A little of this, a little of that......................

It was ONE CRAZY weekend. Not even sure where to start. OH - well let's start with the sane things. I'll finish the reveal for the Christmas Club.


I KNEW Mary sent me her pictures but I COULD NOT find them in my email. It is crazy because people have more than one e-mail address. And I could  find one e-mail, but not the other. Oh well - I must create a folder to put those e-mails in when they come - then it would be easy to find them!!!!!    So here is Mary's homework...............   (for Critter Christmas)

The penguin and the duck

The mittens

And I remember that Pat had her mittens done at the last class because I showed everyone. Hmmmmm - so now we are down to just a couple of missing pictures.


And now for O Tannebaum.............................

From L to R - Nancy, Helen Anne and Flo

From L to R - Raili, Suzi, Annadele

Yikes - I hope I got those right!!!!

Marelene got her entire center together

And how about that cool tree. She had made not one but TWO trees when I gave that assignment. She didn't know what to do with them so she layered them!!!!!!

 Very clever!!!!

Helen Anne sent me a picture of all her blocks to date. Looking great!!!!!!

Linda  - big stars

Linda - little stars (even though it wasn't part of this month's homework - she is done - several others did the little stars as well)

Wow - that is pretty impressive and I know the others who did not get their homework done will have it done for next month!!!!!


So I have a LOT more to blab on about, but I have a few things to get done this morning. I am feeling ENERGETIC, but have a class to teach so won't be able to take care of all that energy until this afternoon.

But here is a quote that I LOVE and if everyone followed it - life would be so much more calm and relaxing.


I belong to Lifetime Fitness which is a HUGE US based gym. Not only is it a gym, but it is a LIFESTYLE. They do everything, have everything and well - like I said - they are WAY more than a gym. "The healthy way of life company"


They also publish a monthly magazine.

Monthly magazine by LifeTime Athletic

The founder and CEO of Life Time Fitness is Bahram Akradi. He writes a "Perspective" column in each issue.

Here is a quote from his January/February column called "A Life to Die For".

"Don't make things more complicated than they have to be. Look for ways to say "yes" to your life, and to figure out how you can take action to make thing work, rather than wasting time worrying about how or why you can't."



Oh boy - I can think of a LOT of people this quote will apply to. What I hate is when they try to get you sucked into their inactions. I am NOT a worryier. What happens happens for a reason - just pick up the pieces and move on. Learn to make decisions without all the fuss. So you make a few mistakes along the way - is that a bad thing?????   and here is a second quote from that same article.........


"Stretch a little beyond your comfort zone. Try some things you're not entirely sure you can do. Risk making mistakes, and let go of the need to do everything perfectly. Life is one big target-practice experiment. If you fire and miss, big deal. Take aim and fire again. That's how you'll build the skills you need to succeed."


Wow - words that I live by. Just more powerful when they are in PRINT. I'm keeping the article and putting on my board.


Now I am also reading another book and it is a page turner. When you see the title - you will think I have gone MAD.

The book is called "Dirty Secret - A Daughter Comes Clean About Her Mother's Compulsive Hoarding" by Jessie Sholl

Holy cow - you will look at your life a WHOLE lot differently when you read this book. OK - this is for the creative amongst us (although I am sure NONE of us are as bad as the woman in this book"

The daughter has arrived home to try and clean up the house because her mother has cancer. In the living room there are FIVE sewing machines with HUNDREDS of sewing patterns heaped on top. Near the sewing machines, Jessie (the daughter) finds numerous paper bags filled with yarn of various thicknesses and colour. The bags sit on top of EMPTY plastic bins. The mother says this is her "art corner".

Quote from the book  "One of the reasons she has so many possessions is that she fancies herself an artist or inventor of sorts. Many hoarders do. As the authors of Buried in Treasures, the doctors Tolin, Frost, and Steketee, write "people who hoard often come up with idea after idea, saving things for all kinds of creative reasons but never following through with those plans. They have become victims of their own creativity".


Qnother quote "obsess over a project, trying to get it absolutely perfect, and when she can't get it just right, she falls into a depression and finally stops.  Even after she's abandoned the project though, she can't get rid of the suppies for it, "just in case."





Hmmmmm - does that sound like us???????   Well to some extent in the craft area, but my stuff is well organized and put away (unlike a hoarder) who tends to leave stuff out and garbage is EVERYWHERE.

The generally accepted definition of hoarding comes from a 1996 article by Randy Frost and Tamara Hartl "The acquisition of and failure to discard possessions that are uselss or of limited value, resulting in clutter that renders living spaces unusable and causes significant disress and impairment."


Hoarding is basically a mental illness and is often accompanied by depression, social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder.



Anyway if you get a chance you should read the book - it is very interesting. I am NOT a hoarder and while I do like to keep my craft supplies on hand, I could NOT live with the excess in the daily living spaces. My stuff is contained to certain areas - that is NOT what a hoarder does.



An interesting read. My library has started to place a self with NON-FICTION books on prominent display when you walk in the library. I have been picking up some interesting books from that shelf. DARN THEM!!!!!!



OK - so now I must go and get myself organized for the day.



Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



CIAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!