Itchy Feet Syndrome

I inherited Itchy Feet Syndrome from my mother. She moved around a lot. I honestly can't work out how many times she moved between leaving dad and having Michaela. Since Michaela was born she's stuck in Basingstoke though.

I inherited this itchy feet thing. I left home at 16 and have had lived in 9 different places in the 12 years since then. Unfortunately moving is generally quite expensive, so I usually try to let my Itchy Feet manifest in moving furniture around. Every other month or so the Itchy Feet kick in and I can't stop myself.

A few hours ago I decided I was far too cold, and hefted my desk over to nearer the electric heater in the living room. Bad idea. Since then I haven't been able to settle properly, and have been imagining all the furniture in different places.

I'm definitely rearranging the living room, I'm just trying to wait until it's not such an indecent time. It's currently 7 in the morning, and I don't want to annoy my neighbours any more than I usually do. But I've figured out where everything is going to go. I'm moving all but one piece of living room furniture, and putting a bookshelf back into the bedroom. I want to get started already!

Food Fridays

Last weekend I did quite a lot of cooking. I made copious amounts of a delicious Frank and Bean Chowder, to freeze for future meals. I made one batch, and liked it so much I brought the ingredients to make three more batches. But man, I could quite happily eat it all. The stuff is scrumptious.

Baking wise, I had a go at some basic chocolate chip cookies. I got some nice Hotel Chocolatier chocolates from Neil (sort of) that came with a pack of their 70% dark chocolate chips, so I used those. And to make things different I added a splash of peppermint. They were amazing. I LOVE mint chocolate stuff.

New Thing: Challenge # 47

Challenge 47 - Embroider on card

I've been running out of ideas for challenges, so I asked Cayden to suggest one. He went with his latest crafting craze, which is transferring a picture to cardboard via pinholes, and then sewing it.



I chose a simple blackwork cross, and copied it onto squared paper. Then I layered it with some sparkly red card on a nice piece of foam, and attacked it with a pin.



I was tempted to not sew it, and to just stick it up on the window, cos it gives such a pretty pattern (sorry about the blurry)...



But the challenge was to sew it, and sew it I did. When you think of sewing up holes in cardboard, you tend to think of those kiddy embroidery kits, but it was so not as easy as it sounds. When you sew on aida, you can drag the needle across the holes on the back side, to find the right point, but it's not as easy as that on card. And you distort the holes really easily, which is very frustrating. But I did it, and I think it came out quite well.



You can't really see the sparkly in the picture, but the paper is all glittery and lovely.

Current saved total: £90
Current donated total: £145

Minor Triumphs

I've been feeling really proud of myself for what I've acheived this week. I had a moment of thinking that I shouldn't be proud, because it's all things that normal people do without even thinking about it. But I'm not a normal person. I have trouble waking up in the morning, let alone doing anything else. So my triumphs are pretty huge for me.

Whereas I normally only go out once a fortnight, I've left the house five of the last six days.

I've managed to catch up with all of my washing up, and keep it from piling up again.

I cleaned half of my kitchen, which admittedly is not my whole kitchen, but half is better than I normally get done.

I've remembered to brush my teeth every night. As gross as it sounds, that's something I forget to do a lot.

I got my new glasses yesterday, and I've been wearing them like I'm supposed to as well.

I've finished lots of craft projects.

When I emptied the bins, I didn't leave the bags at the top of the stairs for the next time I went down, like I normally do. I actually took them down.

As I say, none of it is huge, but it's pretty impressive for me. Especially since I've been ill. The bladder infection cleared itself up overnight on Wednesday, and I finally managed to get some sleep. Which is just as well since I slept through the alarm and missed my doctor's appointment. I also managed to get a cold that day, and am all stuffy and runny and gross at the moment.

But generally, things are good :-)

Stitching Sundays

I've had Cayden stay over for the weekend - since I have a sofa now, we don't have to worry about him catching the last bus - and we crafted up a storm as usual. I made a felt plushie as a Christmas present, and I'm sooooo proud of it, but I don't know if the recipient reads my blog or not, so I can't post it just yet. I, and Cayden, got the felt plushie bug though. He made a little Mochi and a duo-tone star, and I made a loop.



