organization

Type 2 Diabetes and Inexpensive Meal Planning

by CZeitler

I try not to talk about my health journey, however I feel that there is some information I should share. I am a type 2 diabetic with Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (PMOS) formerly PCOS. I just learned about the new name for PCOS, and love that it is being taken more seriously. Because of this I do need to pay attention to my feet more than I would prefer, but whatever. I was trying to get the bunion on my right foot to stretch out a little more since I started wearing Doctor Martens Sandals and have built up some new callouses on my foot. Somehow during this process I managed to strain the muscle or tendon in the arch of my right foot, which is making it a little painful to walk on. A couple days of icing and trying different types of arch support later and I had to admit that I need to take a day off and rest it. Since I am teaching a class at another library tomorrow, Saturday, and cannot cancel on that I am spending the day resting my foot, I ordered some Gel arch supports to get the support in a gentle way and hope that they will make a difference.

One of the other things that I have been doing in any free time I have this week is attending Get Organized HQ free digital conference this week. I am always trying to get myself more organized and this annual seminar tends to give me more tips and tricks to help get organized and understand why I am the way I am. Every year I get more tools and take the time to focus on something that is going to help me in the year to come. This year I watched a seminar on how to get organized when you grew up in chaos. It was a hard watch, however I believe it will help me. One of the other topics that I have been trying to work on is meal planning. I am a full-time public librarian, and my director has been trying hard to get our salaries to catch up with inflation however the truth of the matter is that we are essentially public servants since Librarianship is almost always a non-profit endeavor. This might be fine if I did not have crafting of all sorts as my only hobby/distraction. Crafting tends to be expensive so I am trying to save money where I can, unfortunately, as a diabetic carbohydrates and sugars are the enemy and the cheapest options. As you can probably tell already, my body needs to set up obstacles around any part of my food plans so I also have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) which makes my healthy food choices limited. This means that my meals should be Low Carbohydrate, Low FodMap, and inexpensive.

Rice and Pasta are the least expensive fillers that are Low Fodmap however, they do tend to be high in carbohydrates and spike blood glucose. I had heard something about day old rice being better, if refrigerated since Bacillus cereus is a concern for improperly cooled rice. Upon doing some research it appears that the UK medical community has done some research that finds that day old, cooled, and reheated rice and pasta significantly decreases the glucose spike to almost non-existent. They speculate that the starch has been converted to a starch that is insoluble in the stomach. Cold pasta does lower the sugar spike but not as significantly as the reheated version. Fortunately for me my cousin in law introduced me to Congee. This is a delicious Chinese comfort food that I have modified for how I am used to cooking. The relevance is that what I make is essentially chicken soup with rice thoroughly cooked in until it essentially breaks down. The texture is not pleasant for some, however I find it satiating and versatile. Mostly I eat it throughout the first week and freeze portions for later lunches, as you can tell one pot makes a huge amount. This means that I reheat the rice, which can greatly decrease the glucose spike while allowing for a great deal of seasoning since chicken soup and rice is a perfect base. Often I do add black beans to up the protein, though they are not a low fodmap food and may mess with my IBS.

Chicken soup can easily be made with a rotisserie chicken carcass/bones since they already have significant flavor. I often use the breast meat and thighs for various meals and then the skin, bones, drumsticks, and wings, are either cooked into soup or frozen for soup later. My personal recipe is to put the chicken, water to cover, onion and garlic powder, some salt, and boil it until the broth stops tasting like chicken water and starts tasting like chicken soup. You can add water if it starts to get low since adding water does not affect how the soup tastes. I do not know how to describe it except you will know it when it happens. I have not found a single shortcut for this, you have to just take the time and let it boil until it is broth. This does not have to be done in a single day. I often start making it before I go to work, turn the burner off about 90 minutes before I am going to leave so I can put it in the fridge before I leave, then take it out and start heating it again when I get home. I know several people, chefs included, say that you can add bullion cubes as a short cut, I refute this. I often cook this until it is soup then let it cool down to remove the bones. I have never been able to get all of the bones and cartilage out since there are a lot of very small bones. Once I think I have all of the bones out I start heating the soup back up and put a couple of cups of rice and any vegetables I want to add, usually I add a couple more cups of water to make sure that the pot will not boil dry…burning the rice will effect the whole pot. Any flavor you want can be added, soy sauce, ramen soup base, Indian curry spices, Japanese curry sauce cubes, or anything else you like can be added to this. If it is bland I add in flavored vinegars when heating it up as they add a lovely zing.

