Appreciation

Happy New Year

by CZeitler

2026 is starting out with a bang. I live in Western New York so we have gotten about a foot of snow, not too bad really. The ice storm is mostly melted away, this weekend is supposed to be clear, and I am warm and safe in my home. New Years Resolutions are something that I have never really bothered with, they are too easy to fall off, often too unrealistic to maintain, and once a problem arises they are too easy to forget about. Given this history, I decided to set a few resolutions that I believe are easy for me to achieve, and goals that I should be working toward anyway. The first is to spend more time with my family and make sure that they understand that I love and appreciate them. My dad was the second of 11 children which means that I have a lot of family. To spend more time with my family I need to do some traveling, which means that I need to get my two smaller credit cards paid off. The third goal is that I am going to try to focus on my business a bit more than I currently am. Having my anxiety and ADHD medicated is helping me a lot, I hope that this is enough for me to focus on aspects of my life I want to be better.

For crafting I hope to stitch a small piece every day of the year, to add to an overall quilt. I also signed up for the Creatively Crafting Crypto-Adorable Stitch Along, which is a different cryptic pattern each month for a year, I hope. Upon purchasing the printable version of their annual planner with 12 free patterns, I discovered that the patterns are about the circus…I certainly hope that these are a separate project. I freely admit I felt very disappointed and misled since I have no fondness for circuses. Despite that I hope that the stitch along I signed up for actually involves cryptids. As far as reading goes, I hope to read 100 books this year, which is my goal for every year. Though I have these goals I will take whatever life chooses to give me and try to turn it as positive as possible.

I hope that everyone has a very Happy New Year, and that you can Live Life A Little More Abstract.

Everything for a Reason

by CZeitler

Talk about being blessed by my family and friends. Friday after the library closed I dropped a colleague off at home, it was an ice storm, and went home. While curling up for bed I was surprised I did not hear my very loud heater, I checked the temperature of the house…it was 10 degrees below where it was set to. I called in a company for emergency service, they were very nice. It turns out I need a new heater, the current one is over 20 years old and they will not fix it. I had just been denied a credit consolidation loan on Friday, and I do not meet the age requirements for HERR or HEAP heating assistance. I put up a go fund me, and within an hour one of my family members had donated and another used their credit card to pay for my new heater. Since I used the last of my money to pay for the emergency visit my sister forwarded me the money to pay for a small space heater, 1500 watts does not heat very far so it is helping by keeping my house at about 50 degrees. I have had several family members checking on me, making sure I have the water running so my pipes don’t freeze, and I am so blessed by the support I have around me. It is fascinating that in the spring 50 is toasty, in December it is too cold to do much around the house. I turn my stove on a couple of times a day to add some extra heat to the house, and my heater is supposed to be installed Monday or Tuesday. I have to get through today and tonight, mostly curled up and napping truthfully to stay warm, then Monday I either stay home to get my furnace installed or bring the space heater upstairs while I shower for work.

I am very blessed, while I am not starting 2026 how I thought, I will have a new heater, ability to pay off a couple of my cards, catch up on bills, and tangible knowledge that I have people and deities looking out for me. His plans might not be what I desire, however they are always what I need. I wanted to get more presents ready to go this weekend, instead I am napping and appreciating the family and friends I have around me.

Remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract, and count on Him and His Blessings.

Happy Holidays

by CZeitler

I hope that everyone has a very Happy Holiday Season whatever you celebrate. I’m still packing up presents for family, however I wanted to share some of the ornaments I decided to make this year. I love how quick and fun the jingle bell ornaments are, the bells can also be said to scare away evil spirits. The gingerbread people were so much fun to add faces to, and the trees have such fun sequins and sparkle. I hope that your holidays are full of light, love, life, magic, and fun.

Live Life a Little More Abstract!

A Little Rain Must Fall

by CZeitler

Sometimes I feel so good about myself, I make plans to get so many things done, help people, and just get my life under control. Then the world laughs, and laughs. There are some gross things mentioned in this post, so if that bothers you just skip this and I will do some organizing and hopefully crafting next post.

Luckily I have a job that gives me over 20 vacation days each year, the first year I was hesitant to take any days off so I rolled over the maximum number of days, 22. That means that there are a certain number of vacation days that I ‘have’ to take each years since I can only roll over 22 days. I believe I was under the threshold anyway, however I decided to take 3 days this week, the week before Christmas, anyway. Since I will be working on Saturday I was also given Friday off as a ‘comp day’. I Proctored an exam on Monday, hopefully they passed I know they were concerned. My cousin in Jersey called me while she was heading home from a funeral and expressed that she was behind on things and needed a breather to catch up. She does live 6 hours away, I calculated my plans and offered to head her way on Tuesday.

