Hi-this is what I have been doing-happy 2013-bye.

Just popping my head in and giving a quick wave

as I rush past.

I hope that  you all enjoyed  your Christmas,

whoever you were with and whatever you were doing.

Apparently somewhere around northern Colorado back in October,

I lost my blogging mojo.

It is dusty in here.

I haven't been taking much care of this little space in the past few months.

I never did get back to report on our fabulous holiday.

I have wanted to blog but haven't had much to say

or the energy to say it.

(Ottobre 301 tee)

So methinks that I might have gotten a bit of sewing

and a lot of knitting done instead.

2013 was a fabulous year for our little family

but I have to say that the end sucked a bit.

I can't say that I achieved a lot of my craft goals for the year

but I did knit over 28 kilometres of yarn

and still managed to have some energetic bursts of sewing in the meantime.

I am hoping that 2013 brings the best of health to some people that I know

and an easier emotional year for some others.

I am not much for resolutions.

I am better at hoping than resolving.

(Better for my commitment issues)

I hope to find that creativity that I have lost

so I can get back to writing and blogging.

(Make It Perfect Long Board Shorts)

Because I really do miss writing.

(Ottobre 301 tee)

I hope to give my friend who will be visiting from Finland

her lifelong wish - a cuddle with a koala.

(Oliver and S seashore sundress)

I hope to continue to resist the evil temptation that is Coke Zero

(2 days in and counting)

(Oliver and S birthday party dress)

I hope to get healthier and lose that weight

that came with USA holidays, Reece's peanut butter cups,  malted shakes and chilliburgers. 

I hope to spend less time on the internet 

and less time internet shopping.

I also hope (OK, Mr Boozle, intend) to stop buying so much yarn.

If I am knitting 28 kilometres a year

and still struggling to stash it,

I have issues.

I hope that I wont end up making 24 metres of bias binding 

and 24 metres of bunting in 3 days 

for Christmas presents

because, as much as sewing 104 flags together could be therapeutic,

it just did my head in.

I am feeling like life is a bit fragile at the moment.

So in 2013 I hope that I can make the most of each and every day.

Let us go carpe the fuck out of this diem.

I wish you and yours a fabulous 2013.

Now I am out of here for a while.
Hoping to recharge the batteries
and fire myself up for the next year.

(All knitting projects can be found here on Ravelry)

I want to feel giddy.

(webnob.jp)

I have said before that,

apart from the inexorable progression towards death,

I am comfortable with getting older.

I am 44 next month

which I guess pretty much places me in the "mid forties" category.

It doesn't mean much more to me than turning 43 did.

I have more grey hairs, 

I am a bit more saggier and baggier than last year,

and I suspect, judging by the increased effort required by my knees for some Zumba moves,

my joints certainly feel like like they are 44,
if not older.

But you know what?

I am missing those giddy feelings.

Those feelings of your tummy churning, your heart racing,

maybe your cheeks flushing as you breathe a little bit faster.
I am not talking about menopausal feelings.

I am talking about those times where, at least just for a moment, you feel just so happy to be alive

and that all is good with the world.

They are different for everyone.

Sometimes they are big moments.
Sometimes just tiny ones.

That moment  when someone you had a crush on held your hand
or someone you loved kissed you

for the very first time.

The day you opened the envelope to find good exam results

or the offer for that job that you really wanted.

The time you stood at the top of the bridge ready to bungee jump.

That first glimpse of your spouse-to-be on your wedding day.

The time you finally found the best coffee gelati in the world. 

The moment you shared with your partner when that little baby arrived in your life.

Those giddy times are often first times.

But I have realised recently how much less frequent they are as you get older.

Weeing on a stick and waiting to see if you really have a little person growing inside you makes you giddy

but taking a sample to check your bowel health isn't.

Writing the guest list for your 21st or your wedding day fills you with oh-so-much anticipation.

but designing invites for your 50th birthday isn't quite as euphoric.

Breast-feeding your little one at 2am when the rest of the world seems to be asleep

fills your heart with love.

Helping your children deal with life and its stresses

fills you with worry.

A friend of mine,

a lady of similar age with young children,

has just been diagnosed with cancer.

