Knotty Musings

Ideas, philosophies, and evil plots to take over the world through love hatched here.


I Am Enough

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people
won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,

we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically
liberates others." ~ Marianne Williamson


Remove the Nots

Remove the Nots

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Will You Dance With Me?

I was thinking the other day (a particularly rough day for me). I needed a friend to commisserate with me over any kind of ice cream, but all of my friends were busy with their daily activities - children, projects, work, errands, etc. Why don't we make more time to be with those whose company we enjoy most? Those who hold us up, cheer us up, make us feel loved, and give us wings when ours are broken.

My grandfather always used to say, "You should show love at all times, even when those you love aren't being particularly lovable because you never know when you will no longer have the chance." How many times have you told your friends OUT LOUD that you love them? Or have you assumed that they just know. Make your mouth the multiplier of all that is within your heart.


Will You Dance With Me?

READ THIS VERY SLOWLY.... IT'S PRETTY PROFOUND.

Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they
haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it
was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.

I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed
up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From
then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.

How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't
suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does
the word 'refrigeration' mean nothing to you?

How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you
watched 'Jeopardy' on television?

I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, 'How about going to
lunch in a half hour?' She would gas up and stammer, 'I can't. I have
clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I
had a late breakfast, It looks like rain.' And my personal favorite:
'It's Monday.' She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.


Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our
headaches. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when
all the conditions are perfect!

We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained.
We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a
second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.

Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and
the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken,
and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of 'I'm going to,' 'I
plan on,' and 'Someday, when things are settled down a bit.'

When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure
and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her
enthusiasm for life is contagious.. You talk with her for five minutes,
and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Roller blades and
skip an elevator for a bungee cord.

My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's
just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula
and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and
bought a triple-Decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I
would have died happy.

Now...go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to......not
something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had
only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you
say? And why are you waiting?

Make sure you read this to the end; you will understand why I sent this to
you.

Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the
rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or
gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the
fly? When you ask ' How are you?' Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores
running through your head? Ever told your child, 'We'll do it tomorrow.'
And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good
friendship die? Just call to say 'Hi?

When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened
gift....Thrown away..... Life is not a race Take it slower. Hear the
music before the song is over.

It's National Friendship Week.. Show your friends how much you care. Send
this to everyone you consider a FRIEND. If it comes back to you, then
you'll know you have a circle of friends.

To those I have sent this to... I cherish our friendship and appreciate
all you do.

'Life may not be the party we hoped for... but while we are here we might
as well dance!

Sunday, March 29, 2009

A Day of Rest???

I hope the morning light finds you well rested and in good spirits.

Today will be a busy one for me: I'm leading the entire service at 8:30 - the readings, the liturgy, the healing service, etc, and helping with the healing service ONLY at the 9:45 service. Then it's back home to finish up algebra review for the test tomorrow, cleaning my house which sorely needs it, and then I can work on my crocheting. It sure would be nice to finish something! Thankfully dinner is in the crockpot (pot roast soup) so that will be no fuss or mess. Today I need easy.

I have to remember to take my iron pills; I'm becoming a bit anemic due to this other problem I have.

What are the rest of you up to today?

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Cup of Tea



Good morning friends,

I hope the morning light finds you happy and in good spirits.

Well, I (barely) passed the re-test so I get to live another week! I've begun going through review problems and setting them up; solving them as I have time but since setup takes me so long I thought that would help with the test anxiety if I could set things up more quickly. I've also spent some time on identifying terms and going through looking at problems and identifying when I should use a reciprocal and when I should get an lcd. I found a math anxiety bill of rights on the mathpower.com website and it will be posted in my math books and notebooks from here on out.

Today will be kind of busy for me. I have work, dinner, and then I'm heading over to a friend's house to pic up a Steam Vac she has, then it's settling down to solve the math problems I set up last night so David can help me if I need it. Maybe, just maybe I will actually get to crochet for the first time in a week!!!!
I have gorgeous new hooks to do it with!!!!