I will be trying to make turkey broth in my InstaPot this holiday season since I do not have a soup pot large enough, and a glass stovetop that I do not want to shatter. I do have some other recipes I will be sorting through so that I do not get too bored with this dish, however I wanted to share it since you can add so many different flavors to make it unique and it makes great lunches.

That is all I have for today, not crafty at all, however I hope it might help someone else with similar concerns. Until next time I hope that you Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Spooky Win

by CZeitler

This is just a small post, I haven’t had much energy to do larger things right now. Yesterday I was organizing some magazines to clear off my table so I can make progress on some other crafts. In between that I did a little bit of work on a beaded kumihimo bracelet I’m trying to practice with, as well as cutting out some fabric and stabilizer to finally get the gumption to try and make a ByAnnies pattern I purchased about a year ago.

Along with organizing some periodicals I was also getting some applique pieces cut out and organized. While doing this I ended up cutting out a cute ghost coaster pattern that is meant to be made with pinked, raw-edges, and some raw edge applique. I ended up hand stitching this little cutie and giving it to a friend at work.

He is just the cutest thing I ever saw, I am going to have to make one for my sister!

Until next time I hope that you live life A Little More Abstract!

Organization Idea

by CZeitler

I follow a wide variety of makers of all sorts. Artists, textile artists, fiber artists, crafters, quilters, sewists, historical recreationists, and so many more. They all bring something different to my creative adventures, color theory, design inspirations, organization inspiration, or just a new way of thinking of the world and materials found within.

At present the artist that is inspiring me most is Sue Spargo. She has a lovely online shop, creates amazing quilts using wool fabric and raw edge applique, along with embroidery and so much more. In one of her promotional emails she showed how some of the supplies she uses are organized, in a binder. Not just any binder, but a binder with card sleeves and plastic bags that fit in those sleeves containing supplies. *Mind Blown*!

I have been using Photo Boxes, found at Michaels (never pay more than $15 for them), to organize many of my smaller supplies and I love how they work. However I do stack them, and I find that having to dig around, even with a sheet detailing what is in each, tends to take some of the spontaneity and creative impulse out of the crafting. I decided to take Sue Spargo’s idea a half step further and purchase a 3 ring binder that has a zipper (essentially a trapper keeper).

I spent much of yesterday deciding what is going in there and getting things organized. I still plan on sewing up some 3 ring binder pouches to add slightly bigger items or embroidery projects on the go. This is just another step on my way to crafting organization! I love drawing inspiration from all of the sources available to me, if you get a chance check out Sue Spargo, her kits and supplies are amazing!

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

Vacation Weaving

by CZeitler

I was lucky enough to attend the wedding of one of my (many) cousins. In doing so I also took a day to shop around at places that I would never be able to go to otherwise, including a couple of thrift stores I was disappointed in. I did get some amazing embroidery floss/media at an embroidery shop that I had a ton of fun playing with. I also managed to go to a small yarn store and pick up a couple of skeins to play with. Part of my focus on weaving during this vacation is the ‘Weave Every Day in June’ Challenge by Mirrix looms. They specify that you do not have to weave every single day to participate, just submit your calendar of the days you did manage to weave.

One of my pleasures is eating, of course. I created a ‘snackle box’ for myself as an attempt at portion control during my trip, it served me well. I also tried Halal food, which was interesting. The cabbage was sweeter than I thought so it tasted odd to me, the cucumber salad was amazing, I love the white sauce. The beef and lamb tasted a bit too much like an Arby’s Gyro to impress me, however I am very glad that I tried it!

My cousin’s wedding was a sheer display of art, craft, and sheer geekiness that was inspiring to say the least. After seeing her and her husband be unabashedly geeky I realized how much my own Self-Sabotage and Imposter Syndrome is hurting me emotionally and creatively. That allowed me to have a burst of cleaning inspiration that was halted, abruptly, by my IBS acting up. YAY. On that bit of chronic illness TMI, I am going to sign off since my lunch break is almost over. Hopefully my cleaning and crafting mojo decide to keep going for the rest of the week. Until next time remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Everything’s Going to Be All Rice

by CZeitler

About a month ago I purchased a great deal on frozen fish. Since then I have created a couple of amazing rice bowls to enjoy. Rice from the rice cooker, baked fish, Japanese BBQ sauce or Hoisin Sauce, and then sprinkled over with the ‘Everything’s Gonna be All Rice’ seasoning that was available at Walmart for a while. I have to go light on the seasoning since it does have salt which can then overwhelm everything. This has been a fun treat a few times a month to get me to eat more fish, eat at home more, and enjoy flavors that I do not always get to enjoy.

