Stomach ills and afghans

So my stomach was acting up again yesterday. Ate too much cheese/fat/butter for lunch in the form of home made macaroni and cheese, meatloaf and roasted cauliflower with parmesan and olive oil. Then to top that off I ate cocada del forno with whipped cream and raspberry compote. It was delicious but I paid for that deliciousness all night long WHILE working a 7 hour shift at Whole Foods. Miserable....truly.

This morning we are continuing on our juicing regime. Each morning I make juice for us consisting of kale, cucumber, celery, ginger, lemon and fruit of all different shapes and sizes. I'm not going to add so much fruit to the green juice for a few days. I think that it had something to do with the gas in my intestines. Anyway...enough about my ills.

Here is the photo of the cocado del forno that I made. It was so good. I was never a big fan of coconut and now I cook with the oil, use it in my hair and put it on my face. Toasted coconut is the best. Yum. That's whipped cream on the plate with the raspberry compote. Whipped cream. What an invention. Love it. I say I'm not really big on the sweets...but I do love them when I eat them.

I have been trying to simply my life for so long now I've lost track of the years. How does one go about REALLY simplifying their lives. Simplifying your closet is a never ending battle. Simplying your furniture is not that easy. Your kitchen.....aaahhh. closets........attic...garage....studio. It took me so long to get through my studio...and I threw so much away. Garbage sacks full of old fabric that I just held onto. Fabric that could have been nearly 30 years old. Probably was. So it's gone. Donated or thrown out. I have baskets and baskets for patterns and fabric that I don't know if I'll ever use. Ever do anything with. I made all those scarves (93 plus) and baby quilts (85) baby fleece blankets (never did count) and receiving blankets. I donated an entire garbage bag full of baby quilts, fleece blankets and receiving blankets to the child advocacy place in McKinney (?) that my daughter Beth did her internship at. I truly wish I had all the money back that I've spent on fabric and patterns over the years. (We won't cover the art book, rubber stamps, paints, canvases, frames, papers, etc) Now let's move on to my jewelry making stuff. I have so much and make so much but how much can you use or wear? I have tried selling my stuff on Etsy but didn't do too well. PURSES!!! In order to get rid of them I have to give them away. What does THAT tell you? People love free stuff? My stuff isn't worth having? It's not good enough? It's not professional enough? I haven't decided which one is the correct answer....except maybe that God doesn't want me to succeed. Being successful financially has never been something that I thought would ever happen to me. Might steal too much of my heart if I had too much money or was too successful. Possibly wrong thinking but it's the way my mind works nonetheless.

I have ordered the book "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing" by Marie Kondo. You'd think at 61 I would have a handle on this stuff but that doesn't seem to be the case. I have made great in-roads but I have so much further to go. If our goal might be to live in a trailer and travel the country I would have to really divest myself of sooooooo much more than I currently gotten rid of. I read the book , "Paris Letters" by Janice MacLeod and did quite a bit of decluttering after reading it but I still feel like I need someone's help. My husband helps me with my clothes by playing the "Yes/No" game. I put on an outfit...and he either says "Yes" or "No". He's not allowed to say, "That's cute." or "That's ok." "Sure, why not?" nothing. Yes or no. You either like it or you don't. Today's outfit...didn't ask whether he liked this one or not.

The hall closet is big project. It's where everything get's put when we have to really clean up. Here's what it looks like now.

 

Part of the mess that you see is the latest afghan I'm making for my youngest son, Patrick. Each of my other six children have had afghans made for them. He's the only one that doesn't have one. I'm on the home stretch with this one, but I ran out of afghan-making steam. We also have an afghan for our bed which I made to match our quilt. Here's a photo of that one.

 

 

 

I'm going to try and post photos of all the afghans I've made in the last three years. That is if I can find the photos.  My granddaughter, Hope, my oldest son's youngest child, has a blanket out of the left over squares from the one above. Christopher, (Dee to all of us in the family) my 29 year old, got the first one, which was one made by adding on a square at a time of left over yarn from the fleece scarves and blankets. Beth, my 35 (almost 36) year old spent the night at Dee's under his afghan and wanted one. I already, at the time, had another afghan started so I gave it to her for her birthday. The next afghan was made for Laura. My 28 year old. Here is a photo of that one.

 

 

 

 

It doesn't show how large it is or the entirety of it...but I don't know where that photo is. I think it might be on my iPad and if that is the case I'm not sure how to get it to my computer to upload it. I'll work on that for tomorrow.

Work for the next three days.

Friday - Whole Foods 8:00-3:30
Saturday - J. Jill 6:00-2:30 (after work I need to take back a top and skirt to Old Navy)
Sunday - J. Jill 8:00-4:30

Beyond these three days I would have to check my day planner, which I am living by these days, while juggling the two part time jobs. 

Off to the closet again...or the jewelry or the hall closet. Take your pick. It all needs to be done.

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

First posting of a new blog....

January of this year was a changing point for me. I am now 61. I don't feel 61, nor do I act 61, in my own  humble opinion :) I keep telling myself that I matter. I keep telling myself that I'm worth hearing from, worth listening to. I seem to be the only one saying that. LOL  But..... I'm going to write anyway. What have I got to lose? Nothing, except words from my head.

