My bro with his dog, my sister with Rusty and my mom back there with Fuzzy who is trying to keep up in her older age

Yesterday I went out to a beautiful house by the ocean that is filled with life in many forms. My purpose there? To meet a family of six: four four-legged friends, a winged family member and a two-legged individual. I’ll be doing some petsitting for them and wanted to meet everyone and make sure that it would be a good match. It absolutely was. I already feel like I fit in with the family, a second caretaker to help out as needed but also a new friend. I’m sure there were many reasons that it was the right match but what really resonated with me was the uncanny resemblance that the two dogs of the family bear to the two dogs that I left behind when I moved here to the city 6 years ago.

First, why I petsit

Rusty, my Little Man

I’ve probably mentioned here a few times that I petsit on occasion. (I know that on my crochet blog I’ve shared photos of Betty, the cockapoo I watch, when I’ve crocheted clothing for her during my stays at her house.) I petsit in part for extra cash but that’s not the main reason that I do it. The real reason is because I really miss having pets in my life. I grew up in a family that always had more than one furry friend in the house at a time. I carried on that tradition myself when I moved out of my parents’ home, taking our young puppy Fuzzy and a newborn pup Rusty to my new home across town.

When I moved to San Francisco, there was just no way that I could bring them along. They were used to having huge yards with lots of space to roam. It wouldn’t have been fair to put them into an apartment even if I could find an apartment that would take me, my roommate and the two dogs and still be affordable for me as a young freelancer. So they stayed behind with Mom and Dad and I visit a few times a year.

Fuzzy with her “I didn’t do anything” look

Moving here was the first time that I didn’t have pets to care for. It was sad and lonely in some ways and really liberating in other ways. I hadn’t realized how much care and attention pets need until I didn’t have them anymore. It provided a great opportunity to really focus on myself and my needs and that has been beneficial. Now that I’ve done that for awhile, I’d like the responsibility of a pet again. (What I really want is a Shiba Inu puppy, after having fallen in love with one my brother was petsitting a few years ago.) But the apartment I am in (which I love for many reasons) doesn’t allow pets so that’s going to have to wait until I move again.

And that’s why I petsit. I get to enjoy the joy and responsibility and companionship of a few good furry friends again. And having learned how much of a responsibility a pet is, I am also happy that I am able to give someone else the chance to get away and focus on themselves now and then while knowing that their pets are in good hands.

Now, about Rusty and Fuzzy

We had a lot of dogs in my childhood, including Playful who was our wonderful Australian Shepherd that we had for the entirety of my childhood. But Rusty and Fuzzy were special because they were mine, not the family’s. I didn’t realize until I had them what unique personalities pets have and what an interesting dynamic can develop between two pets in the same family. There had always been the five of us humans in the house plus a couple of dogs and some cats and some other creatures and I was a kid the entire time so I didn’t really see any relationships that might have developed. The dogs were our friends, but I didn’t really think about their personalities much. Rusty and Fuzzy changed that, in part because I was alone with the two of them and in part because they had such intense, defined, curious personalities.

Fuzzy as a puppy

Fuzzy was my smart dog (despite her silly name which I have to blame on being young when we named her). She’s a big black lab/ chow mix with cute white paws and an intelligence that was usually fascinating and sometimes annoying. Annoying like the time when I realized that the reason Rusty was so skinny was because Fuzzy had figured out how to drag his dish and hers to the same spot and surround them both with her arms so that he couldn’t eat. Annoying like the long period of time when I kept trying to figure out what the heck was wrong with her leg only to eventually realize that she was faking a limp to get sympathy and special treatment. I kid you not. She even did something similar recently, at fifteen years of age. My mom and sister took the family’s other dog for a walk and Fuzzy isn’t in any shape to go anymore so she moped around the house while they got ready, acting bedraggled and huffing and puffing and on the verge of death. Then while they were gone she managed to sneak into my sister’s backpack and steal some food that she found in there, happily munching away at it with no breathing problems in sight when they returned. That’s my dog.

