Dreams

Recently I've been dreaming of wide open spaces, land as far as the eye can see. No tourists. No traffic.

I've been dreaming of horses, sheep, chickens. A home where the view from the kitchen window is a mountian.

I've been dreaming of a place where survival skills are necessary because the closest store is 2 hours away, the nearest neighbor, 20 miles. I want to be one of those people who is always prepared for anything that might come along in one's day to day life. I'm never that person. I run out of things in the kitchen all the time. Why? Because I'm five minutes from the Winn-Dixie or Publix. I never plan meals in advance and just kind of wing it every day. Even during hurricane season I try to prepare ahead of time but I know deep down inside if the big blow hit we'd be the ones having to pay $40 for a bag of ice. We'd be the ones begging to buy a can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup for $5. I want to know that I can count on myself to take care of my family in case of a disaster.

I read all the articles on preparing food in large quantities and then freezing the prepared dishes in family sized portions and wow, you have a complete family dinner ready to go for future use. You come in, pull something out of the freezer and dinner's ready in no time. Like I said, I read the articles but I never impliment their advice.

I clip recipes for basic kitchen mixes, pancake, brownie, muffins, taco seasoning. Things that should make the preparations for homemade meals effortless and supposedly less expensive than store brands, and then they sit ignored on the shelf.

I tear out articles on organization, how to make one's home run more efficiently, they stay piled in their folder forgotten as soon as they are tucked in the pocket.

Over the last few days I've determined I'm much more of a dreamer than a doer and I hate that about myself. Ok I've known this fact for a long time but now I'm embracing it and I'm hoping over the summer to become more of a doer. To be more prepared, if anything so that my kids will learn the importance of being ready for anything that can happen. Of course you can't plan for everything but with just a little advanced preparation even the hardest times can be met with grace and courage.



Other News

Trying to get in a little time on Fairy Grandmother everyday. Also found another UFO that is getting it's share attention. Sheepish Designs Time Has Wings. I started this a couple of years ago after buying it at a cross stitch retreat. I can only take FG in small sections of time as the color changes drive me nuts. I'm now avoiding her wing. I need to get over it and focus on that area for the rest of the week.

I'm planning to make a needle book for a friend for a swap, and I think I've finally figured out how to do it. This will be my sewing project for the weekend.

I've also been trying to crochet at least one row a day on my Red Heart Gemstone/Black afghan. As soon as I finish the piece for the swap I'll start focusing on my 63 squares. They are starting to scream at me. This will be such a pretty afghan when finished. I'd love to have the blocks finished by the end of the year.

Being realistic about my projects has never been one of my strong points. I always think things will stitch up faster than they do, I think a crochet project will be easy and within my skill level and then I find it's much harder and more frustrating than I expected. I'm learning to do practice swatches which helps.

Curves

Went for my fourth visit today. I'm getting into a routine and my heart rate is staying in the 80% range. Even when I slow down for a while it still stays kicked up a little higher than the chart specifies, I guess that's a good thing, means I'm burning fat cells. I definitely leave there with a good sweat and it's not from the lack of air conditioning in my truck.