed last night and then took some pain relief and promptly passed out.  So, I have to look at Christmas decorations for a few more days.   I am not thrilled by it, right now I am done with Christmas and have to start planning a birthday party for my daughter!  She will be 5 and it is a big deal for her.  So I will have a nice distraction and as long as I am not down in the middle of all the decorations, it does not bother me as much.

Well today I am tired and I have a good book, Knit Two by Kate Jacobs, to finish reading and then I have 3 audio books that I downloaded yesterday from the library. I also need to finish the scarf that I was knitting and then think about a sweater for my daughter, she has given me some ideas about colors and then I have to find the right pattern for that.  I will have to do some searching today and hopefully find one that she will approve of!!!

New Year, New Me, What is next.

Well here we are 5 days into 2011, I am sitting in bed recovering from my Hysterectomy on 12/28/10. I can no longer carry a child, so hopefully that means no more kids in the house. I love my 2 kids, but more I think would make me mad!! I have a great life, blessed by God in so many ways, but part of me is still wanting to know what I can do with my life. What do I want to do when I grow up. I decided that I need to start writing down my life and hopefully other people will read it and learn and grow. That is what I want to do this year, grow. I need to lose 50 pounds at least and keep it off so that I can be around for grandchildren, I have noticed in the past year that alot of the things I remember happening to my mom is happening to me, and healthwise that is not a good thing. I love my mom so much, but I don't want to start being as ill as she is at her age. I want to be able to be mobile, travel, and learn new things when I am in my 60's, 70's or 80's should I live that long.

Well once I am healed enough, I am starting to walk again. I also plan on joining Weight Watchers, hopefully just online because trying to make a meeting is hard for me. I also plan on knitting more, for me and my family and hopefully start to expand my Etsy Business and sell more items. I would love to start working in a knitting store and be able to teach people to knit, maybe I can start with that, making some extra money by teaching knitting. Once my youngest starts Kindergarten in the fall, I will have a ton of free time and I really need to start bringing money into the family and I don't want to get a "real" job and be on someone else's schedule.


Guess I will write more tomorrow.