End of the Year Resolution Update

Well, it’s the last day of 2007 and I’m putting on the third coat of mud.  This website has some very helpful hints for taping drywall.  It recommends that you wet the tape and knife often for a smooth finish.  I think the extra bit of water is slowing down the drying process and I probably won’t get to the sanding by the end of today but I’m pretty happy with where I am.

When I told my sister what I was planning to do during my holiday break she told me to “get a life!”  Hey, what’s wrong with wanting to tape some drywall on my days off?  Geesh, some people just don’t get it.   

Anyway, I’m usually not into making New Year Resolutions because I don’t think that you need to wait until the New Year to make them.  However, I’m excited about 2008 and I can feel that the tides are changing.  I have some big plans for the upcoming year, well, maybe not that big, but plans nonetheless.  More on those later…

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Bedroom renovation

I took some before pictures of my bedroom renovation project.  I plan to finish the drywall by the end of the year.  My room (which is an attic room) used to be open but I decided that I want to close it up.  Here’s my bedroom door that my carpenter put in!  Now I can slam the door like a teenager.  Right outside the door to the left is the staricase.

And here’s the new closet.  This used to be a little nook.

The wall between the bedroom door on the right and the closet door used to be a half wall overlooking the stairs, now it’s completely closed, woohoo!

So this is not a huge project and I’m actually psyched about the taping when I return home from visiting my family (where I am now, using god knows who’s wireless internet connection).

End of the Year Resolutions

Whew, now that the pottery show and sale is over (I sold all 26 of my soap dishes and most of my other pieces, yay!) I can focus my energy on some things that I want to finish before the end of 2007.  Lots of people have New Year Resolutions but for a procrastinator like me, the End of the Year Resolutions are better because there’s an immediate deadline … and I work much better when I have a fire under my ass limited time.  The main project I want to finish before the end of this year is to finish the drywalls in my bedroom.  I had some walls and doors put in last week (to close off my open bedroom) and to save money, I decided to finish the walls myself (something that I’ve done before).  By December 31, I’d like the drywalls to be taped, mudded, sanded and ready for priming.   I can do the priming and painting after the New Year.    It’s a pretty realistic goal and I hope I can do it. 

So what are some of your End of the Year Resolutions?  Get them out of the way so you can start the New Year one step ahead.  Leave a comment and you’ll be ACCOUNTABLE for your resolutions.  I’ll check in with you after the New Year! 

Pottery Show and Sale in progress

The Show and Sale at the studio runs from Thursday to Sunday.  The Weekend Special (where seconds, discontinued pieces, “experimental” pieces, or stuff that people just want to get rid of, etc.) always draws in a big crowd because of the terrific deals.  There’s a special group of HARDCORE shoppers who always wait in line well before the studio door opens at 10AM armed with their own bags and boxes (and sometimes lawn chairs) ready to get the bargains.   These are the same kind of folks who would wait in line at 2AM in front of Best Buy on the Friday after Thanksgiving. 

Anyway, this is what I saw this morning as I walked towards the studio at 9:30 (note that the windchill temperature was probably down in the single digits).

Hmmm, that’s weird … where’s the line of people waiting with their boxes and laundry baskets?  What’s that little red cooler doing on the ground?  Wait, there’s a note on it …

“HERE AT 9:15 – Staying warm in car (2 people)”

They have the right idea … numb frozen fingers and pottery do not mix well.   When I first read the note, I thought it said, “Staying warm in can“.   These people crack me up.

Show and Sale Countdown – 2 days to go

Here are some pieces I will be selling at the pottery show and sale this week.

soap dish in action (square soap dishes to go with my square soaps)

different soap dish designs (these are all handmade)

I really like these guys.  I think they’re good for sea salt or cinnamon sugar.  These are thrown on the wheel, altered, and then handbuilt.

And here’s a table full of pieces I have to price tonight.  I also have to set up my display shelf tonight.  I’ll post more pictures of that tomorrow.

A super simple breakfast

I’ve been more mindful about eating breakfast and bringing my lunch to work for the past month and I did really well.  The benefits of course are saving money, saving time, eating healthier, and not using disposable containers and utensils from the cafeteria.  Shoot, I even lost a few pounds just by eating my homemade meals!  Hmmm, could it be because I stopped eating all those sausage egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches from the cafeteria?

Besides baking a whole bunch of breakfast muffins, I also eat what’s pictured above.  It’s just a mixture of fast-cooking oatmeal and raisin bran and some other cereal that had dried blueberries.  The ratio is about half oatmeal and half cereal but you can do whatever you like.  I threw the ingredients in a plastic container with a splash of cinnamon and shook it until it’s mixed.  I don’t need to put any sugar in that because the raisins do a good job of sweetening up the oatmeal and the cereal adds a nutty flavor.  All I have to do is put some of that oatmeal mixture in a mug and add some hot water.  After a few minutes I thin it down with soymilk and I can practically drink it out of my mug.  It is very filling and much better than those pre-packaged oatmeals that are chuck full of sugar and god knows what else.  It really doesn’t get any easier than this.  I think walnuts and flax seeds would make good additions … ooh and chocolate chips!

Ceramics Show and Sale Countdown – 1 week to go

I’m doing the Show and Sale at the studio next week.  I’ve done about a dozen of them over the years.  I started making soap dishes to go along with my soaps a few years ago and they sell like hot cakes (yay!!).  The soap dishes are being fired today but here are my soaps waiting to be wrapped and labeled.  These are cold processed soaps made with all natural ingredients and essential oils. 

Crafty problem solving

Holy crap, was it cold this morning!  It was down in the teens overnight and windchill was down to 1 degree this morning as I was walking Molly.  I NEED to cover my face when it’s this windy and cold outside.  Ski masks will not do … they’re too bank robbery.  I need to come up with a good looking scarf-hat-face protection thing for the real cold days.  This pattern from Knitty is pretty fun but I might scare the kids waiting for their school bus in the morning.  I’m thinking more along the lines of a kitty ninja look. Oooh, I love a good crafty problem to solve.

Slush rant

It snowed last night and this morning everything turned into slush.

My pant legs are wet and they probably won’t dry until the end of the day.

Most people on my street don’t shovel their sidewalks.  I’m tempted to spray paint obscenities on their slushy sidewalks so at least they would try to shovel them out of sight.  There are no entrepreneurial kids going door to door and shoveling people’s sidewalks for a few bucks.  Don’t kids need money to buy Wii or pay back their parents  for texting these days?  I mind as well be the neighborhood sidewalk shoveler this winter and make some money for my alternative income fund.  What’s the going rate nowadays? 

Ugh, and I think my boots are leaking … sigh…