I left my house about 3:30am, I planned on leaving at 2 however I did not get to sleep early enough for that to be reasonable. The drive down was lovely, I had caffeine, a free breakfast sandwich using points from Burger King, and I arrived about 11 am. I helped out with her laundry, she fed me a lovely beef wrap with Tzatziki Sauce on it for lunch, I was only able to eat about 1/2. She and her husband took a nap while I entertained one of her daughters, the dog, and worked on folding more laundry. I don’t feel like I helped a lot, however they were very appreciative. We went over to her parents for dinner and to see them, I had an amazing sesame wheat noodle dish that I really enjoyed. She thought it was the last embroidery class for her other daughter, I turns out that is next week. We had ice cream at the store across the way, which tasted amazing. I was a bit queazy at this point, partially because I get motion sickness anyway and she did not know how to turn the heat down in her rental car. After dropping her back home, I decided that it was time to head out. This was about 6pm, so with pitstops I thought I would get home about 2am.

Less than an hour into my drive home I realized I needed to either find a pitstop or get some anti-nausea medication ASAP. Fortunately there was a Dollar General that I immediately stopped at. I purchased the medication, had a pit stop, and asked the manager if I could stay in their lot for an hour to get the medication a chance to kick in. She said I just had to be out of the lot for their delivery in the morning. I set a timer for 1 hour, put my audiobook on (knowing that my phone was going to die out because the charging cable was being stupid), pulled my jacket over my head to block out the light and keep heat in, and actually fell asleep. 40 minutes later, I know because of the alarm on my phone, I woke to a knocking sound on my window. Two officers were there to check that I wasn’t drunk, drugged up, having a medical emergency or…you know…dead. I had a lovely, awkward, conversation with them letting them know I had spoken to the manager, giving details about why I was out that way, that I didn’t want to Technicolor Yawn on the road, etc. They accepted my explanation, wished me a safe drive, after running my license of course, and I tried to get back to my rest since I still wasn’t feeling well.

I laid back down until my timer went off, saw that according to my car’s navigation I had less than 18 miles until the next rest area. I put my seat back up, buckled in, and merged onto the 3 lane highway going about 55 MPH. Then I, for the third time, proved that you can get sick while driving a car. Yay. I made it to the next rest stop, washed my shirt in the sink, and began my evening of catching 1-2 hour naps at various rest stops along the way. After I got on route 86 which is the highway I like the most since it is a straight shot home from there….though still another 3+ hours away, I stopped at the nearest rest stop and actually wound up sleeping/dozing for about 4 hours. This brought me to about 8 am. There was a Walmart about 30 minutes away and my paycheck dropped at 8:30am. Surprisingly I did not smell that bad so I went in, bought wipes for my steering wheel and dashboard, and myself, an outfit to wear home, a couple of treats (because damned if I didn’t deserve them), and the fabric I needed to bind my aunt’s quilt. I felt actually human after that stop, and got home abut 12:30pm. Yes I had about an 18 hour trip home. I might have been better off staying at my cousin’s like she offered, however I realized (after sleeping the rest of the day an most of Thursday) that my stomach has not been acting really great this week anyway so I might have just been sick there. Either way, for a rough trip this could have been so much worse. No one was hurt, I was able to get some rest, I got a new outfit and some kicking MukLucks slippers that I am never taking off, and I funny story to tell…as long as I figure out a better way to put the Technicolor Yawn part.

Wednesday I was supposed to finish the ornaments I made with the 2025 metal beads I ordered…but I didn’t feel well and Amazon doesn’t know where those beads got to…yay. This did give me a chance to message one of my other cousins wives to see if their oldest daughter was into a book series I enjoyed when I was younger, she assured me that she and my cousin don’t have their shopping done for their kids yet…and that the books hasn’t been read yet so I will get to ordering that ASAP.

Today is Thursday, I did manage to get to my libraries holiday party, lovely food that I could not finish because my stomach is still iffy, as well as a lovely present from the library board and director. Hopefully there will be some leftovers on Saturday so I don’t have to worry about lunch that day. Tomorrow is Friday and I still have the day off, right now I plan on trying to bind my Aunt’s Quilt, make Chapstick holders for random cousin’s kids, put together an email from myself and my sister with brief highlights about our year (and an apology that presents will be in 2026), and hopefully get the beads to finish up the ornaments.

