Ten on Tuesday

This week's Ten on Tuesday topic is "Ten Ways to Beat the Winter Blahs" and I know quite a few of them. First and foremost, I have to admit that January is rarely a "winter blah month for me, as I've got so much going on that I don't have time to be blah.

But then comes February. OY! Blahs in FULL FORCE! So here goes:

1. I find a new novel for my Nook. If it's full of fluff and fun (and especially if it's a knitting novel) I allow myself one or two of this sort of reading. Obviously those tend to be the sort to read fast. Then I can get back to my regular reading...which can err on the boring side occasionally - nonfiction on my topics of interest, like food security, voluntary simplicity, and philosophy. Yes, they can occasionally work like sleeping pills, but that's okay.

2. I work on new creations for my handbag business, Nana Sadie Rose

3. I pick up long-term WIPs. Finishing something that's been on the needles, especially something I'm itching to use or gift, that's great for beating the blahs.

4. I organize the stash. I long to do this all of January when I'm so snowed by other things, and usually my New Year's plans include knitting from stash at least for a portion of the year. Well, I try to do some finishing of smaller items during January, but then come February - I can dive into the bins of yarn and see what's what. I buy a lot and hold it, often without a clue as to what I'm going to use it for. This year, I'm making myself spend the majority of the year doing nothing but knitting from stash and finishing up projects that have languished forever. I'm really looking forward to having the time to do this.

5. I'm hoping that My Sweetheart and I will have some time this late winter to watch some of the films that he thinks my knowledge of current day culture is sadly lacking from never having seen. (I'm not one to go to movies, would rather wait till they're on TV. He thinks I'm woefully behind the times and he's no doubt correct.)

6. I'm almost always too tired at the end of January to think clearly, so spending a few days of February getting to bed a little earlier is a great way to not just beat the blahs, but to also recover from the hysteria. I'm really looking forward to resting up.

7. No one will believe me when I say that I beat the blahs by getting my taxes organized and done. But first, remember that I'm an accountant. By the time January is over, I'm dying to get into it all, and see how well I did last year. The business often goes afoul of the careful accounting I do on a daily basis at my two jobs (it's like the shoemaker's kids having no shoes). I love being able to get things back on track and getting the stuff ready for filing. (I'll admit you have to have a certain mentality to enjoy this stuff!)

8. This is the time when I begin looking for new and interesting fabrics for my business as well. So I'm out in the stores, online at the websites, seaching and thinking and planning. Once I get thru the Cat Show here in town in January, I'm more than ready to do something new with my handbag business.

9. I'm also ready to jump on the exercise bike and get those pounds from the holidays and the stress-eating of January's activities back under control. It's usually no more than 5 pounds, but these year, it's pushing 10. (I think it's the social eating from this new relationship!) So Whoa! It's time to workout. And that also helps to elevate my mood!

10. Probably my favorite way to beat the blahs in winter is by trying out new soups. I adore soups and now I finally have the time to get into the kitchen to make new ones. They're warming to beat the chill of February, and there are so many ethnically-inspired veggie soups that I have a lot of fun testing them out. I love tasting the new spices and finding veggies I'm unfamiliar with, too. My favorite website for these things is Fat-Free Vegan. But there are great recipes on the Meatless Monday site as well.

So there you have it - my top 10 ways of beating the winter blahs...

A Finished Object!

I have had this yarn since this past summer, so it's not the oldest stuff in my stash, but a friend at work wanted to learn to knit these ruffle scarves (she doesn't knit), and I figured I'd better get one made so I would know how to teach it.

I know they're like those fun-fur things we did back in 2004-05, but it's cute (and I do still wear one or two of my fun-fur scarves on occasion - usually when it's freezing and I need extra warmth)! And this one is my colors, too: chocolate brown, purple, and royal blue.

eta: I should add that the yarn is fiddly as all get out, but I like it (Plymouth Yarn's Joy Metallic) a lot better than the Sashay I've picked up - the loops in it are much smaller than Joy Metallic, so it's harder to scoop them up!

Ten on Tuesday

This week's topic is Ten Tips for Sticking with Your Fitness Routine...I will be very interested in reading everyone else's tips, since I'm not that great at it. But here's what I do, that is mostly successful, as long as I'm not in the thick of work crises!

