A race against time

OK -- I'll try not to go on and on about my virtual challenge, but I'm loving it. DH thinks I'm obsessing because I talk about it every day. And some people that I talk to think that the four of us are in a race against each other. NO - we're only in a race against ourselves. I have another challenge where I'm walking across Canada. Each day my FitBit transfers the miles that I've walked to the map. Since M lives in Vancouver and that's where I am right now (having started in Victoria), I thought I'd share my position on the map with you. She lives in Burnaby and I made sure to wave as I walked through!

Me against my pace marker

M - here's a close up of exactly where I am.

My exact position on the Cross Canada Walking Challenge

Now here's the thing. I set an aggressive pace - I must go back and look at what the daily mileage was, but the goal is to walk across Canada in two years. It's a total of 5,184.2 miles over two years. Just did the math - yikes. That equals SEVEN miles a day. My average in the past has been about 6 so it is a stretch to do 7 - EVERY DAY for 2 years. I was away last week and walked about 4.3 miles each day. Let's just say that it's no surprise that I'm about 15 miles behind. Both in this challenge and the one that I'm doing with the Quilt Posse group.

The virtual challenge that I'm doing with the other is to walk Route 66 in one year (that's MY goal). The total distance is 2,280.3 miles and that works out to 6.25 miles per day for one year. I've got to ramp up my walking each and every day to meet those goals.

So you can see - this is NOT about winning or being in front of the others - this is about keeping up to the aggressive pace that I set for myself.

On that note, I've already been to the gym and walked for 2 miles. What I need to figure out is how many steps is 7 miles. I might have to back off that Cross Canada pace a wee bit. I'm thinking that 15,000 steps should equal about 6 miles. Doable for me in a day, but 17,000 every day???  That's a bit of a stretch.

However, I've changed my habits significantly over the past year and not just because of these challenges. I used to use my car to do all my errands. I'd save them up and then take a trip to the mall, then the library, the bank or whatever else needed to be done.

Now, I walk EVERYWHERE - well almost everywhere. And do I group up those errands? I do NOT. I'd be happy to walk to the mall every day to get one new thing or drop off one book each day at the library or deposit one cheque a day at the bank. Then turn around and do it again the next day. I like walking in my neighborhood and I like getting the exercise. If I only go for one thing, it's easy to carry.

So when I saw that I need more liquid calcium this morning, I was thrilled even though I had been to the mall yesterday because it means I need to go to the mall again. It's all about rewiring the brain. I don't need a fancy gym membership to get in this kind of exercise. It's just plain walking in my neighborhood. Although as I mentioned, I was at the gym this morning. I need to get some serious miles in to catch up!

What about the time you say? Well - I'd rather be in great shape, getting my fresh air, and checking out the things around me than sitting at home watching TV or sitting in front of any kind of a screen. I consider this time an investment in my future. I see what happened to my Mom and I refuse to let that happen to me. She became complacent about moving around and has pretty much lost the use of her legs. Her balance and level of security of walking unaided are totally gone. I WILL NOT let that happen to me.

Good habits developed now will continue into my future. And if it's too icy outside - well, I can go to the gym or like I did last week - I walked the halls of the hotel and up and down the stairs to get the distances in. It's all about using what you have available. And if someone sees me walking the halls of the hotel? Who cares!!! I sure don't.

I suggested that our Quilt Posse go to LA once all of us have arrived virtually! Wouldn't that be a hoot.!!!

Speaking of walking in my neighborhood, I'm walking the girls in the woods behind our house. OH boy - we had rain - a lot of rain on Saturday. This is what we had to walk through. That's very unusual for January!! Normally this would be frozen over, but nope - we had to wade through it. Thank goodness for rubber boots. I don't even wear winter boots anymore - I just wear rubber boots. I love them as I can grip the icy surfaces way better with my toes through the thinner soles and so far so good.

The path goes through the water

We didn't have to walk through this puddle, but it's amazing how much water had accumulated in one day.

Water that accumulated from one day's rain in JANUARY

I think it was last year or the year before (It was December 2016) that I posted about all these page-a-day calendars that I've acquired over several years. I pulled them out the other day. This needs to be addressed. So I went through the EIGHT calendars (most had been used for the first month or less).

