Here They Come to Save the Day!

My Ten on Tuesday is brought to you by Girl Power! There are a few TV shows in rotation around here, but not on regular schedule. We often record episodes we never get around to watching. We're slowly making our way through Netflix episodes of Jessica Jones, which I find very dark, but fascinating. Marvel Comic characters have not been on my radar, but I see why people are drawn to the whole idea of heroes who can save the world from the bad guys.

I also decided to only go with women, as I think TV could do a better job of showing women in stronger roles and not only as dim-witted, one-liner characters who need a man to save them.
"You've been kidnapped! List the 10 TV show characters you would want to help you."

Jessica Jones - She has super-human strength and withering, angry looks on her side. (We'll not talk about her drinking problem.)

Lady Mary Crawley from Downton Abbey - Lady Mary has come into her own and she's learning how to get things done.

Amy Farah Fowler from Big Bang Theory - She's funny, extremely intelligent and slightly odd. I think she would give the kidnapper a run for his money. She is a neurobiologist, after all. (In the meantime, I hope she'll save me.) 

Olivia Pope from Scandal - She's got a team  behind her, just as long as she can hold off the President.

The women from The Bletchley Circle  - Four women who saved the world during WWII could certainly get me away from a kidnapper.

Agent Carter - She knows how to get things done behind the scenes and can take down any man with a well placed punch.

Hetty from NCIS - She lived through the cold war as a special agent and knows more than any spy on earth. She'd have no trouble finding me and killing my kidnapper.

Trouble from Grimm- She's another woman with super-human strength and she sees trouble coming. I know she could find me and take my kidnapper down.

So, tell me who would save you!

 

When You Care

Every year on MLK Day, my office gives service to a non-profit organization. This year we worked with the Neighborhood House by sorting clothes, washing and sorting toys, coloring and cutting shapes used to teach pre-school children, washing windows and cleaning floors. We had a great time working together and giving service to an organization which needed, and appreciated, our efforts. 

 Today's Ten on Tuesday  is in honor of Martin Luther King Jr Day of Service - 10 Things You Can Do To Serve Others. 

1.The absolute easiest thing you can do to serve others is smile (and say "thank you"). 

2.Volunteer your time to the local food bank by sorting canned food. You can also (or instead) give them a nice check, as a food bank can turn one dollar into over $7 worth of good and services.

3. Clean unneeded and unwanted items from your home (in the Kondo way) and donate the good stuff  to an organization who helps people in need. (You know you've got a lot of things you can give!)

4. Homeless organizations need and appreciate an extra set of hands. Call and tell them when you can be there. Even one hour will make a difference.

5. Pay it forward. You know how it works. Buy the next person in line a cuppa or a lunch. 

6. Knit for someone, a premie ward, a cancer support service, or a homeless shelter for families. Kids need hats more than anyone. 

7. Knit for a friend. You know what your friends like.  

8. Choose to be humble and promote someone else's idea. 

9. Always be kind. Keep that road rage at bay. 

10. Give until it hurts. 

Any one of the items on this list would make a great resolution for the year. May you heart to open to giving and sharing all you can. 

 

2015

Every once in awhile I've posted A Year in Review with pictures from each moth along with the first sentence of the first post of each month. The sentence and pictures may not be of the same subject. Instead of 10 Things I Did That Made Me Feel Proud, my Ten on Tuesday is this years review. 

January - "Happy,Happy New Year, friends!! Here it is a fresh new year, all dusted off from the trappings of 2014. 

February  - "In the center of our community garden is one of only 18 known labyrinths in Utah.

March -"Saturday was cold, somewhat wet but Smith and I made the best of the day by spending leisurely time together."

 April - "As of late, Vicki has been my hero. She not only helped me (inspired me, really) to change my banner, but  also dyed the yarn for my next project, Romi's Mystery Shawl 2015."

May - "I needed the weekend more than I can express and (of course) it went by in a flash."