1. I do try to mix it up, so that if I'm too tired to get on the exercise bike, or the weather is yucky, I can do a Leslie Sansone video in the house, or just practice a few minutes of yoga.

2. That variety factor helps with boredom, too.

3. I'll try something new - last summer My Sweetheart and I took ballroom dancing classes together, for example, and we'd like to do that again, too. Exercising together is fun, but learning something new is even better.

4. Sometimes I'll reward myself for a week of doing my exercises every night: perhaps a new scarf, a new yarn, something that's not excessively pricey, but is a treat (usually non-food).

5. I'm basically a slug. I loathe exercise, even tho' I know it's good for me, and I have to do it, so I'll do something I enjoy at the same time. This is why riding my exercise bike is the easiest thing for me to do: I take my Nook with me onto the bike and read magazines. The time pretty much flies.

6. My Sweetie and I will make sure we take a walk (not as normal in this wintertime, but we try to get out, even for a little bit). Our favorite places to walk are the Greenways in his town and mine. I can't think of a better way to get into nature than using this set up. If your town hasn't jumped on the Greenway bandwagon, maybe you should offer to help work on a committee to do so?

7. Music helps. If I can get a good beat going, I'll ride a long while. Swing is my favorite

8. I always park my car with one thought in mind: I want to drive straight thru so I don't have to back out - since the neck and shoulders don't work as well as they used to. That means I park farther away from wherever I'm trying to go. Every little bit of extra walking I do, makes a difference.

9. I also keep motivated by reminding myself of just why I'm doing it - my health: surviving a heart attack and by-pass surgery as a 40-something young (sedentary) woman was a tremendous wake-up call. I know I have to work the most important muscle in my body - my heart - to keep healthy and not go back down that road again. But as an older woman, now, I'm seeing that activity makes everything else work better, too. Sciatic issues? Walk or bike. You won't believe the difference! I can't do the heavy jogging on doc's orders, but the bike works just fine.

10. Finally, keeping active keeps my mood elevated, my weight DOWN (now that I've lost it all), and allows me that glass of wine or small dark chocolate serving each day.

I guess that's a decent list after all...

Ten on Tuesday

Ten on Tuesday has rolled around again, in the New Year, and it's challenge today is to list 10 Goals for 2013. Hm. I'd really planned only 3, and to have my One Word, as detailed below, but, okay, I'll add another one and then detail some mini-goals within those overarching larger ones?

1. The one I've adding to the original 3, is to get back on track with My Sweetheart in our health plan. We both have enjoyed the holidays, and, let's face it, new relationships (tho' ours is now 8 months old!!) seem to revolve a lot around social eating. He was in process of serious reducing when we got together originally (and I was his cheerleader on FB) and then began the rounds of events as we got to know each other and each other's families, and the holidays, etc etc. So we both decided that we had to get back on track. I'm doing the 100 miles in 100 days challenge again (which began in my community last year - I participated then) and he thought he'd be interested in it as well. I'm mostly going to be using my exercise bike, so have made my challenge 200 miles in 100 days. And we'll be eating more vegetarian/vegan meals, too.

2. In my "Finishitis" goal, I have several mini's:

3. Finish my sis-in-law's Landscape Shawl. We had our family Christmas yesterday, and I had her try it on, and we both decided it was just about big enough, so I'm ending at the end of the 4th pattern and putting on the edging (I hope this is going to work out nicely, time will tell)

4. Finish my Helsinki Hat Scarf. I cannot tell you how long I've wanted to wear this. I also hate to admit I began this project in Feburary 2008. OY! Time to FINISH already...

5. Finish my Blue Jeans Brandywine Shawl. It's already 2 years old, I do not want to wait much longer to get it done.

6. Finish My Sweetheart's blue denim plain vanilla socks. He want's them badly.

7. Input the rest of my stash to Ravelry...Oh my...yes, that's important and long long overdue.

8. Stashbusting in and of itself. ANYTHING that goes on the needles new, must must must be from stash.

9. Participate in the Downton Abbey KAL. I have the yarn (ordered in 2012, so not NEW and doesn't violate the no-purchases rule).

10. Continue to weed out my house. My Sweetheart and I both have this same problem. We'll be helping each other there, too.

And thru it all, will be my ONE Word: JOY. I think, if I can work on all of these 10 goals? There's going to be JOY experienced, don't you?