Rusty as a puppy

Rusty was my little cutie pie. He was adorable and lovable and fun. As he grew older, I called him my Little Man, because he got this regal older man look and yet somehow retained this little puppy attitude at the same time. I loved Rusty but there’s no nice way of putting it … he was dumb. Dopey is the word I usually use because he had these huge paws that he never quite grew into so he was a bit gangly. But not the brightest crayon in the box. Fuzzy would always figure out how to do things and he would always follow along after her, often not in the smartest way. Like how Fuzzy learned how to hook her paw’s nail into the screen door and open it so that she could come in and out from the front yard and Rusty eventually, after a long time, figured out that he could also get in that way but only by running full force into the door and butting it with his hard head so that it would spring open and he could dash in before it closed again. Ah, Rusty. It was a good thing, sometimes, that he was as dumb as he was. That dog could jump higher than any circus dog and if he had been any brighter then he might have figured out that if he moved up and over, instead of just up, he could easily jump the small fence that kept them in the yard. Luckily, he was never quite bright enough to get that idea and Fuzzy’s hip problems meant that she couldn’t do it to show him.

Oh Rusty. All of our girl dogs were spayed but Rusty was never neutered. He was forever trying to get into Fuzzy’s pants and she never let him. So he was super excited in his old age when my brother’s two girl dogs moved in for awhile. He immediately began trying to get some action. Sadly, my wonderful dumb little dog, did not know that the girl’s head is not what he was supposed to be aiming for.

The dynamic between them was always fun to see. Rusty brought out the fun side of Fuzzy. I don’t think that she would have been nearly so playful if it had just been me and her that moved out together, especially as she got older and the pain in her body got worse. But Rusty endlessly demanded that she play with him. And she did, until she’d get tired of his antics and warn him away and he’d get that “aw shucks” look and wander off until it was time to persistently return to get her attention again.

Rusty died last year, suddenly, without warning. I was shocked. Although in a way I’m kind of happy for him because if there’s any good way to go then it’s running around happily to the very moment when you suddenly aren’t anymore. I’ve been surprised that Fuzzy hasn’t succumbed to the same fate. As they got older, I always wondered how one would live without the other. She’s hanging in there, doing her own thing.

Old Memories, New Dogs

From the scrapbook: Fuzzy half-shaved after a surgery and Rusty ready to play

I think about Rusty and Fuzzy every now and then but I hadn’t thought about them this deeply until yesterday when I met these new dogs. They aren’t quite the same breed, but they are so similar to Rusty and Fuzzy in so many ways. The girl is a larger, black dog with white paws (like Fuzzy has) and hip problems (like Fuzzy has) and a loving face (like Fuzzy) and a smart mind (like Fuzzy). The boy is a smaller brown dog (like Rusty) with an adorable face that is half pup/ half old man (like Rusty) and this great lap dog attitude (like Rusty) but maybe not the smartest cupcake in the batch (aw, like Rusty). The boy could probably run and play endlessly but is held back a little bit by the girl’s handicaps; the girl benefits from pushing herself a little bit to keep up with the boy and get extra joy out of life.

Of course, there are differences between these dogs and my dogs, since each pet is unique and each set of animal dynamics is unique. Rusty was always my jealous dog. For all thirteen years of his life I couldn’t have a single moment with Fuzzy without Rusty coming in and sticking his nose in my face and his paw on my hand. I’ve only just met these new dogs so it’s hard to tell but I think if either of the two is jealous in this pair it’s the girl and it’s more because she sees the boy as “her baby” than because she needs the human attention desperately herself.

Fuzzy hogging a huge bone, circa 1999

And I’m sure that they have little quirks of their own that I’ll see as time goes on that are different from my dogs’ little quirks. Like how most people wouldn’t know that Fuzzy, my huge independent dog who rarely wanted me for much, would cower right on top of me in bed anytime there was a thunderstorm. It didn’t matter how old she got, how many storms she’d seen or how large of a space there was on the bed … she would run in, dig her way under the blanket and be right up on top of me until the storm ended. Recently we realized that her hearing is really going because there was a storm in Tucson and she didn’t notice.

As a petsitter, I obviously won’t know nearly as much about these new pets as I knew about mine living with them day in and day out. But I can tell that they have these wonderful personalities and it will be so fun to learn more about them and watch them grow and get to be a small part of their lives. I look forward to it all.

(And by the way, the family also has a beautiful bird and two gorgeous cats. I won’t go into all that right now but let me say that I’ve never met a Burmese cat before and I am now sold on the idea that if I ever get a cat again it’s going to be a Burmese! Oh and the human in their family is wonderful and warm, too.)

