Day 304 of 365

I'm not one for New Year's parties. I'm not one for New Year's resolutions either.

Just looking back over 2011 I could never have predicted how my life would have changed.

A year ago this week I had yet another surgery. A lengthy one-armed recovery at my daughter's apartment. Months of even more physical therapy. When the therapy stopped, I counted. Thanks to the back issues and surgeries, 17 of the previous 18 months were spent in physical therapy.

I started a blog. I've been writing and taking a picture every day.

I was able to return to work part-time. I promised myself I wouldn't overwork myself but I did.

I sewed like crazy for kids' and military causes. I did more sewing this year than all my other years combined. When given a choice on my birthday of a new sewing machine or a heck of a lot of quilt batting, I chose the batting. I started filming how-to videos of crafts and cookies and posted them on You Tube.

We grew a vegetable garden and I was able to can and freeze things from the garden. Thanks to my two new post-surgery shoulders I could hang up my laundry on the clothes line for the first time in a couple years. I spent a lot of time sitting on the patio watching momma hummingbird feed her baby.

I had to start giving myself extremely expensive shots to combat arthritis. My hair started falling out. My arthritis didn't get better. I rode an exercise bike every single day. And then I stopped biking and started walking. And then I tried exercise videos, and eventually I stopped exercising at all.

I stayed up late with my daughter taking pictures of lightning. I traveled to the casino by myself and spent the night. I hated it and came home. I started riding the bus to the casino for the day and liked it much better, well enough to go back a couple more times.

I de-cluttered and then stopped. Then I started up again. Then I bought new things and got rid of some old things.

I realized some people are interested in what I'm doing and what I'm saying. Over 15,000 people have visited here so far this year. (A sincere thank you to those who have been here for the sometimes bumpy ride.)

There would have been no way to predict where I would be right now. So no resolutions, no promises, and no hopes for the new year. Just something I found when I was cleaning up some papers this morning. I have no idea when I cut it out or where it came from, but it obviously struck a chord with me then and it still does now.

I'll be going into the New Year with this in mind.

And to you, I hope you have a safe and joyous New Year.

Day 303 of 365

Out with the old, in with the new.

Yesterday I was lamenting about not getting any after-Christmas shopping done. Not 10 minutes after writing about it, boxes started arriving. (I forgot that I did some after-Christmas shopping online. It's pretty sad when you buy things and forget.) But how could I forget these things? Some of my before-Christmas things finally arrived yesterday, too. I've never quite a delivery day like it.

Box number one came in the mail. It was a box of things - all free - ordered from Vista Print. A wall calendar using pictures I'd taken and used on the blog. 250 business cards. (While I didn't need that many, I did need some. And these free ones are prettier than anything I could make myself.) A mug for my husband and a tote bag for me.

Box numbers two and three came by UPS. Two separate orders placed on two separate days arrived in two separate boxes at the same time. A new bag for work to hold all the files I transport back and forth. (Now my mom can have her bag back that I borrowed in August.) Also, a new binder. Maybe a new coupon binder to replace my other one?

Box number four came by Fed Ex. The first generation iPod that has been sitting in a desk drawer for a couple years since it doesn't work has been recalled by Apple because of a battery/fire hazard. They are replacing them with a sixth generation iPod, so box number four was the empty box I use to return it in. (As soon as they get this old one, they'll send me the other one.)

Box number five came from another Fed Ex van. I ordered a copy of a Children's Writer's Market book (a serious writer needs good resources) and a Roku, a thing I've had my eyes on for quite a while. It plays videos from the internet so I now can watch movies in my bedroom while my husband is downstairs watching his sports. Woo hoo!

So in the last week the out with the old, in with the new tally:

• 2011 calendar out, 2012 in.
• Old coupon binder out, new coupon binder in.
• Old work bag out (back to my mom), new one in.
• Thanks to a Christmas present, an old iron out, new iron in.
• Thanks to another Christmas present, old slippers out, new slippers in.
• Old Writer's book out, new in.
• Goodbye Sonicare toothbrush, hello Oral B rechargeable.
• Old iPod out, new iPod in. 
• Old haircut out, new haircut in. 

I have been growing my hair long (from the previous short, short, spiky cut) so I could cover some of my balding/thinning/receding hairline issues caused by the chemotherapy drugs. But I've grown tired of so much long hair falling out everywhere. While I didn't return to my short, spiky locks, I did go with a much shorter cut than I've been wearing. A cut just long enough on top to hide what needs to be hidden on my head.

I was going to add "out with the rain and in with the sun" to the list but had to retract that. As I was in town the rain clouds started moving out in a very definitive line and the sun started moving in. Unfortunately the pollution from the factory clouded my picture a bit.

Day 302 of 365

It has been four days since I've been in the fresh air.