Boy, there were a few learning curves with him. I learned quite a few things with the two plushies as well. Like, sew on ALL additions before sewing the back to the front. And, leave the stuffing seam somewhere that's easy to reach. But they're adorable. I want to make more, but I think I've run out of decent sized pieces of felt. I'm popping to eBay once I've done this.

I've finished quite a few projects this week, but they are mostly small ones. I made a witch's hat and a Nanny Ogg quote for a Discworld themed swap...




And I made some Christmas decorations for another swap...




I liked the star so much that I had to make a whole set for myself too...


I'm making some more candy canes too :-) And I've got an idea for a larger wreath that I'm working on. I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!

Not good

Ok, so as if I didn't have enough problems with sleep...

I have a bladder infection. Whilst out doing errands yesterday, in six hours I used eight different public toilets, and missed three buses because I couldn't hold it long enough. It's not painful, just uncomfortable. When I don't have to go out though, it's not too bad. I get on with my day, and take lots of bathroom breaks.

At night though... I lay down, I close my eyes, and there's nothing to distract me. Last night I had three hours sleep. Tonight I haven't been able to get to sleep at all. I can't decide if I should keep trying, or just give up and use the time to do something productive.

I have an appointment with the doctor first thing in the morning, and hopefully he'll give me some antibiotics. I'd happily have the infection for three times as long, if it went away for 8 hours a night so I could sleep!

New Thing: Challenge 46

Challenge 46 - live diurnally for 2 weeks

My body naturally leans towards nocturnal living. No matter how long I've been awake, or how rested I am, I am ALWAYS much happier, more alert and active during the night time. Since I have no job, no college, no dependents, I don't really see a problem with living that way. I can do pretty much everything online these days, so living nocturnally is a viable way of life.

The only thing that bothers me is that my friends and family aren't nocturnal, so when I sink into a habit of going to bed at dawn, and waking up around 5-6pm, I don't get to see or speak to anybody very much. Particularly Neil, who goes to bed the second he gets home from work. So every so often I try to get into a "proper" routine. I usually fail.

This week I decided to set a challenge to stay diurnal for two weeks. I failed. Miserably. Day 1 I woke up ill, and that was the end of it.

I'm not too disappointed, to be honest. I've managed to stay not-quite-as-nocturnal, and with my new sofa and computer chair I'm keeping to a better routine than I was.

Current saved total: £85
Current donated total: £145

Food Fridays

So, while I was at Mum's for the week just recently, her neighbour Linda asked me to make her a banana cream pie. There was all kinds of hassle with the base. Mum went to Tesco to get the ingredients, but they didn't have any sweet pie cases, so she got a savory one, a flan base AND a pack of frozen filo pastry, just in case.

The flan was a disaster. Mum had brought a can of cherries and some jelly for me to make dessert for the Sunday roast. Except that the can of cherries didn't spread far enough, and I didn't wait for the jelly to set, so it just soaked straight into the flan case. Oh well, I don't like cherries anyway.

I used the savory pie case to make a quiche, with leftover chicken from the roast. It was my first ever quiche. Chicken, sweetcorn, cheese and lots of paprika. I wanted to put some red onion in as well, for colour, but mum forgot to buy some. It was delicious. I'm very proud of the quiche. Plan on making some more.



So, I used the filo pastry for the banana cream pie. I've never used filo before, but there were instructions in the box. It's very fragile that stuff, but it tasted okay. For the banana cream bit, I tend to use cheesecake topping. It's delicious. And since my sister got me the electric handwhisk I wanted for my birthday, it was easy to mix up. The pie didn't exactly look grand, but it tasted scrumptious.

41 Days to Go!!!

So, I love Christmas. It's my favourite holiday, and I usually spend all year thinking about it. Buying presents - one of my traditional presents is a giftbag with lots of little bits I've seen throughout the year that I think "oh, so-and-so would love that!" And I usually spend all year making bits and pieces too.

However, this year my sister decided to get married and all thoughts for the whole year have been on that, and on completing the Mammoth Secret Project - which I can reveal was for their wedding present. I failed to finish it in time, so they got given Christmas presents instead and the MSP will be their Christmas present. Because of the wedding though, no one in my entire family could spare much thought for Christmas.

But they're married now. Married, honeymooned and back being Mr and Mrs. So we can pay attention to Christmas!!