What are you up to today???

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Happy Sunday

Good morning everyone,

It's looking to be quite the rainy day so it looks like my walking and exercising will be inside. Hmmmmmm maybe I'll break out one of my bellydance practice videos and work with my zils which I haven't done since I injured my knee. I've been thinking about taking dance classes again so it would be good to test the knee's tolerance level 1st.

Not much else going on here. I picked up a copy of Holly Clegg's Trim and Terrific Freezer Friendly Meals book Friday and will be making a menu using some of the recipes so we can start stocking that new deep freezer and save ourselves some time with cooking during the week when both of us are running in opposite directions.

My algebra is still kicking my butt; I had to retake the test I took Monday because I missed too many problems. Pass/fail classes are so tough because if I retest and don't bring the grade up, I will have to retake the class altogether and I'm feeling soooooooo much stress. Trying not to eat my way through the stress though. It's frustrating because my grad date changed when I decided to take my math by itself, I've done everything I can think of to get it including doing extra problems besides the homework, using the tutorial CD-rom, going to the math center for help, reading Cliffs notes, getting a tutor, and having my hubby the math major help me. It is not clicking. It's like I do the problems here and things are fine and I understand. I get to the test and I overthink EVERYTHING and therefore, make mistakes. I don't know how to get past that mental block.

Ok I've written a book and sorry for the whine but I had to get that off my chest.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Ahhhhhh Spring!!!


Good morning friends,

I hope the morning light finds you in good spirits and ready to face the day. It is supposed to be another nice day here, so I'll probably walk after dinner before settling down to more algebra review.

It seems that since classes began again my crochet time has once again taken a nosedive so I need to make the time. I have a lobster trap scarf in the works, arrow stitch afghan, and baby afghan. I'm ordering my crochet hook set tomorrow!!! I'm so excited to have a matching set in their own wooden box for $55. Very cool.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Walking The Cares Away

Good morning friends,

Well the weather has been warming up and allowing for more outdoor walks so David and I have been taking advantage of that. Sunday we walked 3.75 miles along the riverfront trail, and last night we walked 1.5 miles around the park by our house. It's so nice to get out and meet some of our neighbors and get some fresh air.

I've been struggling once again with my algebra and am NOT happy that I have to re-test on my first exam right out of the chute!!! Clearing fractions will be the death of me yet!!!!! So. . .I will be heading to the math center Friday to get help with my problem areas and then re-test Saturday morning. This is soooooooo frustrating!!! One would think that having math as my only class this quarter would help but it STILLLLLLLLLL takes me so long to get the concepts that everything is a rush. I will still be trying to understand an old concept while we're moving on to a new one.

It will get better I hope and who knows? This may be the quarter that I break down and get a tutor.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Deep Freeze Excursions

Good morning friends,

Well, we took the plunge last night and bought a deep freezer and a Foodsaver machine. We've long lamented the lack of freezer space in our kitchen refrigerator, the inability to find things, etc so we decided it was time. It will be delivered today!!! David is already talking about stocking it lol!!!

We ended up buying a chest freezer because we just couldn't justify the much higher energy costs involved with an upright. We did, however, pay more money for one that has built-in dividers in the bottom. I'm excited to use it!!! Now I can free up space in the kitchen freezer and put my veggie broths, frozen soups, etc downstairs.

Not much else going on today: Lunch with a friend for her birthday, then a little thrift store shopping, making dinner, algebra, and crochet.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Crochet Heaven!!!!

















Hi friends,

My friend Jackye and I went to a craft fair Saturday morning and these are my treasures. The hook on the left is a J hook, hand turned and made from mulberry wood. The shaft fits my hand beautifully and the yarn glides over it like a dream.

The hook on the right is a hanging hook. It says it is a J but I tested with my guage tester and it is really an H- no matter I will never be without a hook again.