Tags: dogs, family, pets

1. Healthy eats
2. Ikebana display in Japantown
3. Won a cute crochet hat from a giveawy
4. Joined Virgin Air’s wine club
5. Hosted a huge blog giveaway
6. Easter at Dolores Park
7. Shopping in the Hiahgt
8. Birthday celebrations
9. Classic Car Show
10. My bro visited
11. California Academy of Sciences
12. Bagel sandwiches
13. Crochet pillow
14. Bought myself bright yellow flowers
15. Researched wearable art
16. Wore my new yellow dress a lot

Tags: april 2012, my life, Photos

I’ve spent multiple days doing things to celebrate my birthday with the wonderful people in my life. It’s been very special and very fun.

A Day with My Best Friend

Titanic

I spent all of Thursday with my best friend. We went to the first showing of Titanic in 3D. I’m sure I’ve mentioned here before that I love basically every single movie in 3D. I love the way that different things pop out at you and appear in depth on the screen. I never tire of it. Of course Titanic is a cheesy silly movie but that’s kind of what’s wonderful about it and I loved it. Then we went and got lunch at:

And then we got drinks (Irish coffee for me) at:

Night on the Town

On my actual birthday night a group of us went out and got dinner at Le Colonial. It’s a beautiful French Vietnamese restaurant where we did a prix fixe menu. I got a soup of English peas, spearmint and lemon-pepper creme fraiche, chicken two ways for my entree and we all got warm apple beignet for dessert.

Then we went and saw a 1950s themed play at ATC called Maple and Vine. It was good although we missed the first bit of it because we were running late from dinner.

I have never been late to a play before. I’m almost never late for anything. But I was having such a good time having great conversation with my friends at dinner that I didn’t mind.

Then we went and got a drink at the Redwood Room

And after that three of us went dancing at Badlands in The Castro which I hadn’t been to in forever. I got picked up and thrown in the air, became part of a dance circle and enjoyed the theatricality of the people dancing at the club.

Day Outside

My ex and I have side-by-side birthdays. This is the first year in five years that we aren’t together but we’re trying to be friends and we decided to get together for our birthdays. We had a really nice time at a classic car show, got crab sandwiches at a place I love near me and hung out watching TV. It was lovely. After that I caught up on phone calls with my family.

I feel really lucky to have such wonderful people in my life. I have people I can talk to, people I can laugh with, people for hugs, people who are really sweet to me.

Tags: birthday

Things have been so busy here the past several weeks but it’s always important to stop and check in with yourself and others so you don’t get overwhelmed or burnt out or just plain exhausted. That’s something I learned the hard way over the years and so I’ve taken it to heart. That’s why I thought I’d just do a little check-in here today about what’s been going on and where my head’s at.

Writing, Writing, Writing

The main thing that’s taking up my time right now is that I’m trying to get my book (on the health benefits of crochet) finished by the end of the month. I started this book last summer. I did a ton of interviews in those first few months and put out a lot of content but then I had to take a couple of months away from it. I needed that distance to get a clearer picture of where it was going. So I resumed the work last month and it’s my main focus this month. I’ve decided to self-publish the book for a range of different reasons, the main one being that I think that’s where the publishing industry is going these days and that’s where I want to be. So even after I get the final draft done, there’s still going to be a lot of work to do. I can’t spend forever on the project (financially, emotionally or creatively) so I have to get it done sooner rather than later.

Writing is a funny thing. There will be days when I write the entire day and it’s great. And then there will be days when I have to practically chain myself at the computer and I still only get a few words out. It seems to have nothing to do with the current content or my enthusiasm for the project or anything else that’s obvious on the surface. It’s just the ebbs and flows of the creative mind. It’s an interesting process learning to tangle with that. On the one hand, you do sometimes have to force yourself to sit there and get the work going. And on the other hand, you also need to give respect to the fact that some days the creative bug is burrowed so deep beneath the surface that trying to get in there and dig it out would do more damage to your brain than good. Learning that balance – when to push and when to relax and be okay with nothing happening – is something I’ve been working on for what seems like my entire life. I’m getting better with it although there are definitely days when I am super impatient for that bug to make its way to the surface so I can stop scratching the itch and just write.

