Life

Monday, December 22, 2008

BRRRR It's cold out there

I am so thankful for my nice warm home and my very nice warm bed to sleep in. The weather around here in Northwest Indiana has been COLD. Working the midnight shift it seems I go to work in the very bitter cold and get off in the very bitter cold. No sunshine to warm things up even a little bit. When I got to work last night I called Time & Temp and it said it was -1 and that was without windchill. My workplace is out in the open so just walking in from the parking lot can be a bear. Wind just whips all around you. It felt good to get inside the building where its nice and toasty. Very toasty. LOL we are talking so toasty we sometimes open the outside door to let the frigid cold in just to get the temp inside our work area to around 70. Something is messed up with the heating system and I don't see it changing anytime soon. Its been this way for the last 11 1/2yrs so... I really am not complaining honestly, but it does make it difficult to dress for work. You get all bundled up to get to work and then you are taking as much off as possible to not pass out from the heat. So an interesting time. When I get home in the morning one of the first things I do is turn on my heated mattress pad. Get my bed all nice and toasty warm. My very good friend Deana got me hooked on this thing. Best invention for the bed that is for sure. I LOVE IT!!! I didn't use to be this cold, and usually in the winter I just had one of those fleece blankets on my bed and that was it. Now since I have lost over 170lbs I am cold. I never thought that would be possible that I, Sue, would ever be comfortable being all bundled up. But I am. I love the warmth.
I am trying to finish up some last minute Christmas things and try and figure out what to make for Christmas dinner to take to my mothers. Some sort of side dish and some appetizer. Hmm need to get my thinking cap on. Time has gone by so fast and I have always said once Thanksgiving gets here I swear you blink and Christmas is here. I still need to wrap presents, I am way behind. Of course I have to remember where I stashed everything also. It never fails I always end up finding something that I forgot about after the holidays. Oh well nice after Christmas presents.
I just wanted to update a little about things going on around here. I need to get myself in gear today and get some things done around here before I need to lay down to take a little nap before work tonight. I hope everyone is having a very happy and joyous holiday season. I love this time of year. Love to all.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Almost done

I have been working on many different craft projects over the last couple weeks. It seems like I must have 12 different projects going on at any one given time. I also have had ideas pop up in my head that I take care of right then and there. Come January I will need to give my right wrist and thumb a break. I have had trouble with my right hand for awhile and even had to have a cortisone shot in my hand right below my thumb. That hurts really bad, and I really don't want to have another one but will if I have to because it does work. I have been wearing my brace on my hand which does help with my pain, but it plays havoc on getting caught on the thread or yarn. So its a win/lose situation. Oh well just something I deal with. But I do know I am going to try and give it a rest come 1st part of the year. For next year I will start my Christmas projects early and try and work on them all year long. That way won't be so intense all at once. Well at least thats what I hope to do. I also want to try my hand at doing some quilting. I have done some small projects where I have handquilted on fabric that has already been printed and that was fun. But I really want to try and do some of the piece types. I have seen some really beautiful ones while reading other peoples blogs. I would really like to give everyone of my family members a quilt for Christmas next year. Well at least thats my goal. I only need 7 of them. Hmmm



This is the embroidery I did for my son and my future DIL Kristal. It was a free pattern I received. It was called Happy Tree Family and there were 2 little trees also in it, but I just wanted these 2 trees in this pic. This was one of those projects that was a last minute thing and I made it yesterday.


These 2 ornaments are for my granddogs, Oliver the weiner dog, and Leonard. I couldn't find a pic of a dog that looked like Leonard so I just settled for a dog pic and did him in the color he is which is white and black. This one I also made yesterday. I took the ornaments and the pic over to my sons house last night and they both were very pleased with the presents.
Although I need a little break from doing some projects, I will be taking some knitting with me to work tonight. My daughter is still struggling with gettting the hand on knitting so she ask me to make her a scarf. She was getting frustrated and got tired of taking it apart. I can do the knitting without to much trouble and should help in keeping me awake at work.
Have a wonderful Holiday season.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Stitchery projects






Since I work the midnight shift, I am able to do some craft projects at work. I still am able to get my job done without a problem. But I need to have something to keep me busy inbetween bedchecks and laundry. So I have been crocheting, making fleece blankets for gifts, knitting and doing some stitchery. I am loving it. It really doesn't take much time and I am loving the results. Yes I have a long way to go before I would consider it perfect. But what I have made has turned out nice. Or at least I think it has.
I also got some material at JoAnns for the backing. I have another project I have made but I can't post it yet as this person might see it if they happen to view this blog so don't want to take a chance. The fleece blanket was for a shower gift for a coworker. She loved the blanket and said she would use it at work that day since the boiler was acting up and it was cold at work. Hey whatever works.

I also have made a couple of knitted hats. These take no time at all and will come in handy for my family. It also keeps me busy and AWAKE while at work. Even though I don't like working the midnight shift, I have been able to get numerous projects done so all in all that is a good thing.

I will be finishing up the stitchery projects today and tomorrow since I am off. A couple of them will go in frames and a couple will go as wall hangings. I also made a small weiner dog picture that I am going to turn into an ornament for my son's tree. I will need to take a pic of that after its all done.

I hope you have enjoyed the projects. I know I have enjoyed making them. And there are so many cool patterns out there that I want to make so looks like I am going to keep myself busy this winter.

Have a wonderful day and stay warm, especially if you live in the midwest.


Friday, December 5, 2008

Christmas 2008


Just wanted to share a few pics of my Christmas decorations. I decided this year to decorate my living room only. Working these midnight shifts I pretty much am either sleeping, sitting in living room or at work. So I want to enjoy my things in one room. Also in past years I have put up decorations in all rooms and I usually end up forgetting something and find it after I have put away all the decorations back in the shed and we have gotten a lot of snow. So I put the object that was forgotten up so I won't forget where I put the next year and I usually forget where I put it. So one room this year and I should be good. I only have room for a small tree, so I have a 4ft one that I put on a small table. Its only me so this works. 99% of my ornaments are ones I have made over the years. I hope to get some different ones after Christmas this year and have a more unified tree next year. I would really like to have a country look. Will see what I can come up with.

The little stockings above the piano I made many years ago. They have our names written in gold glitter paint. I will need to make a new one for my sons fiance. The snowman pot on the hutch I made for a Christmas party at work. Its made from a clay pot and saucer. I have a snowman one also but haven't run across it yet. Must be one of those things I put away where I could find it later. The snowbabies on top of the hutch my mother gave to me this year. She said she just has so much stuff and really needed to get rid of some things. I was happy to take these off her hands. I have a few more pics to download and will share them later along with some of the craft projects I have finished up for presents. Hope you enjoy this small look into my world.