On Turning 50

 Yes, today is that day - I am 50 today.  

I am not upset about this - not at all.  I look at where my mother was at age 50, my sister at age 50 and where I am at at age 50.  By the time my mother was 50, unbeknownst to her, she had lived 90% of her life, as she would die at age 55.  At 50, my sister was overcoming Bell's Palsy (it was a rough bout) and starting to plan her next adventure post-retirement.  At 50, I look around in this COVID-19 world, and I grateful for my health, my family and everything else.  Yes, even my job; I work for a great employer.

I did some analysis when Kim turned 50 and there were 3 things that she (and I, I realized) have done differently than our mother.  3 key decisions that made all the difference.  They are:

No smoking.  Mother smoked at the end 3 packs a day for years.  Nicotine stains everything. Trust me.  This ultimately made her ill, but it was a habit that kept her chained mentally I think as well.

Working.  Mother stopped working when Kim was a toddler I think, and you can see a marked change in her in family photos.  She was someone who should have always worked to maintain her sense of self-worth, but she didn't.  She did raise us, however, to be self-supporting.

Not being the victim.  Everyone goes through serious shit.  I mean, some serious shit.  If you haven't, I am happy for you, but most of us go through something that rocks us to our core.  Without sharing stories that are not mine to share, I can say that my mother went through some serious shit and Kim has gone through some serious shit.  I have been through some serious shit (dead children, anyone?), and I can say that while you feel some self-pity and you feel like a victim (Oh why me?), at some point to move on and thrive and live, you put that pity and victim mentality aside, realize that shit happens and move on, absorbing what life lessons you can from it all.  Mother went to her dying day indicating that everyone else was responsible for her oppression; everyone else kept her from doing what she wanted.  Everyone was at fault; she was faultless and a saint.  

Based on these 3 decisions that Kim and I have made, 50 was just a pivot point to start planning next adventures.  We had/have no intentions of stopping living - it's just begun - as our kids were/are materially grown by 50.

So I sit here at 50, thinking of my next goals.  I try to set them by decade.  I had 2 for turning 30 and I met both of those.  I had one for turning 40 and I met that one.  I don't think I had one for turning 50, but that's OK.  I have a few percolating for turning 60.

I want to be 100% out of debt.  This is doable, based on current trajectory of things.  We refinanced to a 15 year mortgage a while ago, car stuff should sort itself out, Renee's student loans will need some prepayment, but I have that sorted in my mind, etc.

I need to do some planning for retirement.  Kim retired at 56.  I of course work in a different industry, so my planning is different.  I have a decision point in April 2028, so I need to set some goals for that timeframe.  

I need to ramp up Coverlets & Counterpanes.  The long term goal for that is for that to be the side gig for retirement; the proverbial pizza & beer money.  I need to do a bit of a business plan and build up some inventory.  I'm just being a bit lazy here; I freely admit it.

And so in closing, 50 is looking pretty damned good!

6 Months In

 It's Labor Day weekend and we are pretty much 6 months in captivity sheltering in place working from home.  Many things are the same and a few things have changed and many things are just like whatever.  It's all good.

I have been told that I will be working from home through the end of the year.  Additionally, they have asked us if we are interested in the arrangement for a more permanent arrangement.  While all of this has been going on, I've actually been in the office more often than normal, moving things and packing up my temp workspace for them to move me back up to my new workspace.  While the new workspace seems smaller (there is way less drawer space), it really isn't.  I haven't needed any paperwork at all for the last 6 months, so I think it will all work out.  Plus I lost a shelf, but by changing jobs, I pared down so much junk on the desktop that I can put my books back on that back desk space.  It's all working out.  Ted's also home, so basically the work side of things remain the same.  

Renee has returned to school, even though most of it is remote learning.  She is doing fine.  She was home these last 6 months and she was ready to go back to school.  So while it's a change, it's actually just what it should be.

On the crafty front, I was going great guns for a while there, with one creative finish per week.  Then I just didn't keep it up.  I need to get back on this and also get caught up.  I am about 9 weeks behind!  Things just got weird and I am not sure how it all happened, but I'm trying to get back into the groove.  There are 2 shop hops coming up, so I hope that helps.

Finishing Week 21

Today is the last day of the 21st workweek that we have been working from home.  Pandemic update:  everyone is well, has jobs, and the garden is thriving.  Our biggest crisis as of late was our HVAC (well, the A/C) dying.  Thankfully, we had just enough money to pay for a new one in full.   I am so grateful for that!

Now we get ready for Renee to go back to school.  Once she is set up back up there (not in a dorm, in an apartment), then I think there will be an overhaul of things.  This extended time that she has been home will more than likely be the longest she will ever stay with us ever again.  (She came home from spring break in early March and never left.)

Ted totally has a work at home station in the basement.  There are a few more things he needs to make it be more optimal.  I, however, don't have anything.  I've been working in a barrel chair from Grandma Mary and one of her old TV trays.  If I am to stay put (and I wish to), I need to figure out a workspace with 2 monitors, a docking station, a real keyboard and an office chair. That's a fall goal for sure.

I also need to redo Renee's room.  She knows I am doing this.  This is redoing the room for her to use and maybe an occasional guest.  She is not a neat freak so I think she will be happy that I try and make sense of it all.