All in all, I have a full fridge and freezer, vacation time to relax and hopefully feel better, and the grace to have everything completely mess up but nothing major that I have to panic about. Maybe I will get my last bookcase picked up, finish the epilogue on the book I am reading, get the binding on my aunt’s quilt, make ornaments and chapstick holders. Maybe I’ll sleep the day away, get over whatever is going on with my stomach and doom scroll through some cute pet videos. Either way I have so much to be thankful for, and most of all I can be thankful that my horrible trip back had no lasting consequences….though I wonder if my name/license is in the NJ database as ‘really weird, but mostly harmless’. LOL.

Remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract, the cops are just doing their jobs…mostly, and always have an audio book about “Early American Sex Scandals” playing while sleeping off your motion sickness in the Dollar General Parking Lot. Happy Holidays no matter what you celebrate!

Assistive Tools

by CZeitler

Yes, I am only in my early 40s. It could be commonly thought that I should not need any type of assistive tools since I do not have any major disabilities. However, I have been crafting ever since I was about 5 years old, so my joints see a lot of stress. Due to an incident at work, a previous job, I had to have ligament repair surgery in my left wrist…and according to the orthopedic surgeon my bones in that wrist are dissolving. Horrible things that the human body can do for 800 please Alex.

All of this means that if I want to keep crafting and maintain a good quality of life for myself I need to take care of the joints as best I can. In addition to physical concerns, I also have ADHD which means that organization is very difficult for me. I can put things ‘away’ and have a logic to my organization, however, I then forget where I put everything and cannot remember if I have something or not. The one that drives me insane is ‘I just saw that five times in the past week, but where did I see that?’

Due to these circumstances my assistive tools mostly revolve around keeping my joints supported and healthy, as well as basic organization, or advanced organization if you prefer. I will be mentioning some basic devices that work for overall maintenance of joint health and organization, but most of what I will be talking about is specific toward crafting.

Starting with organization, my favorite tool is this label maker. I can customize the size, font, tape, and even add some symbols to the labels using a simple and free app from my phone. The labels are not huge, however I can easily get two lines of text while still having them legible. I use these to label the clear boxes that I prefer to use for storage. I have also begun using what is sold as a photo storage container, that has smaller containers inside, for storing a wide variety of items. Each individual mini box is labelled inside of the larger container. To keep things in order I have set up a system where each item in the box is labelled on a sleeve, and the item name on the sleeve corresponds with the box label. I currently have 3 of these boxes, though they are not all full, so I have a sheet that corresponds to each box. It sounds complicated, however it is easier for me to pull the sheets, check which box has what I am looking for, then pull the box. Previously I had been pulling the boxes out, opening them, looking at what was in each compartment, and then putting things back willy-nilly. For me, organizing is often a trial-and-error method which is why I seem to be constantly rotating through different types of organizing supplies.

I also enjoy putting labels on several sides as well as the top of a box, that way no matter how I choose to store it I have an easily seen label. While I prefer clear containers, sometimes it is not possible such as in my Kallax Units. This is another way that my labelling system comes in handy. Not to mention my unfortunate tendency to put things on top of other things, labels come in handy then, though I hope that my final bookcase will help prevent that tendency by forcing a place for everything. This will probably mean a spate of attempting to use things up and de-stashing items, however I hope that the result is a productive workspace in 2026. Enough about organization, how about getting to items that help my hands, joints, and more?

The first three items are for holding items so I do not have to pinch things quite as often or tightly. The first and third pictures are items that are intended for people working on circuit boards, soldering, or similar. I can easily use them to hold a piece of embroidery I am working on, some fabric that I plan on stitching, wire for a piece of jewelry I am working on, or similar. The top middle is a clamp intended for woodworking. Since it is very adjustable I can use it with an embroidery hoop to hold things steady while I try to stitch. The larger picture on the bottom is of some ‘bead stoppers’ intended to be placed on wire/string/filament that you are putting beads on so they do not fall off of the end. I have not been beading much recently, though I have a couple of projects that might change that in the near future.

Just today I have been working with my embroidery machine, and so had to discover a new assistive device. I have a small flat head screwdriver that I use to tighten up the hoop so that my fabric does not slide around while the machine is running, this has happened a couple of times. I was very productive this morning and managed to get five motifs embroidered on the quilt this morning…and now I have to wear my wrist brace because my thumb joint is protesting. Of course, I have to wear the brace on my ‘good’ hand because that is the one that I have been using, lol. This caused me to see if there is any kind of screwdriver that I can use without having to create a pinching motion, there is! I T-Handled Screwdriver! I will order it when I next get paid.