Somewhere I read that you should do three things a day. Write something. Take at least one photo and do one drawing. I'm doing pretty good with the writing and photos...but the drawing hasn't really clicked in for me. Gave up the art thing 5 years ago and it hasn't been given back to me. Have a little bit of a desire to paint...but the experience I had leaves a very sad and bitter taste in my mouth. (see short explanation in later paragraph)

2014 saw a change in my work situation.  Quit one job and got  offered four more. Took two of them. Was offered a job at Burgundy Beef in Fort Worth and had agreed to take that job when Whole Foods offered me a position as a part-time cashier. I took that one. Larger company and better working environment...I thought. :) Willowbend Health Care offered me a job as a receptionist and I worked for them for three days...I think...and then decided that it wasn't for me. The drive to north Plano was an hour and 15 minutes with traffic and almost an hour without traffic. Geez louise...that was just too much. And at the time, the price of gas was higher and it just wasn't worth my while to continue. Quit that job. In November of 2014 I was hired by J. Jill as a sales associate. Never worked retail sales like that. They are opening two new stores in our area. One in Southlake and the other in Arlington in the Highlands. That is the store I will be at. Our grand opening is January 29. I have been training in the Northpark store for the last 2+ months. I love the girls in the Northpark store and will miss not working with them.

Whole Foods. I am a cashier. That...my friends (and whoever else is reading) is a crazy, predicable, yet unpredictable job. Take last night for instance. A lady came through my line...and I can usually spot the ones that are "off" right away. She proceeded to tell me that she asked a produce team member to cut an apples for her to taste. It was a new type of apple she had never seen and she wanted to taste it. That's ok. That's what we do at Whole Foods. We have a program that allows people to try new items, or old items they haven't tried, "on us!". We have a code at the register that allows that type of thing. I said to her, "Well, I won't charge you for that." And she answered, "I KNOW you won't." Seemed odd...but most people are odd. Then she asked for change for $100 bill. We really aren't supposed to do that, but I did it anyway. In the process of giving her the change from her first transaction, I lost count of the money for the $100. So I took the money from her that I had given her and proceeded to count it to make sure that she had the correct amount of money for her $100, which meant that I wouldn't be short or over in my till. She looked at me when I handed her the money and said, "Did you know that you're aggressive. Both physically and verbally." I was stunned. Literally stunned. I didn't know how to respond. I simply said, "Well, I know I have a strong personality, and I did have six children, so I have learned not to be a doormat...but no one has ever said anything like that to me." I asked her if that was offensive and she said it was, sorta. Then she proceeded to tell me that she's pretty blunt and down to earth herself. . . . ya think? Anyway...I am writing this down here to get it on my record of what I said and what she said. Why do people think they can just say anything that comes to their mind....? I had never met this woman before. Never laid eyes on her and she presumes to KNOW me? I don't think so.

I will admit here that this has bothered me. I told my supervisor what the woman said and she was dumbfounded as well. She said, "Even you think something like that you don't say it."

Now....this begs the question...AM I AGGRESSIVE? perhaps. AM I ABUSIVE? perhaps. I don't know. Are we ever really honest with ourselves to the point of brutality? I think not. We are all narcissists at heart. Some work harder to hide it...others don't care and let it show. I'd rather be alone in my solitude than have to hang around people that are overly impressed with themselves. People who think what they have to say is just incredibly interesting. Can't stand to be around those people. Friendship/aquaintenanceship should be a give and take. You are not more important than me and I am not more important than you and your shit stinks just like mine. There.....

Spent most of my day cooking. Homemade macaroni and cheese....defrosted a meatloaf, made Cocada de Forno (baked coconut tarts) home made fudge with nuts, and got cauliflower ready to be roasted. Lunch consisted of toasted cheese sandwiches, roasted red pepper soup with avocado, parmesan cheese, basil and croutons, with a salad of spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, parmesan cheese and ranch dressing with olive oil as well.

Stomach has been acting up again. Not sure of the reason...EXCEPT...I have been eating more and more regularly. Two meals a day is about all my stomach can handle. I've been eating more than that lately and it's been uncomfortable. So I'm not fixing the large dinner tonight that I had planned (see above paragraph). I will fix it tomorrow for a late lunch before Robin and I both head to work in the afternoon.

Have determined to get out of my debt. I have run up the balances on my American Express, Old Navy, Kohl's and J. Jill. I paid off Steinmart, Talbots, and the little bit that I had charged on the T.J. Maxx card I opened when I bought the black and tan t-shirt and the light blue sweater....oh and the small bathroom mirror. The Steinmart bill was for skincare at Merle Norman....and I'm not sure that it's helping me all that much, to be honest. Went there because a dear friend swears by their products so I thought I would give them a try. hmm...I don't know why my face isn't cooperating. Maybe it's just that working at the pharmacy for those 3 1/2 years did a big number on my system and it's not going to recover that quickly. It's been nearly a year since both of us quit that job...and were we ever relieved to do so. What a disaster that place way. Truly.

I took photos yesterday of my house. Not going to post them here. They were yesterday. But today...I took photos of my birds. I will post one. Here it is.

This bird was given to me by a dear friend that I used to be connected to via an art business. I won't give the name. This dear lady was one of the only ones that remained in contact with me after I resigned (for the second time). If anyone has been involved with a group of women...you know how difficult it can be at times. Especially when everyone involved is head strong and wants their way. I knew the problem was more me than them (meaning it was me)....but I couldn't handle it anymore. Besides....I had instructions to quit. So I quit. End of story. But I do have a small sneaking desire to paint again. The thing is....it would have to be done anonymously...not sure how to do that. Maybe under another name.

Going to close for tonight. More tomorrow. I hope I can keep up the writing. My brother-in-law thinks I should write. I keep telling him I don't have anything to say......:)

ps...I want to cook my way through the book "My Little Paris Kitchen" the way Julie cooked her way through Julia Child's book. I think that would be fun. But not sure when I will do that.