Page a day calendars

I found two that of them match the dates and days of the weeks as this year. TWO. One I know was from 2003. Not sure about the other one. I put the others away and I'll deal with them next year to see if any coincide with the dates and days for 2021. Not that it really matters as I don't rely on them for the date. But I'm a Virgo and we do like some order.

Two Page-a-Day calendars for this year

Both of them are just pictures. I should be able to manage to read the Dog Shaming caption and glance at the MC Eischer photo and then throw the pages in the recycling. I think I can manage that. It takes less than one minute. Both of them are currently sitting on January 15 - ready for tomorrow. If I find anything interesting in the MC Eischer one, I'm putting it into my inspiration journal.


I also found this tote bag that M bought me. Ritter chocolate is my FAVORITE. Yep - I still eat chocolate, almost every day. BUT I have four squares of chocolate NOT the entire chocolate bar. With all my mileage, I'm entitled to eat chocolate. Now the tote bag is hanging in the room downstairs with all the other tote bags. When I need a tote bag, I can grab this one. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being as organized as I am and can't wait to get the rest of the place cleaned up!!

Tote bag made from chocolate wrappers

Actually, I don't think it was made from wrappers - it appears to be laminated fabric where all the packaging was printed. I've tried most of those flavors, but not all.

Here's my quilt that I finished the backing for the other day. It's now moved into the "to be quilted" pile. I'm super excited about that!! One more bites the dust!

A quilt top, backing, and binding now moved to the "to be quilted" pile

So what did I walk to the mall for yesterday? Why yarn of course!! I wanted to buy ONE small ball of the cotton yarn so I could make the Swifter covers. Shoot - all they had were the big ones. I thought long and hard before I bought the big ball. What I don't use, can be made into dishcloths on the next road trip. To be even more environmentally friendly, I didn't get a bag, but just tucked that ball of yarn under my arm and walked back home.

Ball of cotton yarn

Now I can make several of the darn Swifter covers as I think we have three of those Swifters in our house. That's a job for next Monday or that would be an excellent thing to do in the evening when I'm listening to my audiobook. If I don't have something in my hands - I'll fall asleep.

Well - as usual, there's a whole lot that needs to be done today so I'd better get started.

Have a super day!!!!!

Ciao!!!

Great Expectations

No - I have not succumbed to watching TV, although there I am last night with the iPad propped up on a photo frame doing more research!  Let me tell you that it's super distracting and I'll be glad when the research part of this project is over!  I don't have a case for the iPad that doubles as a stand - that's a pain but I'm not about to break down and buy one.

I made good progress on stuff yesterday.  Now it's onto the handles for those tote bags. There are forty of them. It took a long time to press them yesterday on my new pressing station as I'm getting tired of working on these and I was easily distracted?   A couple of them have to be repressed later today and then all of them have to be stitched. Thankfully, I'm working on a super fast sewing machine at the moment so hopefully one hour to repress a few handles and one hour to stitch them and I'll be done?  That's my goal.

I'm also working on the next magazine quilt that I hope to have in a FedEx box on Monday. It's big. Everything is cut and marked. There are 8 pieces (X 72) that had to be marked before being sewn onto the background.  Half of those are sewn on - I hope today between classes to get them all trimmed and pressed so I can sew the other half on before dinner and then hopefully assemble the blocks tonight. Problem is there are TWO partial seams in EACH of 36 blocks so that will slow me down a bit.  There will be NO research happening tonight as I attempt to make that happen.

As we wind down the year (I know - there are still two months), but people will be thinking about how they will change themselves in the new year. They'll be thinking about buying Christmas presents. BEFORE you buy anyone one of those page-a-day calendars, I want you to go back and read my blog post about the page-a-day calendars.

I think since I wrote that post, I managed to unearth one or two more of them.  While I did make some progress in a couple of the calendars this year - for gosh sakes - the darn things sit on my desk in PLAIN view!  The only one that I`m able to keep up with is the Quote a day! There is no mental math, there is nothing to make, nothing to color - I just have to read it.  If I like it, I hang onto the quote so I can take a picture or hang it on my inspiration board. The rest get used as scrap paper!  