I am pissed off with the world in general right now.

This is happening to someone young and someone who is one of the good people in this world

and it shits me at how unfair it is.

I have realised that there are going to be more times like this in my future

and that these moments are more than likely going become more frequent.

I know that there are still giddy times ahead.

A lot will be the firsts as a parent as my children grow and blossom
and make their own way, discover their own tummy-churning moments.

But they wont be so many of them
and they wont all be my own

and maybe they need to be sought out.

But I am going to embrace them and cherish each and every one of them.

Spam. Keeping life interesting.

From my in-box this week:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Good day, Hope you will be fine. We visit your website and its come to our knowledge that you are dealing in Boxing Equipment and Martial Arts so we  would like to introduce our company xxxxxxxxxx  as one of the leading manufacturers and exporters of high quality products of Boxing Gloves, MMA Gloves, Boxing Mitts, Kicking Shields,  Fighting Gloves, coaching Gloves, Punching Mitts, Punching Bags, Thai Pads, Speed Balls, Kick Boxing, and Thai Boxing,  Martial Arts,  Mix Martial Arts Equipments. For more details please visit our website xxxxxxxxxxxx.

We are really interested to start business relationship with your company so we can supply you best quality products with rock bottom prices to penetrate your local market.

Being a self manufacturer we can modify products as per your needs.  If you have any new design we welcome you, and will fulfill all of your needs under your target prices.

If you can give us a chance to be your suppliers we shell appreciate you, please feel free to write us all of your questions and inquiries.

Awaiting your earliest reply, thanks.

Kind Regards,

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Yes indeedy.

A whoooooole lotta chat about boxing and martial arts going on in this neck of  the woods.

...So I  was headed out with my kime bag the other day

when some idiot chototsu-ed me and I had to stop for a suwate and a kyeshi
before I hit him in the mata...

 

That should get the spammers excited...

Oh and the knitted scarf -for those of you who aren't here to discuss boxing and the like-

is Sugared Violets- Rose Beck- Rav here)

Love is...

(themorleyreport.com)

...never having to say that you are sorry

for biffing your husband over the head with a blunt instrument

when he asks you for your support in facing the dire reality of his first grey hair.

(that would be asking support from the same wife who stopped counting hers a few years back when she hit grey #735

and has been budgeting for hair dyes ever since)

Toughen up, princess.

The moonlighting navigator

When hubby and I travelled around Europe in an old Combie van in 2001,

I had not yet become a knitter.

He was designated driver and I was designated navigator.

No GPS or the like.

A good old fashioned map book and off we went.

Even without the distraction of crafting in the front passenger seat,

I will admit to a "few" uptight and I might say rather terse moments during those 7 months

when Mr Boozle had NFI where we were going

and neither did his navigator.

Who would have thought Lyon, France, could be such a pain in the butt to navigate?

This time around, Mr Boozle was again designated driver.

(Designated by me.

No way I was driving a 29 foot RV on the wrong side of hilly, windy roads

with 3 children in the back)

That left me to navigate.

Just me and the GPS from hell (but that is another story)

So I carefully chose a relatively mindless project for our recent RV holiday.

Just my favourite colours.

A simple repeating pattern.

No sharp needles with which to stab the driver in an impetuous moment of nagivation rage.

A crocheted blanket.

It filled in those driving hours and those quiet early morning hours.

(For some reason I was bright eyed and bushy tailed between 5 and 6 most mornings)

So I present...The evolution of My Very Excellent USA RV Adventure blanket.

(More on Rav here)

Las Vegas- Zion Canyon- Bryce Canyon- Capitol Reef- Canyonlands- Moab-Arches National Park- Mesa Verde- Canyon de Chelle- Petrified Forest National Park- Sedona- Grand Canyon National Park- Route 66- Las Vegas

I started the day that we picked up our RV

and finished the morning that we dropped it back.

The 4 hour car ride from Vegas to LA

was spent "therapeutically" darning in the ends.

Now if I can keep those sharp-clawed moggies away from it,

I have a blanket to keep me warm

and to remind me of an amazing holiday for years to come.

The bear is back from his travels...





...and so are we.

(More to follow once I have caught up on sleep and washing)