Happy Valentine's Day!

This holiday seems to lead to lots of turmoil.  I remember feeling sad not having a valentine to share the day with. Yes, it is a commercial holday.  Yet what hasn't been commercialized? It's pervasive in our culture.  Why not reclaim it to something better.

Ideally we love our boyfriend or girlfriend,  husband or wife, children, friends every day.  How about this be a day that we reflect on love, comapastion and thankfulness. Let it be a day to remember the love we feel and rekindle connection or passion as needed.  Some chocolate and a back rub can certainly help with that!   Make it a reminder to bring joy to others more often to be joyful more often.  If we find ourselves a bit lonely love ourselves.  We are all worthy of love.

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful that I have hobbies I am passionate about and love to do.  

I'm thankful I have found friends who share the same crazy passion for fiber and yarns that I do.

Thankful Thursday

I've been struggling with my thankful posts.  So I decided to re-read some of my own blog posts on thankfulness  here and this one here.   I'm reminded that no matter how "small" or "big" that thankfulness is important. Having a day to bring my attention to what I am thankful for is good but even better I need to make it a daily thing and bring those things here to share.  As I write this my daughter is in her room laughing.

I love it when I hear my daughter laughing

 about something she reads or watches.  

I love it that she laughs so much.  

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful the light is returning!

Thankful Thursday - An Uberlist for 2012

Why Thankful Thursday? It's one of my ideas for this year to write more on my blog and it's on my Uberlist for 2012 to express thanks. What does a to do list have in common with thankfulness? Because doing these things will enrich my life. Anything that enriches my life is something to be thankful for.

1. Enjoy cleaning house for me. I want a cleaner and more organized home. I don't want to resent doing it. It needs doing and it's better to enjoy it than to resent.

2. Be more organized and get stuff done I will say I will get done.

3. Play games with my cool kids.

4. Watch good movies and bad ones too.

5. Walk 3 days a week.

6. Knit a saddled shouldered sweater for Stephen.

7. Get the yoke sweater going for Jade that I will steek! Eeek!

8. Dye fiber and card it on the drum carder. Pick a color scheme. Spin it long draw. Enough to knit a sweater for me! -  I bought a lovely gray fleece.  I'll  dye some of it for the yoke.  

9. Work on long draw spinning. I want to spin soft lofty yarns. - Doing it! 

10. Go on dates with my husband.

11. Visit Wamego with the Fam - we have a coupon for the Wizard of Oz Museum

12. Take walks when it's beautiful outside.

13. Take a camera with me more often to take pictures

14. Dye with my natural dyes, indigo and cochineal.

15. Do some silk scarf dyeing with Jade using Safflower petals.

16. Dye silk scarves inspired by India Flint.

17. Zentangle on some clothes.

17. Make zentangle cards.

18. Get scanner set up in family room. Move printer into garoffice.

19. Set up garoffice so it's easy to put stuff away.

20. Get stuff off old computer and store things virtually and/or on thumb drives.

21. Get something to store thumb drives.

22. Save for Yarn School 2013!

23. Weave or sell the freekin' loom already and save up for the Wolf loom I really want. - Put the loom craigslist but not willing to sell at a loss. 

24. Get the color gamp napkin kit from Halycon or see if Yarn Barn can put one together for me.

25. Get up the nerve to sell my mom's 4H table loom. I can use the money for something fibery cool. - Also on craigslist.  Not takers so far.

26. Make beer for the first time.  - When to a friends house and helped brew and bottle some beer! 

27. Get out more and do stuff.

28. Shelving for the family room on either side of the fire place.

29. Start Blogging again. I have some ideas! 

30. Stephen and I need to get our ducks in a row like if the worst happens and now I take this out of the law. Nothing bad will happen. Nope not going to happen.

31. Start health care savings account. - Done! 

32. Roof on the house.

33. Paint some of the furniture I have around the house to revamp it.

34. New windows. For the whole house but we can start with the kitchen.

35. Read more about Zen practice and set aside specific time for it. - At the first of the year I was doing good.  I will get back to it.  I will. 

36. Attend more events at the UU fellowship in Lawrence.

37. Play piano. Take lessons. Practice. Something!

38. Make amigurumi. I have the urge to make toys again. - Made some toys.  It was fun.

39. Make some picture shelves like these here.

40. Review this list when I get bored.

41. Sew pajamas pants for me and the kids.  - Boy kids are done, girl kids are cut and ready to sew.

42. Sew some aprons - have this idea brewing to use old jeans.

43. Help Jade make jeans skirt. - About halfway done with this.

44. Play more video games with Corbin - at least talk about it lots.

45. Remember to breath.

46. Call and chat with my sister.

47. Keep in touch with family.

48. Go to an unschooling conference.

49. Get a job to pay for it all.

50. Build a time machine so I can do it all. That or find the time turner Hermione used.

51. Remind myself that this list doesn't have to be done this year.

52. Have fun

53. Enjoy life

54. Knit a sweater for Corbin. He said he wants blues.

55. Help Corbin sew some bags.

56. Blog about the uberlist.

57. Dye fiber in colors that work with the sweaters and things I have so I look less like a crazy yarn lady OR stop worrying about it and embrace crazy yarn lady person.

58. Keep going with the budgeting for the most part it's working.

59. Keep using google calender and getting reminders. It helps with number 2.

60. Budget some money so the kids and do some decorating for their rooms. Things like posters etc.

61. Finish painting bedroom doors.

62. Finish bathroom - fix tile - supposed to be on Stephens list.

66. Keep going to swing dancing with Stephen because it's fun.

67. This list doesn't have to end. I can add more to it all year long and cross things off if I decide it's not something that needs doing.

