directions

i made this shawl for my mom for christmas out of yarn i'd had on hand for a while. It was so soft and warm for an acrylic!

So, I have a bunch of pictures I took of recent happenings around here but they are on my new tablet -- yes, I got a Kindle Fire as requested for Christmas, mainly to be used as a knitters' tool, something very portable I can tuck into my basket. I even ordered a custom fabric cover on Etsy. Once I sit down and figure out how to upload those onto here you'll see a bit more of things.

With that said, it was a good, but LONG first week back at school. We had homecooked meals every night thanks to menu planning (love that!!). Now it's the weekend and I spent two and a half hours today deep cleaning the kitchen, putting most of the Christmas decorations away (we still have our lovely tree up in the living room!), and some other odds and ends that made the house feel more open, less cluttered, and definitely more cozy.

I'm currently working on a shawl project i started LAST january! it kept getting shunted aside for other things. But, I'm almost finished and I can't wait to wear it!

This weekend we are just mostly "lazing" about at home. It's kind of a weird rainy weekend. I took a two-mile walk outdoors because of some temporary mild weather we've been having. I plan to cook a curry tonight and spinach lasagna tomorrow night. We did try freezing homemade breakfast sandwiches this week and that worked really well reheated in the toaster oven but in the end we decided not to freeze them. We did go to the coffeeshop once but had a gift card so it was free! We'll definitely be doing the breakfast sandwich idea again. It was frugal, filling, healthier than a cafe-bought option, and delicious! We did not go out to dinner at all! This made me happy. I am going to try and budget $50/cash a month for going out to eat. I've also saved $3 so far on the 52-week money challenge.

I would love to blog about the frugal things I try to do if you would find them helpful. I make my own pizza dough and sauce, veggie burgers, deodorant, and all-purpose cleaning spray. We use cloth napkins and rags (but we do have paper towels as they are handy for pet messes). I re-use freezer bags if they can be washed out well enough. I'm going to start a garter stitch blanket out of leftover balls of worsted weight yarn. There are more projects on the horizon, including another massive declutter and getting our stuff really, really organized for when we move again (we will use REAL movers!). De-molding cutting boards with a homemade mixture. Etc.

I really strive to create a good balance between work outside the home/homemaking/rest and enjoyment of my hobbies and my husband/pets. I used to think I needed a four-day week to accomplish this, and would complain about it. But overall, I think I do pretty well. I do use a planner (pen and paper!), and paper wall calendars to help me achieve my goals in a reasonably relaxed manner. I like that my job keeps my mind happy, homemaking keeps me physically active and (the following benefits both myself and DH) mentally/emotionally comfortable, and I like that I make time for personal "just me" pursuits (yoga, the gym, knitting, reading books). It does take an effort. I've said this before. I live intentionally and mindfully as much as I can.

Please let me know if there are directions in which you'd like to see my blog expand and I'll be happy to consider them!!