This is what happens when you are at work, as a librarian, and notice that the t-shirt you pulled from the clean laundry pile has a couple of grease stains that are now set in and do not come out with a shout stick. You sew a felt wizards tower to cover the stains. I think this turned out well!

I am also trying to sew a skirt for my cousin’s wedding this upcoming weekend, I lost the pattern until this past Saturday, so it isn’t just that I am procrastinating. The waistband is elasticated, my left hand had ligament repair surgery, so I improvised. I used a pair of table clamps to clamp down on the waistband while the elastic is slightly stretched, then I sewed the seam. This worked really well, though since the fabric is linen some of the fibers were slightly crushed leaving tiny shiny spots that are not noticeable at all.

I asked a cousin of mine if they would like a quilt. They readily agreed so I wanted to make some samples of different colored thread. I am looking at this sampler and even I can tell that the variegated is right out, the white just blends in too well with the background fabric. Fortunately I will be seeing this cousin at the wedding and various festivities around the wedding, so I am quite excited about that.

Other than some organizing and trying to put a shed up in my back yard that is all that I have been up to. Until next time remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Busy Weekend

by CZeitler

My sister has been without a car for a couple of years now. She lives in a larger city in Pennsylvania so she could use a bus to get around, however the busses are not always reliable and she often has to call an uber or another transportation service that is a bit costly. In 2023 I was able to get financing to purchase a hybrid car that will be paid off in 2031. One of our cousins in New Jersey managed to get a scratch on the side of her car that her insurance considers ‘totaled’. She fixed that car up and gave it to me, I gave my car to my sister (I’ll still work on paying it off), so that we both have vehicles. I am very grateful that I was able to do this, I didn’t realize how much it was stressing me that she did not have transportation. This did force me to clear out my car, which allowed me to find some amazing items that I ‘lost’ in the car. I am trying to keep my new to me car a bit cleaner.

Since we were visiting our cousin I decided to stay on a few extra days to hang out with the family, it is always fun to spend time with them. We visited a huge mall and I was able to find some mini block kits for over 1/2 off, and I treated myself. These are the super cute ‘monsters’ from Pac Man, I have the PacMan head and cherries to put together another time. I have been getting some spinning and weaving done on a tapestry piece that I choose to call my “Vacation Tapestry: Time is Fleeting”.

I also attempted to be a ‘passenger princess’ and craft in the passenger seat of the car since my sister drove us both up in my car. This did work somewhat, but not entirely. I managed to get some braiding done on a new kumihimo braid in Christmas Colors. Not as much as I wanted, though I did get some dozing done, I haven’t been able to sleep in a car in quite some time.

This was an amazing trip. It has taken a lot off of my mind, we both have transportation, my car insurance cost went down significantly, and I have had time to get quite a bit done. With the cost of gas this summer, the fact that my new to me car has horrible gas milage, and other considerations means that I am going to spend more time at home this summer. This is going to be a great boon for me. I am going to finally get my home organization finished, I have definite steps to take. My garden and garden storage are going to be greatly improved this summer. I have clover that I need to plant when the winter weather holds off for a few days, and there are English summer garden bulbs on the way for me to plant when frost holds off. At work we created ‘Seed Balls’, because b-o-m-b is a Nono word in a public library, and several of the seeds need to be stratified in a cold environment (kept in the fridge) for 30-60 days. That means that I have several seed balls that will be thrown in my back yard the beginning of May and a few that will be thrown the beginning of June. I am very excited to see if these are going to bloom.

Okay, I think that is enough for this post. Until next time remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Rough Start to the New Year

by CZeitler

I believe I mentioned in my previous post that my heat had gone out and I was lucky enough to have family and friends that allowed me to get a new heater so I can survive the winter. Well, I caught a cold that weekend. One of my supervisors assures me that cold does not cause infection, well this terrible infection disagrees with you, ma’am. It might be the workers coming in and out or the large variety of patrons that think nothing of coming into the library coughing and hacking everywhere, no matter what I’ve been coughing and hacking for almost two weeks now. I only lost my voice for a couple of days, I never knew that menthol dries out the vocal cords, so things are much better now.