June - "My day starts with KRCL's Acoustic Sunrise, as John plays a variety of tunes that ease me into my day."

July - "Something shifted in my life, I'm not sure exactly what or why, but before 2010 I was more productive when it came to knitting (and probably, everything else). "

 

August - "My weekend was broken up into segments, the total of which left me no time to do the usual errands and chores."

September - "I intended to have all sorts of pictures for you but we spent a serendipitous evening with our neighbors, which means my blogging time was used up, but I did pull together a list for Carole's 10 Seemingly Ordinary Things That Bring You Joy."

October - "Once upon a time, I made amazing pieces of lace, they were a frippery, a lovely indulgence, a glorious bit of fun, and, often time, challenging, demanding, a test of endurance."

November -"Instead of complaining about the loss of light, or being elated about the extra hour in my day, I'm going to go with the flow (once my body clock is reset a few days from now)."

December - "Carole made sure we could easily post today...one.more.day.  Tis, after all, Ten on Tuesday!

Another year over, another yet to come. Here's to 2016 being a fabulous year for us all. 

Love This Season of Joy

That Carole is making sure we focus on the positive, wonderful things about this Holiday Season. She asked us to tell the '10 Things You Truly Enjoy About the Holiday Season'.  Here's my list!

 1.Lights-Hands down my favorite thing about the Season

2. Friends - No matter how near or far, friends make my world. 

3. Easy Good Cheer everywhere (Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas!) - Everyone is hurried and stressed, but almost everyone has a Holiday salutation on their lips. 

4. Music - Classic tunes from the likes of Sinatra, but odd songs like Robert Earl King's Christmas With the Family. 

5. Flowers - Poinsettias, paperwhites, amaryllis-- if it's blooming (or about to be)  its beautiful!

6. Treats - I love almost all the seasonal favorites, from chocolates, to cookies & cakes, pies, and other tasty treats (whether I can eat them or not!). 

7. Giving - It's the best! Give to a charity, give to your loved ones...give!

8. The color red everywhere you look - clothes, decorations, lights, edible delights. It's the MUST color of the Season.

9. Snow, but only if it makes a white Christmas  (where oh where is our snow!?)

10. Peace--all around. I send it to everyone of you, from the end of this year to the beginning of the next. Peace begins with us, each.and.every.one.of.us...one heart at a time. 

Sending you peace and joy this Holiday Season. You should feel only love and joy, NOT stress!! Make it so. 

Ten Good Things

Carole made sure we could easily post today...one.more.day.  Tis, after all, Ten on Tuesday!

During the month of November the Ten Good Things I did were:

Blogged every day. whew

Read a lot of blogs and commented on many. It was more fun to read what my friends were up to than it was to create my own posts.

Walked almost every day, but lost count around 26 miles. I think I made it close to 30 or so miles. We had days of ice, snow and cold and, on such days, it feels unsafe to walk.

Planted bulbs outside (before it got cold) and I'm hoping for a colorful spring (already). Planted bulbs inside, but I'm not sure anything is going to happen.

Talked to one of my sisters several times this month, as she just had heart surgery. I was very happy to be a source of information and encouragement.

Decorated the inside of the house with lights and made it feel festive enough to get me through December's long nights.

Spent as much time with friends as was possible (to my greatest benefit).

Sewed and knit and knit and sewed.

Worked hard at my job. This is a busy season.

Fed the birds! I gave them a handful of peanuts a few minutes ago and we had a nice visit.

Day 24: Give Thanks

This post is brought to you by the annual "Thankful Post", but Carole put a little twist on it and brought it into the NOW! 

10 Things You Are Thankful For RIGHT NOW 

#lovemyview

1. Knowing all the members of my family are safe, albeit scatter across the county. I know they will each have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration of their own.