68. Celebrate Summer Solstice this year. I keep saying I want to do that and don't. It would be a nice balance to our Winter Solstice celebration.

69. Return to Uberlist regularly for inspiration. This is on here twice. That's a good thing.

70. Have people over to do more with fiber with others. - Had a Fiber Day at my house in April.   There was six of us.  We are going to do it again.  Yay!  

71. Be thankful. Express thanks.

added after posting

72. Finish working up spiral sweaters and get the pattern written up too so I can sell it!

73.  Get the garden in shape to do some with it this year.  We cut down some trees so we have more sun. 

A cure for getting over you dang self - maybe

I've been thinking that maybe the best way to get over my dang self is to be more thankful. That's not to say that I won't speak up for what needs being spoke up for. My theory is the more we are thankful about things in our life, the more we pay attention to even the tiniest joys the easier it is to take all the yuck in the world. Since I'm having a hard time seeing the beauty through all the yuck in the world it's time to be more thankful.

Some things to be thankful for:

I've learned to knit and crochet and I'm learning to spin. I love this new fiber passion of mine and love that it has "stuck." It helps me when I'm down. I love seeing something become in front of my eyes.

I'm thankful for the local farmers here in Lawrence and all over the world who take care to grow things with care for the environmental so I might eat as locally as possible and eat yummy and nutritionally rich food.

I'm thankful for my husband who accepts and loves me for who I am. Who works hard for our family in a job he doesn't particularly like so may homeschool our kids and own our home.

I'm thankful he was able to find work in town so he can ride his bike to work in the summer so we save on fuel and it's kinder to the environment and we see him more often. He often works from home in the morning so we can chat here and there and the kids can get hugs and good mornings from Dad.

Thanks Tracy for getting us started. Heymom want to join too?

Gratitude - Thankfulness

Gratitude - Thankfulness

A few of my gratitude entries from last night.
I tend to do a simple list and write down
as many things that I am thankful for.
In my journal I write things
sideways and angled and change colors too.
When I'm inspired I plan on adding drawings or pretty doodles.

I'm pleased that I remembered this journal. I love using colors.

It was a joy to listen to Jade and Stephen cook our yummy pasta dinner.
I enjoyed a glass of wine too.

Stephen brought me home some chocolate.

Stephen and I got to snuggle some and I got a backrub too.

The TV was rarely on today so it was quiet and soothing.

More on Thankfulness

Sometimes I can get into a negative cycle of what’s wrong. When will I get better at keeping my routine, write with greater ease, stay calmer when the kids are frustrated, keep a cleaner house. Or I ask myself when will the kids keep their rooms clean, do more for them selves, contribute to keeping the house in order, talk quieter.

When I focus on all of these negative thoughts I miss so many of the good things like the cool projects the kids are working on or their excitement with a new game. There is even beauty behind all of the things I am frustrated about. My kids are loud because they are happy and excited about life.

In July I bought a journal and some fun colorful pens. I wrote what I was thankful for at the end of the day but sometimes I wrote down things at anytime. A few of my old entries from July:

I love riding my new bike and the new baskets.
Now, I can bike to the store.

Harvested some green beans from my garden.

It was hard at first because I would come up with reasons to discount my thankfulness. “You harvested those green beans but you didn’t cook anything with them yet.” “So what if you’re happy with your new bike you have counter full of dirty dishes in the kitchen.” When I turned off the little devil on my shoulder, it got easier and I got more peace and joy.

But I have gotten out of the thankfulness habit and I have gotten out of sorts. I haven’t written anything down since July. I know if I keep up with the thankfulness I feel better and more optimistic. I can see that I am getting things done, rather than all the things I’m not getting anything done.

I want to get back into being thankful again, everyday. I just might add some thankfulness to all my posts. Maybe that’s all I will post about some days, what I am thankful for. Thankfulness journals are like an emotional insurance policy for the days that everywhere I turn I might see pile of laundry to fold, legos strewn on the floor, or the kitchen counters covered with dirty dishes.

When I’m thankful, I can tackle those dishes with much greater joy. I can ask the kids more calmly to turn down the TV or find something else for us all to do that would be quieter. More importantly, I can see more clearly the joy in our house and the smiles on everyone’s face.

If you want to start a thankfulness journal consider reading Buddha Never Raised Kids & Jesus Didn't Drive Carpool: Seven Principles for Parenting with Soul by Vickie Falcone or Simple Abundance Gratitude Journal and A Daybook of Comfort and Joy both by Sarah Ban Breathnach. Or just do it. Find ways to make it fun for you, maybe that's fun pens or using the computer.

Don't forget to tell the devil on your shoulder to keep quiet.

Happy Thanksgiving - Giving Thanks

I feel thankful for:

* My good health
* My house
* A toilet that flushes :)
* Money in the bank
* My children's smiles
* Snuggles with my kids
* The yummy meals Stephen cooks
* My mom friends
* Mom's Night Out with my homeschool group
* My homeschool group
* The sun when it's shining
* My backyard garden
* Good books to read
* Thrift stores
* Doing things with the kids


Maybe a bit late for the holiday but it's good to be thankful year round. A few books about giving thanks and a few for fall crafts. A few different versions of the Iroquois thanksgiving Address: here and here


What are you thankful for?