This cold has made it difficult to keep up with my daily stitching practice and I have made no progress with the quilt for my aunt even though I just have the binding left. As seen in the pictures above I have mostly been able to catch up with my stitching, though some are simpler than I planned, I cannot stitch today since I overdid it by stitching three pieces yesterday and my thumb joint will not allow me to do much today. There are many days where I have to remind myself that I have so many positives, the negatives are just there to remind me of what I have. Some people talk about having a word that defines their year, I think that I am going to try to have two words, ‘Gratitude’ and ‘Family’. I have so much amazing and fascinating family, I need to remember to spend more time with them, to remind myself and them that I love them, and that I appreciate them not for what they can do for me but just because they exist and are amazing. I also have so many blessings, I am able to pay my bills every month, okay so some are a little later than the ‘deadlines’ however everything gets paid. I have a roof over my head, heat (thank you family & friends), relatively good health, food in my fridge and freezer (thank you to the hard times that taught me several cheap, bulk meals that I enjoy), a full-time job from which I am finally getting ‘cost of living’ pay increases which gives me some breathing room, and so much more. I still hope to get my online shop going, making some things in bulk so that I can sell them, there are a couple of fun ideas I would like to make progress on, but that is an extra. I have vacation time, a reliable car, and a small amount of extra money due to the pay increase, so I plan on visiting with family members that I do not get to see nearly as often as I would like. Last year the family lost three members in very different ways and they made me realize how long it had been since I saw anyone, I need to fix that. I love them, I haven’t visited with my dad’s favorite cousins since 2018, the little kids I played with are graduating high-school and looking at college. It is sort of devastating, fortunately I have the means to fix that.

Okay, enough of my self-reflection for today, I’m going to pick up a bit around the house working on my organization still, then I’ll put a heating pad on my thumb joint to see if the heat will loosen up the muscles some. Until next time remember to Live Life A Little More Abstract!

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!

Good Things

by CZeitler

At work we have a ‘Kindness Cart’ with hot chocolate and tea on top for patrons (and staff) to have during some of our programs. I am diabetic so I should not be drinking full-sugar hot chocolate, but I also have an insane sweet tooth so I bought some no sugar added hot chocolate. I also gave in and bought the new sprinkle things from Walmart, they are so cute and fun. Surprisingly they actually add flavor. I also gave myself a couple of treats when the SpongeBob and Grinch collabs came out from Burger King and McDonalds respectively. I didn’t really want the pineapple drink so I bought a meal that had everything but that, and that means that I did not get the box, lol. While I enjoyed the ‘starberry’ pie, everything else was just meh. The bacon potato cheese bites were just like the potato cheese bites, and the sandwich had no extra flavors to it. The drink may be good, however I don’t think I’m going to bother trying it. For the Grinch Meal I bought the nuggets meal, I was surprised at how small the nuggets seemed. I sort of think I got a 10 pack a couple of weeks ago and they were much meatier. The socks are cute, I received the green pair. The pickle salt was used to dip my fries in, this kept it from being too strong. I now know that there is a free Walmart express delivery for orders over $50 added into the Grinch meal. I guess I’m going to see if I can get a set of groceries that are either non-perishable or that I can put in my freezer sometime this weekend.

Okay, that is enough life and food content, onto the crafting. On one of the Facebook sites I follow they mentioned adding. tape onto their embroidery frames to help the machine recognize the frame. I taped where they did, and ordered a new embroidery frame in case it really is the embroidery frame, as shown below.

This did not work for me. I finally got fed up and used some of the foam board left over from cutting out my vest pieces to add to the opposite side of the frame to boost it about an inch up. This was enough to get the machine to recognize the frame. I created a couple of Celtic Knotwork Hearts in red on white felt. I still have to rinse off the top stabilizer before I add a grommet as a hanger.

Right now I am eating lunch and I have a lovely Firelight Fables candle burning. After lunch I plan on getting more of my aunt’s quilt finished. I hope to have the entire thing completed this weekend if not today. Since the hoop is now working (I hope) each section should take about 5 minutes of active embroidery. The longer part will be hooping the quilt, making sure that the embroidery is falling in the correct place, and wrestling it onto the machine.

This Saturday and Sunday is the Sorted Food, a YouTube channel I follow, murder mystery live show. While I have to work on Saturday I get to see the start, and catch up on everything after work so that I can take part on Sunday and see if I can solve the mystery.

I have so much to be thankful for, family, friends, a steady job, my bills are (mostly) paid, a roof over my head, food in the cupboard. There is a lot that I want to get accomplished, however very little will actively affect my life. I hope to get holiday cards and presents out to my family, I hope to make progress on my business and crafts, I am making progress on getting my home organized. I live in the knowledge that I will do what I can, let go what I cannot, and be happy with whatever progress I make.

Remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!