I will say that it really helps that almost everything else I’m writing right now is stuff that I enjoy and want to be writing, like my crochet blog. I do have a few clients that I’m still working for because bills do need to be paid but I chose them really carefully and have limited how much I’ll do. It’s tempting to take on more jobs to reduce financial strain but doing too much non-inspiring writing really saps the creative energy and makes it nearly impossible to get done the work that is at the heart of what I want to do.

But Then There’s Money

I do admit I’m in a small battle with finances right now. I mostly try to handle it as maturely as possible without giving it too much attention. I do budget and pay attention to where my money is and make sure my bills aren’t late and all that. But I’m aware that I’m not making as much as I need to be and I have to consciously keep pushing that out of my mind because if making money is the focus then the creativity gets lost and that’s when discontent with life can seep in. I definitely need to be making a certain amount to maintain a lifestyle I want and enjoy but it’s also necessary that the money is earned by doing something I enjoy so it’s this whole tricky thing to figure out. This is definitely something I’ve also gotten better at over the years but during the times when the creativity is rich but the bank account is not it’s sometimes tough to remember how to be happy with what I have.

And Some Health Things

There are a few health things going on that I need to address and since I’ve been super focused on my work I haven’t really been doing that. One simple but major one is that I need to start exercising more. I had planned to start doing a long San Francisco stairway walk once a week and it’s been three or four weeks since I started that plan and I’ve yet to do any walks. And it keeps twinging at me that I want to go back to yoga but I’ve made no effort to do that either. I tend to be a much more in-my-head person than in-my-body person for sure. I am happy to sit for hours and hours messing with the computer or writing or doodling or thinking or daydreaming or reading or whatever. It takes much more conscious effort to enjoy physical activity. And it’s not that I don’t enjoy it. I love hiking. I like yoga. I enjoy walks. But those are things that I have to tell myself to go do because, hey, remember, you like those, whereas doing sedentary creative activities comes naturally. It’s hard to justify taking the time to do those things when I have work and creative things I want to do. But it’s an area that needs balance so I need to start giving it some attention.

The other possibly more pressing issue is that I think something is going on with my thyroid/ metabolism/ anemia … I am tired A LOT (and before you say that exercising more would help with that – I know, but at the same time, you need to have at least a little energy to exercise and some days I literally have NONE). In the past I’ve had mild anemia. And low thyroid runs in my family. I know that two years ago, my thyroid tested in the low range of normal so it’s something I have to watch. However, I’ve been holding off on actually going to the doctor until I try a few things to get some more information. I’ve started taking iron supplements again. I’m making sure to stay hydrated better than I was before. I’m definitely eating right (which I’d been mostly doing for awhile, though). I’m getting the rest I need. And partially I’m waiting to see if anything changes as my body regulates to its own hormone production since I stopped taking birth control pills five or six weeks ago. Actually, that’s one of the reasons I started thinking anemia may be the problem again since I’m starting to have regular periods again (on the pill it was only once every 3-4 months). So I’m gathering information and taking notes and then I’ll go to the doctor in a month or so if things haven’t improved. Or at least that’s the plan at this point.

On Dating

I don’t feel like getting too far into this at this point but thought I’d make a note that I’ve come to the conclusion that perhaps I’m just not ready to date yet. Last summer saw the end of a four and a half year relationship that I didn’t really want to end. I was thinking the past couple of months that I was ready to date and had started exploring my options. I went out at a couple times and made a few other plans that fell through. And all it did was make me not want to date. In being really honest with myself, I can see that there’s nothing wrong with the dates or the men but that I’m probably just not ready to go there despite wanting to be ready. So I’ll give it more time I guess.

And Some Other Things

I haven’t gotten too far into my plan to watch classic romance movies this month. I super loved Breakfast at Tiffany’s but haven’t found a single other movie I want to watch. Any suggestions? It’s gotta be available streaming on Netflix or Hulu.

My brother and sister and I pooled our thoughts and resources and got my mom the gift of a Mystery Theater Dinner for Valentine’s Day. It was fun to coordinate with them. I have been to mystery theater once before and it’s a silly good time. I actually went because I was hired as a marketing person. I was too young and inexperienced to actually do it and I quit almost immediately. As a youngster I was much better at talking my way into jobs than actually going to them. But as part of my interview I had to see the show so that’s why I’ve been and like I said it’s silly fun.