I haven't left the house since I went for that walk on Christmas Day. Haven't stepped one foot out the door. No walks to the mailbox, no trips to get something from the car. The closest I've come to being outside is when I opened the door for the cat to go out yesterday.

I can see it's cloudy, and I can see it's rainy. I suspect it's not all that cold out there because our heat isn't kicking on as much. But I don't know for sure.

I'm off from work this week and have no reason to head out the door. Hubby is also home all week. Having a husband around me 24-7 might be the best reason to head out the door, but I can't summon enough energy to get to those after Christmas sales. Can't even get myself to the grocery store.

Having all this time in the house did give me a chance to get his quilt finished. After I took the picture I realized I had the quilt turned upside down. Before I had a chance to retake the picture, he already had taken it to the basement with him to watch TV. Guess he really was looking forward to his belated Christmas present.

Day 301 of 365

I think my husband considers himself a foodie. He watches the Food Network and Travel Channel to find the best places to eat around the country. And when we were in Hawaii a few years back, we went on a food tour. We went to places we never would have discovered as tourists and ate things that wouldn't have been on our radar. Spam sushi anyone? (It actually was pretty decent.)

While I'm not a foodie, there are foods that I enjoy. There are also those places that served the best of the best:

• The best french dip sandwich was at the Tulalip Casino outside of Seattle.
• The best berry cobbler was at the Gallery Restaurant in Sisters, Oregon.
• Best root beer shake is at Frosty Palace in Homedale, Idaho.
• Best pizza is at Flying Pie Pizzeria in Boise, Idaho.
• Best hamburger was at the Night Owl Cafe (no longer in business) outside of Burns, Oregon.

While now is not really ice cream season, the best root beer float is right here at my house.

Make Snowman Magnets from Leftover Buttons - Day 300 of 365

Wouldn't you know the 300th day of this blog thing falls on a Tutorial Tuesday?!

65 days to go. I can't believe I'm getting so close to a full year. It started out as a day at a time thing - a reason to get out of bed, a reason to do something, a reason to look around me. All in search of that sometimes elusive picture.

But here a couple days after Christmas my schedule is all thrown off in a way it hasn't been before. Christmas Eve on a Saturday, Christmas on Sunday, and my daughter and her boyfriend not going home until Monday left me without a tutorial. So today it's a truly Tuesday tutorial, filmed on a Tuesday.

Thank goodness I was able to scramble and now have a snowman magnet tutorial ready to share today. It's not like we got snow (Boise did, though), but the snowman theme is something that continues after Christmas.

Happy 300th day to me.

Looking for something else? 

Check out some of my other Christmas sewing and crafting projects!

Disclosure: Deb's Days is a participant in affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to affiliated sites. This means that, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you new sewing and crafting content.

You can find the step-by-step how to tutorial for making the homemade snowman button magnets craft project right here:

Day 299 of 365

After posting a picture of a pelican on Christmas Day I started wondering what I was thinking.

A pelican for my Christmas picture. Really? No pictures of decorated trees or other folks' Christmas lights, no picture of the table set for dinner, no pictures of presents or the Nativity Scene from the park? Nope, I had to take a picture of a pelican.

But I think I found a connection.

Swans-a-swimming. Geese-a-laying.  Calling birds. French hens. Turtle doves. And a partridge in a pear tree.

At the park yesterday I didn't see any swans, but I did see a blue heron. Lots of geese (just not a-laying, unless you consider laying down). No calling birds but plenty of quacking ducks. No french hens, but some bird that looked somewhat like a guinea hen. Instead of turtle doves, pigeons in the shed across the road. And a pelican swimming in the pond.

My own version of the Twelve Days of Christmas.

Now those Twelve Days of Christmas are over. The tree is down, the decorations have been put away, and it is time to move on to my husband's quilt. A belated Christmas present.

Fabric I bought at the quilt show on Day 115 turned into a kids' quilt on Day 245. My husband saw the fabric in that quilt and wanted something for himself. I cut the blocks an entire month ago on Day 264.

Then that kaput iron on Day 276. It has now been replaced with a brand new Rowenta iron for Christmas (from my mom). Combine that with a husband who likes winding bobbins for me and I now have a work-in-progress quilt top. A true work-in-progress quilt because after I took the picture and saw it from afar, I wasn't too pleased with the layout of the blocks. I may be doing some rearranging before it's all said and done.

Day 298 of 365

Christmas was nice.

Stockings full of things from Santa. Thoughtful presents for all. Christmas Cards in the tree. A tasty Christmas meal with my daughter and her boyfriend.

A pleasant after-meal walk in the park by the river. Lots of ducks and geese, a blue heron, and what I think might be a pelican. Who knew I lived so close to such great sights!

Here's hoping you and yours have a great Christmas time with family. Merry Christmas.