Both of these hooks sold for $15 each and I may end up buying a set of these to upgrade the wooden hooks I currently have. The owners allow a layaway of sorts: pay what you can afford for the hooks you'd like today and then pay $15 per month (or more) for the rest and when you've paid for your set, they ship them to you.

The company name is Wiley's Handmade Originals.

They can be contacted here:

PO BOX 51
Bellevue NE 68005-0051
402-715-5881

Email:

wileyshandcrafts@cox.net

Wheelchair Wrap Done!!!


Here is the latest shawl off my hook. I don't think that the yarn lends itself well but since it was donated to the ministry and was nearly new, I used it. I think the yarn would lend itself better to an open pattern.

The pattern can be found here:

http://crochetme.com/patterns/wheelchair-wrap

Saturday, March 7, 2009

New Adjustable Ears!!

I've been enjoying the last few days of freedom before classes begin again on Monday. I can tell how much the stress of last quarter got to me because all I really want to do is sleep!!!

Well I plunked down $2800 for hearing aids on Thursday. I got the new open ear - these have multi-directional microphones, are waterproof, programmable to my hearing loss, etc. Hopefully they will help me hear better in a classroom setting. So far, though I don't like the way they make music sound; I can't get over the tinny sound. I have them for a month and then go back in for custom settings and we'll be talking about the music settings. As a singer, public speaker, and musician, how the music and my voice sound is important because the way it feeds back to me affects the way I perform.

Today my friend Jackye and I are going to a craft fair where hopefully I can get a few birthday and Christmas gifts. My plan is to be more prepared this year than last, including a Christmas fund with ING, making and buying gifts throughout the year, etc. This afternoon I will spend some time with my knit/crochet guild.

What are you all up to today?

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Happy Birthday David!!!
















Good morning,

Today is David's birthday. My dear hubby is 41 now and looking better than ever. We don't really have any big plans today but I am accompanying him to pool this evening and taking him to brunch Sunday morning after church. His birthday gifts were renewing our Angie's list membership for 2 years (a great tool if you're having home repairs done; the ratings are consumer ratings so it is more reliable than the BBB) and the peacock scarf.

I am off work today so that I can get my hearing tested and get fitted for new hearing aids. I also want to get some recommendations for hearing aid compatible telephones. I have a hard time hearing on standard phones because either they don't have a volume control or because they are not compatible they cause feedback in to the microphone which is excruciating when it is in one's ear!

Nothing much else going on but lots of errans: dropping off the taxes, dropping off my digital camera to have the battery door replaced, some film to be developed, picking up the dry cleaning, joining my mentor for lunch, and then hopefully, home for a nap before picking David up and heading to pool. I will take a book and my latest crochet project with me (a baby blanket for that lovely niece) so I have something to do while he's playing.

What are the rest of you up to today?

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

A New Niece to Spoil - Miriam's Here!




Good morning friends,

Meet the newest addition to the family. Miriam was born February 13th at 9:23 am and weighed 6 lbs, 11 ozs. Isn't she just beautiful. As you can see, her big brother Manu is pretty excited. I've been busy making things for this little one - burp cloths, etc. I can't wait to see and hold her but alas, it won't be any sooner than May.

Not much going on around here: Tonight I am helping to cleanup after the Lenten dinner and before the service and David has offered his services as well. Though he is Jewish, the church members have always been very welcoming to him for which I am exceedingly grateful. It will be nice to have him there at the service with me.

Tomorrow is David's birthday so I have agreed to join him and his pool team for a little birthday celebration, Friday I'm joining a friend for a fish fry, and Saturday I'm heading out for a craft fair and knit/crochet guild. All fun things and nice to do before the craziness of school ensues.

What are you up to today???

Sunday, March 1, 2009

The Proud As A Peacock Scarf (or What To Do on A Snowy Day)


Well, with the snow yesterday I was able to finish this scarf for David. He loves it - he chose the homespun and last night had to pet it and kept saying, it's so soft. . .

Not much going on today besides working on a shawl and making some soup; this time it's potato soup with cheese dumplings.