I love this one and based on what has been happening in the last while, I have BIG EXPECTATIONS about myself.  I call it delusional doability.  And it CAN BE DONE!!!!    Just watch me as I attempt to make not one, not two, but THREE quilts before I leave on Wednesday night!  All are cut, NONE are wall hangings.  I'm an idiot!!!!    Thankfully one is for work so I can actually sew that at work which is a lifesaver!   And only two have to be quilted. There are still bits of those bags to finish off and I have to teach today!

From time to time, I come across items or articles that I think you might be interested in.   I`m one of those people who has NEVER watched Game of Thrones. I have no idea what genre of show it is, I don`t know any of the characters names. I know absolutely zero about it, except that some people are absolutely taken with the show!  It's nice to see this article showing that the "makers"  (that's us) have a way to do stuff about anything!   It helps to raise awareness about the arts and crafts movement of which we're all a part of.

Check out this link to see the project.   Or if that link doesn't work, just search for Game of Thrones tapestry and you'll find loads of information!  It's pretty cool, even for a non-watcher of the show!

On that note, I'm out of here.  I have two very impatient girls hovering by my chair  (is it time?  is it time?  Mom - IS IT TIME?)  NO - it's not time to go to the park yet!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!

Set up for failure.....................

I'm super excited - one more sleep and then I'm revealing my list of 12 projects for 2017.  I've been bustling around this morning taking photos so I can share it with you.  Make sure you wach for that blog post - it's going to be the start of something awesome. I can't wait to get started!

I do think I'll have to reboot my computer today though as there are a lot of pictures and the computer is super slow.  We don't have time to waste!

I'm making great progress on my list of things to do which I'll be sharing with you as well.  Let's just say that I can't wait to get home tonight after my class so I can get started on something new!  Well, not new - just a different item on the list.

I did my pick up yesterday - 2 1/2 hours to complete that errand but it had to be done and all will be revealed on Thursday night.

Today I want to share with you a complete fail.  It's hilarious and based on our situations, I had to share it with you.

You're out there shopping for presents for people?  I know you are (thankfully, I'm not buying ONE single present this year - not even for Miss Lexi!)  OK - I'm lying a bit as I'lm going to buy two things - both for me!

Let's say that you're at the bookstore which is an excellent place to get gifts.  You see this stand.......

Page a day calendars!

AHA - look at all those cool topics - that would be perfect for Bob and Susie and Barb, etc.

Well - let me tell you a little story about those calendars.  In my cleaning up, sorting through, guess what I found????

Word of the day calendar

 Note the date of the exposed page - yes, the rest of the calendar is intact.  What year is this??  Well, TUESDAY, January 3 was in Jan 2012.

Then I found this calendar from Modern Family.

Modern Family page a day calendar

GOD - January 1 - I didn't even take one page off.  Thursday, January 1 was in 2015


But I'm not done!    Here is a Scrabble calendar.

Scrabble page a day calendar

Monday, January 9, 2012!


And then there's this calendar - not Scrabble, but that same type of thing.  Note the year is right on the calendar!  January 8, 2010.

Word play of the day

 BUT wait - there's more!!!!   Look at the date on this one!!!

Dog picture - page a day calendar

 Yep - no pages ripped off from 2005!!!!!

At least this one was slated for a project.  I think we had two of them that year and one was used to decoupage a box.

Decoupaging a box with dog pictures

I don't think I'm very good with this decoupage stuff

 That darn box is sticky - well not sticky, but it sticks.  Does that make sense???


Now you see why I failed at The Town and Country quilt which was making ONE block per day - I didn't even get started on that one, although I did buy my fabrics.

At least, I made it to February 17 with the 365 Block a Day challenge - the scrap one.

Now, not all is lost.   I have TWO page a day calendars this year.

TWO page a day calendars

I keep these on my desk and you can see that the one on the left is UP TO DATE.  The picture was taken a couple of weeks ago.  It's a beautiful calendar - art/inspiration and I have many of the little pieces of art hanging around my office.  I don't have time to load the picture this morning, but I'll find it.  The second calendar, I was doing great until I got stuck on a word and then no time to get back to it.  But I will - it's a good diversion.