I’m reading more again. I had stopped reading a lot for awhile but lately I’ve been getting sucked into a variety of different books. I just finished reading The Man in the Gray Flannel Skirt. I’ll review it more in depth here in a day or two but just wanted to say that I adored it.

And that’s all for now folks …

Tags: checking in, vercillo, writing

I’ve been enjoying the weather here lately. Today I decided to go get myself a burrito for lunch and head to the park that’s near me. It’s a popular park where dogs are allowed off leash so lots of puppies thought they’d try and take my burrito from me.

Tags: neighborhood park, park

How the heck is it already Monday again? I’m not sure but I do know that it means that it’s Happy Homemaker Monday here on this blog, a project which is hosted by Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. Here’s what is going on right now in my world.

The weather:::

I’m definitely planning to try to get some outdoor activity on Thursday or Friday!

On my reading pile:::  

Hit by a Farm: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Barn

This is actually the first in a trio of memoirs that I already read the third one from (Sheepish, which I mentioned previously)

Manthropology: The Science of Why the Modern Male Is Not the Man He Used to Be

And I’ll also be reading some vintage crochet and homemaking magazines this week.

On my TV:::

I think this coming week I’m actually going to track exactly what I watched to see how much TV I’m really watching. Some of the things that my Hulu watch history says I’ve watched this week are:

(Basically a Canadian Sex in the City)

Dance Moms

On the menu for this week:::

Cinnamon Wheats with fresh fruit for breakfast. Lots of salads. Some rice and steamed veggies. Maybe lean pork chops.

On my to do list:::

• End of the Month invoicing, bill pay, income tracking etc.
• Taxes!
• Pick up books from the library
• Get a haircut
• Create a video for the first month roundup of 365 Ways to Wear Crochet

What I am sewing, crocheting, knitting or creating:::

• Donation items for Bridge and Beyond (finishing up a scarf)
• Mug Rug for crochet swap
• New crochet dress for myself!

Looking around the house:::

It’s time to take those bags of junk to the Goodwill. They’ve been sitting here ready to go for weeks.

From the camera:::

Something fun to share:::

Inspirational Quote:::

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you.” – Martha Graham

Happy Monday everyone!

Tags: day in a life, happy homemaker monday, my life

I haven’t set any specific goals for posting on this blog yet but I do know that I want to try to get a good personal post in once or twice per week. By that I mean a post where I really take the time to sit down and honestly share what I’m thinking and feeling, like a true journal entry, rather than just sharing photos and information about the things that I’ve been up to. I do enjoy sharing those, too, but I want this to be a place where I really get into the nitty gritty of my mind. So I’m taking the opportunity on this slightly rainy Wednesday morning to jot some thoughts down before I get up and really get going with my day.

The Freelance Life

The main thing on my mind right now is work. In 2006 I left law school and a social work job to begin freelance writing full time. I did well for myself and enjoyed a lot of variety in that career path. However, I was doing writing primarily for other people’s sites and publications. Last year I decided that it was time to make another transition and start writing nearly entirely for my own stuff as opposed to for other people. So I’ve been focusing on my crochet blog and am re-launching this blog, have published a booklet of crocheter stories and am working on some other books. I am happier with my work that I have ever been in my life and that means a lot to me. But it comes with a price (or two).

The main concern right now is money, which is frustrating. The thing is that I’m not 21 anymore. I’ve experienced making decent money and I’ve grown accustomed to an adult life with some creature comforts. I don’t spend lavishly but I like expensive soy milk and the occasional bottle of wine and living alone in a lovely part of the city. It was a big step for me a few years ago when I got my own health insurance as a freelancer. And last year I started putting money in an IRA for the first time. And although I still have health insurance and I haven’t touched the money in the IRA, my savings are rapidly being depleted and I’m struggling with bills for the first time in a long time. That’s a frustrating stage to be at because it feels like I’m going backwards financially.

Most of the time, I’m okay with this. I think it’s worth it because I wake up every day wanting to do more work instead of dreading what I have to write that day. Writing for others had many wonderful benefits and there are things (even non-financial) that I miss about it which is why I do sometimes still seek out that type of work. However, writing for other people tended to drain my creativity whereas writing for myself just generates more and more creativity. I value that. It’s a quality of life issue for me and I’m willing to pay a price for that.

