by Kat | Apr 27, 2017 | General, Words
This week’s Think Write Thursday topic is to write a post that begins with the words, “Remember the time . . . “
Memories are curious things. The strangest things can trigger them. I showed you those hankies I found, the memory it triggered was doing this as a child. I could not remember exactly how to do it though, so I am thankful for YouTube which has videos on all things, even babies in a cradle!
But, in thinking about this post, there were lots of Remember the time moments…
Here are some of my Remember the times:
- Remember when spring actually was spring and there were not numerous days when it got to 90 out? We are slated to be near 90 today. In April. This worries me greatly.
- Remember when we had a president we could be proud of? Yeah, me too and most days it seems like a lifetime ago.
- Remember when I had a “real job” and actually had to leave the house to go to work? Some days I really miss having a “real job” with interaction with co-workers, regular hours, etc. Thankfully, these are fleeting moments – but they do happen, sometimes frequently – like this month. Yeah, even staying home to work has its ups and downs.
- Remember when gas used to be 25 cents a gallon? I do…especially when filling up the car now costs $55. Ouch.
- Remember when spending the night at Nana’s house was the best thing ever, staying up late to watch Charlie Chan in black and white, eating “Denver Omelets”, playing solitaire with Grandpa, and sleeping under this quilt.
Those are some of my Remember the times moments, what are yours?
If you would like to see what others remembered, you will find them here. If you want to join Carole and I for Think Write Thursday’s, you can sign up here.
by Kat | Jan 10, 2017 | General, Words
Clusters of blossoms
growing on slender green stems
need a knitter’s fix
by Kat | Oct 13, 2016 | General, Words
First there was 10 On Tuesday:
I am sad to say that I was late to the 10 on Tuesday party, although I had been reading Carole’s blog for a long time I was an infrequent (ok, maybe less than infrequent) commenter and it was not until last November when she inspired me to join her in NaBloPoMo that I finally began actively participating.
Once I started I loved it!! I eagerly awaited the arrival of the weekly email! I was a such religious 10 on Tuesday poster that on weeks that Carole was on vacation, I made up my own Ten on Tuesday posts (here) (and here)!
That being said, every week was not always an easy list of 10 things to write about, however, if I wanted to participate, I needed to get creative! And those bits of writing about something I really did not like taught me to stretch my writing muscle!
When Carole made the decision that 10 on Tuesday had perhaps run its course, a big part of me was so sad! And, I shared those sentiments on her post and imagine my surprise when she and I began a discussion around those thoughts!
A new idea was born:
Welcome to Think…Write…Thursday!
It will be similar to Ten on Tuesday in that you sign up for the weekly emails right here and in return for signing up, you will receive an email prompt (Just like Ten on Tuesday) with a topic for you to write about. Are you ready to have some fun with us? Expand your creative writing muscle? Write about a topic however the creative flow strikes you? (I mean, there are no writing police for blogs and there are no minimum or maximum word counts!)
PLUS, there is this amazing, incredibly loyal, and kind blogging community that Carole has built around her Ten on Tuesday posts.
Won’t you join in and write creatively with us? I really hope you do!
by Kat | Apr 14, 2016 | General, Words
If you Google “planners” you will get about a zillion results almost instantly. (Actually, I got 139,000,000 in .39 seconds) There is so much information available from Pinterest boards, to blog posts, to YouTube videos all with volumes of information on what people think is successful.
Perhaps the reason that there is so much information is that there is not one perfect system for everyone and this is absolutely true for me!
So, what I have done is taken parts of things from a variety of “planning styles” to create a system that works very well for me. This took a bit of work, because when I worked in the corporate world – Outlook worked perfectly for my needs. I combined that with some other online programs and my work life was well-organized.
However, now that I am self-employed and I work from home a digital planning system did not work as well. I am not sure why – perhaps the fact that I am a team of one, and what I am doing does not need to be accessible to others.
Now, I do use some excellent online resources for my work, Trello, Slack, and Harvest are wonderful resources for working on projects – and they make working remotely seem less remote! But, for my daily, weekly, and monthly goals – I really like a paper planner.
Last year I moved to the Midori Traveler Planner. It has become the best thing I have ever used. I did a bit of modification to it (thanks to Bradley at Stuff & Things) and now it is just perfect for me. I am not an “art” planner person. You won’t find stickers, washi tape, or collages of stuff on my pages – just simple planning – daily, weekly, and monthly/yearly. I use this insert for my planner. It helps me “stay in the week” and focus on the tasks that I need to complete. It helps me know where I need to focus my hours and how many hours I am spending on a project.
I borrow a few things from the Bullet Journal System – not many, just a few.
Sometimes, I have a task that cannot be completed in a week – a little arrow shows me I need to move it to the next week. In the new week, it gets an arrow to tell me this was a carryover project. Sometimes it gets cancelled entirely. I can easily look back to see how my week’s went and can keep clear records of the work I did. I think this will make tax time next year infinitely better.
I also have a journal insert for my Midori, which I use daily for my creative writing. This year, I have been trying to work on my creative writing so I am using Spunky Eclectic’s monthly journal prompts. I look forward to expanding my writing as the year continues.
The last insert I have in my notebook is just a simple graph paper insert. I use it to keep track of inks I like, of projects I would like to make, recipe ideas, Breed School notes, and just plain doodling.
Not in my planner – my monthly calendar – this sits on my desk open and visible. I use this to remember birthdays, anniversaries, personal appointments, etc. Things that are not work related, but I need to remember.
There you have my planning style in a very portable planner. Tell me – what is your “Planner Style”?
by Kat | Feb 19, 2016 | General, In This Moment
Reading: A Malmö Midwinter: An Inspector Anita Sundström Novella by Torquil MacLeod – it should be a quick read. Should being the operative word. But, I have been falling asleep almost immediately upon getting into bed. This might frustrate me, however, since Insomnia has been on an apparent vacation, I will take the sleep while I can get it!
Knitting (and spinning): I cast on Hop Brook by Bonnie Sennott with some handspun Dorset Down. I am about half way through and I carded the remainder of the fiber to spin this weekend. I am also in the home stretch for Kirsten Kapur’s Mystery Socks – just the toes to go and I will be done!
(more…)