There are a few more tools, such as the ones I mentioned in an earlier post, however I will have to get to those later. I did discover that the Crafteaze pillow by Valari is manufactured in India and their supportive gloves ship from China. I have not had an opportunity to test them yet, though each finger in the gloves is finished with a serger so they seem to be good quality.

Until next time remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Pleasures Great & Small

by CZeitler

This is a good time of year for reflecting on the blessings that we have, both great and small. I’m not sure how to define each of the blessings I am grateful for, because those that are considered essential are the most expensive so it is hard to call them ‘small’. Given that I will start my thanks with my ‘essentials’ and then work my way through to what happened yesterday. There is not going to be any crafting content, though I am very grateful for the supplies, tools, and physical ability to work with my crafting supplies.

The essential blessings I am grateful for are the home I have to live in, reliable transportation, food in my fridge and freezer (I love this time of year for the $.99/lb Turkeys). I have a full-time job that pays me enough to cover my bills, gives me over 22 days of vacation/floating holiday each year, and is a positive environment to work in (occasional patron problems notwithstanding). I have my health, pretty much, and my hands still work.

I am also grateful for the non-essential blessings that I get to celebrate. I have an amazing family that I know I can speak to, visit, and enjoy in so many ways. I was able to visit my sister yesterday, she was looking for a pegboard and I just happened to have taken the same pegboard off of my walls a few days earlier to put up a new bookcase. I was able to purchase new bookcases a couple of months ago so that I can get my supplies organized in a way that is useful to me. I have the creativity, skills, and supplies to create ornaments and other presents for my family.

I was able to purchase tickets for a livestream of my favorite YouTube channel, participate, and laugh along with Sorted Food. I will also be able to rewatch this stream as well as those that I have purchased in years past. I was able to take the time off so that I could watch and rewatch the streams at my leisure.

Yesterday when I visited my sister I was able to purchase lunch, gas, and a few treats and snacks for both of us to enjoy over the holiday season (and hopefully beyond depending on how hungry I get). I purchased a prickly pear fruit from an Asian Market my sister found. It was lovely to try, tons of seeds that I am going to try to dry, and a slightly sweetly mild flesh that I was able to eat. It tasted like a very light kiwi fruit, with a little sour tinge that was pleasant as I got very close to the skin. We went to Ikea where I found the Vintersaga Ginger Thins cookies were a dollar less than they have been, so I purchased two tins for myself and two for my sister. These cookies are amazing, I had to hide a tin from myself in the freezer or they would both be gone before the week is out.

Finally we went to Grandpa Joe’s Soda store. I had looked up the prices online, and was pleasantly surprised to find that many of them were slightly less since they do not have to worry about shipping. I did not get the Grizzly Energy Drinks though I was very tempted, I did get a Jones Select Zero Sugar Rootbeer, which was just as lovely as I thought though I drank it on the way home so I do not have a photo. There were several candies that I decided I could not resist. I bought two different Cherry Mash treats, and tried one today, It was lovely, the milk chocolate was a thick shell that tasted lovely and smooth. I expected some juice, like a chocolate covered cherry, instead there was a dense sweet nougat-like cherry flavored filling.

The other cherry mash is ‘Big Cherry Milkshake’ and will live in my freezer with the Brachs Swirl Gumdrops, until I rediscover them in a frenzy for something sweet, hopefully a few months in the future. I do have an extreme sweet tooth, horrid when you’re a type 2 diabetic, however I have been low key craving some of the sour candies that I enjoyed when I was in my early 20s. This store had them, though I admit I cannot remember which flavor I enjoyed. I guess I’ll just have to try all three of the flavors I purchased, sigh!

I do think that the Mango version is what I really enjoyed since I can remember the tin colors, however I hope that all three flavors are good. I was also very lucky to be able to purchase some sweets to share with my colleagues. Originally I was going to pick up a huge bag of tiny sweets that was under $10, however the bag admitted that in could be cross contaminated with tree nuts, to which one of my colleagues is allergic. Instead I found some bags of freeze dried treats that were $1 per bag, I could not resist. There are five different types and the bags to not fess up to any kind of nut tree contamination so they should be safe for my colleagues.

I am safe, warm, loved, relatively healthy, and able to feed myself. I have the freedom in my budget to send presents to my family and treat myself and my sister to a few treats to enjoy over the holiday season. I was able to purchase a few supplies to support my joint health and ability to keep crafting for years to come during the Black Friday Sales. I plan on putting a post up about those very soon.

Along with all of these small blessings, I have a supportive outlet for me to remind myself of these blessings. Thank you for reading my blog, and I hope that you all have a lovely holiday season depending on what you celebrate.

Live Life a Little More Abstract!