Moreover, I do believe that in the long term this path will lead to financial stability and even success. On a practical level, I’m doing more stuff that generates long-term passive income. Additionally, I’m getting the ball rolling on a true career whereas before I was just writing to support someone else’s career path and of course developing your own career is typically the better financial option. On a more esoteric level, there is a part of me that believes that when you are doing what you are happy doing and are also good at doing then you are on the right track and the universe (if you will) is going to reward you with the opportunities and advantages necessary to be successful.

So I’m happy with that. But when it comes time to actually pay the bills, it’s a little tough to remember that, which is part of why I’m journalling it down to keep it in perspective!

The other rough side of doing my own work is that those self-doubts creep in about my writing. It doesn’t matter how many accolades you get as a writer, when you sit down to develop the next step in your career, you always have doubt. You wonder if you’ve got anything left and if anything that you’ve written before was actually any good. And I have to fight that sometimes although it’s been better lately since I feel like I’m in line with what I’m truly wanting to do with my life. That said, there were doubts when writing for others as well, because I felt like my talents were being wasted writing the same types of articles again and again but at the same time wondered if I was capable of doing more. So I guess this isn’t really a new problem, just a different twist on it.

To keep things in perspective, I’m happy with this work and I’m getting closer to making ends meet so I think it’s all good for now despite some tough days.

On Being “Alone”

I suppose the other main thing on my mind these days is the whole idea of dating and what type of partner I want to have in this life. Throughout the course of my last relationship I truly desired a closer partnership with someone who really wanted to make a life with me. But sometimes I wonder whether that’s because I genuinely wanted that or if it’s because I wasn’t getting enough from that specific relationship and it caused a battle in me to want to fight for more. I’m not sure at this stage. Some days I feel very clear about what I want and other days I don’t have a clue. And I think that it’s important to know what you want before you get too involved with someone so that you can adequately articulate that to them. So that’s something that’s on my mind as I try to puzzle through it.

I think part of the problem is that what I think I want in theory doesn’t actually work with my personality. In fact, I was just talking to a good friend of mine about this. Somehow we had gotten to talking about couples that make life lists (bucket lists) and keep journals and that kind of thing together. And I said that I always kind of wanted a partnership like that. However the truth is that my personality is really independent and in the end I don’t think that I’m attracted to the type of relationship that would involve that level of interactivity with one another on such a steady basis.

But I’m not sure. Because sometimes I fantasize about having a life partner who would also be my work partner and with whom I could collaborate creatively. But then sometimes that sounds terrible. I don’t really want to spend so much time with anyone that I’m with them at work and at home. Heck, I don’t even know that I really want to share my home with someone. So maybe I want a work partner OR a life partner but not both, either from the same person or from two different people.

In reality, I think that a lot of this will solve itself as time goes on and I start meeting people and figuring out what works with whoever I “click” with. One of the core things I learned in therapy was that I do a lot of “future tripping” and that it’s really valuable for me to learn to “be where I am” and deal with what I’m actually feeling in the moment. At the same time, I do feel like I tend to lose myself in relationships in a way that isn’t healthy for me and I want to have at least some solid sense of what I’m seeking in order to avoid the worst of that.

At this stage, I’m not dating, but I’m beginning to think about dating. I think that whatever happens, I’m going to need to take it slowly and feel my way along and stay in touch with myself. We’ll see.

Quick Birth Control Update

I mentioned previously that I’m going off of birth control after five years. I thought I’d give a little update to say that I’m not actually experiencing anything different with my body yet. I’ve been off the pill for about a week now (plus the week that would have been placebo pills anyway) and I expected to feel something or other but besides being a little more tired than usual I’m feeling the same as always.

Tags: journal entry, musings, thoughts

How the heck is it already Monday again? I’m not sure but I do know that it means that it’s Happy Homemaker Monday here on this blog, a project which is hosted by Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. Here’s what is going on right now in my world.

The weather:::

This week’s weather in San Francisco is typical for this time of year as we enter our rainy season.

On my reading pile:::  

KaChing: How to Run an Online Business that Pays and Pays

Unexpected Crochet For The Home; I reviewed this one and am now working from it

On my TV:::

In addition to the usual stuff, I’ve added a few new TV shows to what I’m watching:

Did you know that I’ve written a book on the Ghosts of Alcatraz?

