Thursday Think Tank

Coincidentally, my post today is in the same wave as the Thursday Think Tank over at Making Rebecca Lynne. After peeking into my brain here, be sure to swing by her space and check out what is going on with her and the other participants. Even better, Rebecca is brewing up a Pouch A-Long (or PAL, love it).

I've mentioned briefly that I've been shifting my priorities in my life. I do have a lot going on between school, work, taking care of our home, Chad, our dogs, friends, family obligations, and so on. This leaves little time for me to do what I love to do. Not that I don't love my classes, but this semester I have more lecture than creating.

I have come up with a few places where I can cut some time from and use that time for personal projects. First of all, I had to tell my boss that I can't work as early as I have been. Essentially since June or July I've been working full time or near enough. While this is great for my bank account (and enables me to buy materials), it's not so great for everything else. If you take out sleep time, I spend more time with the guys at work than I do with Chad. Fortunately, they were ok with this. So I have gained an extra 6 hours a week. I also am cutting down on the junk tv that I watch when I am home. I intend to have it on as background noise and then I find myself sucked into the drama. I know I'm not the only one out there that has this little problem, right? And finally, my time online this is wasted has been reduced (coughFacebookcough). I haven't quit it completely, although I feel that it's coming. I only log on a couple times a week and really just to respond to people who have messaged me there.

Now to the why. I feel better when I'm creating. Honestly, sitting in front of a computer (like at work) is so draining on me. And since I'm already tired most of the time, I do tend to sit with my laptop just surfing from site to site. Yes, I'm gathering information and looking at various techniques that people are sharing, but a lot of that time was wasted. I also don't start most projects because I like to finish what I start in one sitting, but that's an issue for another time. And something I'm working on.

I also am getting involved more with the great online community here. I can only do that by sharing my voice and by commenting on what others are doing. Yes, I'm guilty of being a lurker, so I've been leaving comments instead of just thinking, "Oh, that's so great!". I'm also going to use this extra time I have to get more involved with QALs, swaps, and other community projects.

Another goal of this blog here is to make new friends. Like others, I have few friends in my everyday life who do what I do. So, don't be afraid to leave me a comment or even e-mail me directly.

Wow, this was a tad longer than I intended. As a reward for making it through, I snapped some photos of the new additons to my stash and a couple projects I will be starting.

I'm so looking forward to playing with the techniques in this book. Nothing too hard either as it's all strip piecing.

This will be embroidered and probably turned into a purse.

A few random fabrics. I have an idea for the cityscapes, but nothing concrete yet.

These are going to be used in a mat for my dogs' food and water dishes. They make such a mess sometimes and it would be nice to not clean up water all the time.

My next Swedish weaving project: a nice throw that reminds me of my childhood spent exploring various state parks and canoeing almost every weekend.

A nice macro shot of the threads I will be using. Size 3, if you're interested.

Thanks for reading my thoughts today! Be sure to check out Thursday Think Tank and feel free to link up with her as well.