2. A roof over my head. Even more, a home.  I think of it as humble, but it is more than many people in this world have.

3. Electricity. It's hard to imagine life without it.

2. Running water. Chances are, without it, we would be sick constantly.

3. Easy access to a wealth of food (and wine).

4. Choice. I can come or go, eat or no, and safely walk the streets of my city and my neighborhood.

5. A good job that gives me more than a paycheck.

7. My own car. Being mobile means so much to me.

8. My friends. So, so many people make my world go round and I would not be the person I am without all their love, support, and encouragement.

9. My dearest husband.

10. My hands, my eyes, my legs, my heart.

Day 17: The Best Places

Having a "hang out" isn't something we think about. This is Utah and local bars and pubs just aren't a usual thing, at least not in the 'burbs where we live.  We have a favorite restaurant or two, but not a bar or any kind of "Hang Out". Carole asked in the Ten on Tuesday query,  What are the Ten Places We Hanging Out but, as it turns out when it comes to hanging out, there is no place like home.

My favorite places are:

1.  Our living room, most of the time this is where you'll find us.  This is our most oft used room, the place we sit when we come home from work and catch up on our day, the place Smith reads the paper, and I do most everything. 

2. Lone Star Taqueria, especially their patio in summer, although we go a once or twice a month all year round. This is one of our favorite places to go when it's just the two of us or when we're meeting up with friends. 

3. On the couch, which is where all my crafting supplies hangs out, so this is where you'll often find me. Yes, it's in the living room, but it's still a place within the living room. This is where I sit and read, craft, talk on the phone, even watch movies and sometimes eat a snack. I like being here when Smith is working. It's my comfy zone. 

4. Stella Grill, when we want a quick night out. They know us and treat us well. We can eat as simply as a burger or a nice entree style meal, cocktails, wine, beer and a special GF dessert (Chocolate Decadence cake, in case you're wondering). 

5. On our patio. Only in summer. We hang it there if it's not too hot and we often have dinner there if the weather is fine.  It's not a very fancy spot, mostly rocks and concrete, but with the wind chimes, Japanese lantern, and my garden goddesses, we call it home. 

6. Silver Lake, which is at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon is one of my very favorite places to go when the snow is gone from the mountains. It's a place I can go alone, with Smith, with friends and family, a place I can feel my body relax and my soul sing.  Once in awhile we catch sight of a moose or three. The walk is an easy mile around the lake, but it's also the trailhead to several longer hikes. 

7. Our family room, the place we watch the occasional TV show. This is Smith's favorite place, but I only hangout there if he's at home. 

8. The kitchen. This is where we cook, clean up, and afterwards sit at the table to eat--or work, sometimes craft, or when friends come over. This is our "bar", the place we often entertain. 

9.  The Jitterbug with my SLC SnB grrls. We meet up a couple of times and week and it's always nice to catch up with everyone. I learn so much from the SnB girls and little of it has to do with knitting. 

10. My favorite hangout is anywhere my friends and family like to be. 

Ten on Tuesday brought to you by Carole Knits.

 

Day 3: One Liner

When I was a kid I thought it would be wonderful to be a best selling novelist. I read as many books as I could, my nose constantly buried in a book, and I thought writing a novel would be FUN! But, novel ideas rarely came my way, therefore, I never put pen to paper. I've concluded novel writing would be a very hard thing to do (especially when you have no novel ideas).

Here it is ToT and Carole has requested we writing the first line of a novel, but I don't think my first line(s) will capture your imagination. Instead, I thought it might be fun to turn this into a quiz. Each quote comes from one of my favorite novels and I want to see if you know any of them (without searching for the answer on-line). Answers to be revealed at a later date.

1. Barrabás came to us by sea, the child Clara wrote in her delicate calligraphy. 

2. I am fifty-four years old, the age my mother was when she died.  

3. A candleflame and the image of the candleflame caught in the pierglass twisted and righted when he entered the hall and again when he shut the door. 

4.The idea of eternal return is a mysterious one, and Nietzsche has often perplexed other philosophers with it: to think that everything recurs as we once experienced it, and that the recurrence itself recurs ad infinitum!