I love Christmas, did I mention that? I love everything about it. I love the lights and the decoration. I love the presents and the food. I love the planning and shopping and preparation. I love the carols and the traditions. I've been known to buy presents as early as the January before and spend all year wrapping and unwrapping and rewrapping them. This year I have to do everything in 41 days!! Impossible.

I wrote out my Christmas cards the other day. Mostly because I had some I brought in the sales last year, and needed to know how many more to get. I've had a Christmas tree up for a week, undecorated, so that Smudge can get used to it. So far she's been more interested in the box than the tree.



But it's a plain tree. I've been itching all week to decorate it. I asked my friends yesterday whether it was too early to put up Christmas decorations. Meagan said it was ok, but then hers have been up for weeks. My mum's friend Lynn said that if it makes me feel good, then I should do it. Everyone else said it was too early. Bah, bunch of Scrooges. So I asked the Ravellers. Most of them said it's my house and I can do what I want. Unfortunately I was ill yesterday and probably would have fallen over if I'd tried. But I got out the box, and went through what I have.

I don't actually have much. Over the years I've lost a lot of bits, and tinsel and garlands never really last long. So I made a list :D I have a few baubles and things, but not nearly enough for the huge tree my mum gave me this year. I need new baubles, and tinsel, and garlands. I also need more lights, since I appear to not have any. Quick search on ebay and I found these...



Of course I had to buy them. Which means that the day they arrive is the day the decorations go up :D Purple lights!!! How cool is that? When I do my errands on Tuesday I'll go get some tinsel and bits and pieces. I can't wait for Christmas :D I'd have decorations up all year round if I could. But people give me funny looks.

I do have a load of Christmas-themed cross stitches and things in frames, that were in my Christmas box. I'd planned to have them up with the decorations, but I've decided I want them up all year round. My living room is so full of random frames with random pictures and quotes and craftwork and things, it's not like they're going to stand out. And I'm proud of them, damnit.

Hmmm, my Christmas blog appears to have descended into rambling. Not quite what I wanted. But there you go. I love Christmas :D

New Thing: Challenge # 45

Challenge 45 - Survive my sister's wedding without having an episode

On Friday November 5th 2010, my baby sister Jennie got married.



She's known Joe for a million years, and he's always been considered my brother-in-law, so this was just a formality really. But I'm so happy for her and have been for months. They're currently on their honeymoon in Florence.

However... I have big issues with my family. And I have some envy issues with Jennie. I haven't seen most of my family in 6-10 years. I've never met my three nieces or my nephew. I haven't spoken to my father in years, and when I do he treats me like a stranger. And my stepmother goes out of her way to make my life hell. Oh, and two of my ex-boyfriends were going to be there. So I've spent months being terrified about this wedding. I've had nightmares nearly every night. Jen and Neil were both invited, but Neil couldn't make it. So Jen had to support me on her own. I wasn't sure how the wedding would go, but I was pretty sure that I'd end up crying miserably, or having an episode.

But I didn't. No episode. It was a very emotional day. During the ceremony I sobbed like a baby, and felt guilty because only half of it was happiness for Jennie and Joe. A lot of my ceremony-based crying was sadness and misery for myself because I wasn't sure something like that would ever happen to me. But it was a good day. My father ignored me. Said no more than four words to me. I think my stepmother actually said more. But every single member of the rest of the family greeted me with love and happiness. One of my uncles, my favourite uncle, bounded into the church like a big puppy, and clamboured over Jen and Michaela so he could give me a cuddle. My brothers all made an effort to come and talk to me, and introduce me to their families. This was especially important to me, because techincally they aren't my brothers. My father is my stepdad, my stepmother is my stepstepmother and my brothers are her sons, who are technically no relation. But despite all the hassles we've had, I still think of them as my brothers, and it made my heart swell to realise that they still think of me as their sister.

And their children are the most adorable little kiddlings I've ever met. Especially Lucas. My god he's so amazing. He's not even a year old yet, and I want to run away with him!

Anyway, the upshot is, that the wedding wasn't half as bad as I thought it was going to be, and I didn't have an episode. Yes, I'm jealous of Jennie and Joe, but I'm incredibly pleased for them, and can't wait til they have kiddies :-)

Current saved total: £85
Current donated total: £140