On the menu for this week:::

I went to the Japanese supermarket a few days ago and it turns out that they have a great selection of thinly cut meats. I rarely cook meat but I picked up some beef as well as some pork so I’m going to try my hand at doing something with that this week. I’ll probably make a stir fry one day and just a rice bowl with veggies and beef the other day. We’ll see.

On my to do list:::

• Dentist appointment (sad face)
• Do a proposal for a crochet magazine story
• Resume regular exercise routine

What I am sewing, crocheting, knitting or creating:::

• Wrapping up my work on my 2011 photo scrapbook
• Frogging and fixing the crochet dress I was working on last week
• Crocheting mittens for charity (going to Bridge and Beyond)

Looking around the house:::

Uh oh … my comfy couch looks just as bad as it did when I reported last week. Still covered with junk to be sorted through. How did a whole go by without dealing with it? I think this is how hoarding starts!

From the camera:::

Sometimes my breakfast smiles at me.

Something fun to share:::

I participated in my first cross-blog conversation on my crochet blog, talking each day with Sara from Mom with a Hook. It was wonderful and it makes me want to do more of these conversations. In fact, I’ll be doing one here next week chatting with Aprile of The Steady Hand.

Inspirational Quote:::

“If our shadow could talk, it would tell us that our brightest light can shine only when we’ve accepted our darkness.” ~ Debbie Ford

Happy Monday everyone!

Tags: day in my life, happy homemaker monday

I often think of small little notes that I want to share with others but they aren’t things that require a whole blog post. I’ll be sharing these in short snippets under the feature title: K-Tips. (Kathryn’s Tips).

For example, today I was thinking about how I mix my coffee and tea and I thought that others might like to know that I do this by putting two different coffee filters into the coffee maker. I put the coffee in first then I put a second filter on top of that and add the loose tea. Then I brew as normal. The reason that I do this is because the tea can be re-used many days in a row but the coffee is too weak if you re-use it. So I pop the tea filter out, put in new coffee in a bottom filter and then pop the tea back in.

Tags: coffee tea, Food, K-tips

How the heck is it already Monday again? I’m not sure but I do know that it means that it’s Happy Homemaker Monday here on this blog, a project which is hosted by Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. Here’s what is going on right now in my world.

The weather:::

It’s nippy out now but it’s supposed to get sunny later. Sadly the week was supposed to be sunny moving forward but now it’s looking like it’s going to be rainy instead. We’re entering rainy winter season here.

On my reading pile:::  

I am almost done reading Catherine Friend’s Sheepish: Two Women, Fifty Sheep, and Enough Wool to Save the Planet. I don’t know why I’ve been reading so slowly lately.

On my TV:::

Oh, yeah, perhaps I’m reading so slowly because I’ve got the TV on way too much.

Netflix added a few of my favorites so I’m doing some marathoning of:

and

And the fall shows have started again so since my last update I’ve watched single episodes of:

• Grey’s Anatomy
• Private Practice
• Desperate Housewives
• Pan Am
• Teen Mom 2
• Deadly Women
• Law and Order SVU
• CSI New York

On the menu for this week:::

I’m loving this morning mixture of coffee and tea. Kona coffee and Apricot Chai is my go to this week. I’ve got tons of salad supplies so I’m going to mix up some olive oil and vinegar combos (I love flavored vinegars and also have a great flavored lemon olive oil) and make lots of salads this week. I’m also thinking lots of steamed black rice and veggies.

On my to do list:::

• Catch up on articles for various sites
• Errands to the library and post office
• Get 2011 photos into some sort of scrapbook
• Read more!  :)
• I know there’s lots more on the list but I still need to seriously declutter my house before my brain will be decluttered enough to make this list productive.

What I am sewing, crocheting, knitting or creating:::

I’m about to finish crocheting a new dress that I’m super excited about. If I get it done by Wednesday morning I’ll be showing it off then over on Crochet Concupiscence.

Looking around the house:::

It’s getting back to normal! Finally. The bedroom is mostly decluttered and looking good. All the old junk in the bathroom has been thrown out. The kitchen is happy. It makes me feel a lot better. The living room needs some serious work, though. See – this is supposed to be my comfy couch:

From the camera:::

from the Sharf Reef aquarium a Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas

Something fun to share:::

Crochet Playground Sculpture in Japan. Learn more here.

Happy Monday everyone!

Tags: day in my life, happy homemaker monday