5. I have been afraid of putting air in a tire ever since I saw a tractor tire blow up and throw Newt Hardbine's father over the top of the Standard Oil sign. 

6. On a mountain above the clouds once lived a man who had been the gardener of the emperor of Japan. 

7. Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. 

8. The train came out of the long tunnel into the snow country. 

9. I had seen her just the day before--a day of pale blue skies and summer breezes. 

10. They dressed me in white for my daddy's funeral. 

I'd love to know if any of the first lines make you want to read the book. If so, leave a comment and I'll share the title with you and I'll reveal the titles on the list later in the week. 

NaBloPoMo

At this point, I am only toying with the idea of posting every.single.day in November. I'm not sure I want to put that kind of pressure on myself, as there are days I just do.not want to post. le sigh  As my mom would say, "Would you follow everyone over a cliff if they are jumping?" Apparently, as I have followed many friends into this month of angst for the last few years. In order to encourage and stimulate the imagination, Carole has asked us for 10 Tips/Ideas/Topics for Daily Blogging in November. NaBloPoMo or Bust!

I have ONE big one. 

TAKE PICTURES OF EVERYTHING!  (My biggest failing.)

2. DO everything that comes your way. Don't shy away. DON'T FORGET THE CAMERA!

3. Print out a calendar and plan ahead. Use a theme (there are many to choose from) per day. 

4. Commiserate with friends on themes and play off each other (Ten on Tuesday is an excellent example).

5. Knit and take pictures of your progress, or not progress. Just talk about it. This is, by and large, a knit blog community. 

6. Craft your heart out and talk about it. DON'T forget the pictures. We like pictures. Even a picture can be enough for a post. 

7. Look back at old posts and use the pictures or repost them. It's very likely few have gone back through 12 years of posts and read just.that.one. 

8. Look back at old family photos and find a story for #TBT (Throw Back Thursday)

9. When you eat, blog it. When you drink, blog it. When you play, blog it.

10. Just do it (or don't). There is no reason you MUST do this, but it can be fun and a little challenge never really hurt anyone. You might just learn you CAN do it (can you tell I'm trying to convince myself) if you WANT to do it.

Hanging out with your buddies is never a bad thing. One theme I' going to reprise is Saturday Sky, just to remind me of the very kind, Sandy, who make Saturday Sky a "THING" way back in the halcyon days of blogging. Join me if you'd like and show off your sky!  Let's have some fun! 

 

 

Traveling On

When I travel, which isn't often, I try to pack as little as possible. Also, if I'm driving and I can fill up my car with my comforts of home, I WILL, but if I'm flying I try to go with a single bag (as you probably do, too). Carole asked for "10 Things You Take In A Travel Tote Bag" and I took this to mean I can have MORE than 10...but I stayed with the game. 

1.The pink bag right in the middle holds my toiletries: toothbrush, toothpaste, make up (what little I wear), medication, shampoo, and all that sort of thing. You know the drill.

2. A book! I must have a book with me and my current favorite, and most recent purchase, is Mary Oliver's Felicity.  I read it in one setting and I will read it again and again. Reading Mary's poetry first thing in the morning, and just before going to bed, makes for nice bookends to my day.

3. Lotion. My skin is very dry (due to our very try climate) and I'm constantly reaching for a bottle of hand lotion. Usually, I have a travel size on hand, but at the moment, big is it.

4. The Kindle Paperwhite is there to represent my phone (which is often in my hand). Who would go anywhere without their smart phone?

5. My favorite blue hairbrush. Wouldn't it be sad to get out of bed and be unable to brush ones hair?

6. A nightgown. I like wearing one to bed.

7. A black T-shirt, which one can wear anywhere.

8. A granola bar just in case there isn't any GF food available or I decide to dye of hunger. 

9. A shawl, as I'm always on the chilly side. I have an over abundance of shawls, but that doesn't stop me from knitting more.

10. And, last but not least, in the Jessalu sheepy bag, a project to knit or stitch.