Is there a lesson in all this????   Yep - be careful what you buy for people as many gifts will NEVER be used.  It's the thought that counts???  Or are we simply adding to their stress level?   Me?  I won't buy this for anyone ever again, BUT I'm going to buy the Inspiration one for me again this year.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE that calendar.

Best Page a Day Calendar in the world!!!!

I also have this calendar for 2017.  Will I keep up???   Nope - I already feel myself behind!  But it might make a good take along project for road trips.

The New Hexagon

And then I received this calendar the other day.  (Thanks Elaine) This is perfect, as I keep a calendar of my schedule on my office door so people know where I am.   I plan to be very creative with my work schedule this year (OK - who am I kidding!)  But I do have a wicked travel schedule and vacation and so I'm going to post this calendar on my door to keep the others informed of my whereabouts. And a nice list to keep things under control!

Calendar for the office

Isn't that hysterical????   I couldn't believe how many of those calendars I had.  I can reuse the word a day one in 2017!!!!  (And one of the Scrabble ones as well.)   I have a feeling that is why the year got knocked off the calendars!!!   Anyway, if I take it to work, I'll be that much smarter by learning a new word everyday.  Here's the thing - if I could remember each new word, great!  But I can't and that is why I feel failure with these calendars.  I can't find the expert word score in Scrabble so I wait, hoping that one day I'll find the word.

Hello self????   It isn't going to happen, so rip those pages off, have fun, learn something that you will retain for 5 minutes and MOVE ON!!!!!

I love it!!!!!!

On that note, I'm a bit behind this morning because of the slow computer and I still have to finish quilting a quilt for a customer.

Have a super awesome day!!!

Ciao!!!!

Speaking of calendars......

It's going to be the most amazing day today!  Why?  Just got a feeling. Had a great sleep, knees are in pretty good shape (despite the fact that I haven't been taking the Sierrasil - who can remember?), had an awesome workout at the gym, Tim's has a new cup design for the holidays and well everyone I've spoken to so far this morning has been CHEERY and HAPPY and that's cause enough to have a great day!!!!

But speaking of calendars, I can't wait to get my new one up. I know, don't rush the days, but I'm super excited to post things on my calendar - like a picture of Tish's laundry basket!   I'm not going to let that one slip by.  Oh no - I'm up for a challenge and it's all her fault! 

I'm not sure if you're aware of this next calendar, but this is the PIECEMAKERS Times and Seasons calendar.  The first one was produced in 1988 and this is their THIRTIETH calendar.  

2017 PIECEMAKERS Calendar

Not only is this a calendar, but that picture on the front? That's a quilt pattern that's included in the calendar. The first ones were squares that were sewn together with alternate blocks to make a quilt. They got very creative as time went on and somewhere around 1997, the patterns became a large scenic quilt. They're all beautiful and LOADS of work.  Lots of room for embellishment as well.

Please stop by their web page to see the calendar covers from 1993 to 2017.

If you know me well enough, I'm like a dog with a bone when it comes to collecting things. I like collecting things, I like series of things and YES, I have ALL of the PIECEMAKERS calendars with the exception of ONE!

My PIECEMAKERS calendar collection

And yes, there are many that still have the shrink wrap on them. I'm OK with that. They belong to me after all and I'm allowed to do with them what I want.

But here's the thing, I would love to get my hands on that 1988 PIECEMAKERS calendar. I know someone who has one, but I know she doesn't want to sell to me!  Right Carol? It was easy to find the early ones on eBay, but only once did that 1988 one come up and Carol bought it in a group of others. I never saw it and good thing or we would have had a bidding war! I don't do bidding wars anymore. While I'd like to have it, I'm not as silly as I used to be. But if you see one or you have one and don't want it - well......   just sayin!

The 2017 calendar is very interesting as they have chosen bits and pieces from the other calendars so it's fun to see what came from where. The train was from 2000, the lighthouses were from 1999 and so on.   What an interesting way to pull all those components together.

On that note, I'm out of here.  Got a lot of things to get accomplished and better get started!

Have a super day!

Ciao!!!