The spare bedroom is painted a lovely spring green and is simply called the Green Room.  I got about 2/3 of the way through getting it set up when this all hit.  Then it became a dumping ground.  I need to get this back in order as well.  The goal would be to have this be a handwork / knitting / other crafts room and add a TV to it with an Amazon fire stick.

I really want to go through all of my clothes, be ruthless in regards to them, pack up a ton of them and just admit that I will be in comfy clothes for the duration.  Ted wants to paint the interior of the house, and I think our room will be purple.  This means new quilts!  HAHAHAHA!

This is more than enough home improvement to last me for a while.  Basically it's the empty nest makeover to make the house work to our liking.  

Anyway just a quick update that we are, in fact, OK.

Week 17

It's week 17 of working from home, and I'm hanging in there.  Just a quick check-in.

I've been creating all this time.  Some things are large, some are small, some are all new efforts, some are finishing up UFO's.  But a finish is a finish and so I will continue on this quest of one finish per week.

Stay cool.  Stay well.

Hello from the Flip Side of the Shit Show

There really is no other way to describe April from a work point of view.  Let me give a few disclaimers:  everyone in my house is employed.  We have housing, food, money, health and each other.  Seriously, from a pandemic POV, we are just fine.

All that being said, April was just a shit show with work.  First there was the concept of trying to co-own a program and all the work underneath it with another person.  Then add in the fact that the person you are working with is just disengaged.  So disengaged that he in face left the company mid-month.

So then came 2 weeks of hard core scrambling to get a mission and vision crafted for folks.  Got that done and signed off on last week.  Today, I got them to agree to stop 2/3 of work efforts to focus on a few key things.  The formal announcement of the idea that all work must flow through me and allowing me to get just get to work goes out on Tuesday.

I now can breathe.

On a crafty front, I finished 3 sweaters for Loopy Grad School.  I'm #9 on the queen's list so I need to finish a UFO ASAP.  I'm working on a braided throw rug using old t-shirts.

Renee is done with freshman year.  Ted's in a code freeze.  All is well.

Fab 4 and Masks

So my Fab 4 last week was:

Fab 4 - Quilting
Clue 1 - Quilted Twins - nope
Clue 1 - Quiltville Unity - starting today
Blocks 1 & 2- Laundry Basket Quilts - nope
Finish all fabric bowls lying around - nope

Fab 4 - Knitting
Tudor Tweed - Weave in ends, block - nope
Daffodil - Finish second sleeve through increases - done
Daffodil - Finish body and separate - done
Pink - Knit through separation for neck - about halfway

During the week, the decision was made that we need to wear masks.  I haven't sewn any up until then, and when the call came out, 3 people contacted me in 15 minutes.  So I finished cleaning up my sewing space.  I pulled fabrics for masks.  I made a prototype and people agreed.  This morning, I have enough cut out to make about 90 masks.  I do not have all the ties cut as of yet.  Thank goodness for The Ten Commandments, because I love that movie and I was working up until after the parting of the Red Sea, which is when I usually need to go to bed.

My goal is 3 masks per person.  One is not enough.  I assume the following:  You can only wear a mask out for one outing.  You don't do laundry every 5 minutes.  You might need to go out unscheduled.  So I assume one is in the laundry, one is the one you're wearing right now and you've got one in reserve if you need to run out.  

Anyway my revised Fab 4's:

Make masks for all 38 people (and one cat - don't ask) and get them mailed.

Fab 4 - Quilting
Clue 1 - Quilted Twins - collect clue
Clue 1 - Quiltville Unity - through clue 2
Blocks 1 & 2 - Laundry Basket Quilts 
Finish all fabric bowls lying around

Fab 4 - Knitting
Tudor Tweed - Weave in ends, block
Daffodil - Fish sleeves to desired length (before cap shaping)
Daffodil - Do fronts and back to 7.75 inches from armhole 
Pink - Knit through the front

Two Weeks In

We are all doing well, here in the Schwitzner Shelter.  (As an aside, I've been working on figuring out an alliterative word for home for like FOREVER.  Shack has been rejected for various reasons.  This situation presented Shelter as an option and so I claim it.)  We are all back home, moved out from university, offices established here at home, etc.  We have routines, etc.  Frankly, we do this every year-end around the holidays when the university (wherever Ted is working) goes into Shutdown.  I joke about it and call it the 12 Days of Shutdown, and right now we are doing the same thing, but without snow and winter weather.

We are equipped with 2 deep freezes and a pretty robust pantry.  I have spent more on groceries than I would normally but there is nearly no eating out, so it all evens out.  I am now grocery shopping only once every 10 days and I am the only one that goes to do it.  My CSA's are prepared to continue in these changing times.  My beef, eggs and chickens ones are arranging alternate pickups and the fruit and produce ones are also committed to getting us our healthy foods.  Food is somehow the one thing that worries me the most.  I don't know why.

Since I am working full time, I am not crafting as much as some people think.  I really did not get any more time back to my day by working from home.  (Ted gained 2 hours, one of which he uses for sleep.)  Luckily there have been 4 different quilting communities online who are doing online mysteries or Quilt A Longs (QAL's) to keep us sane.  I missed the first one, but the other 3 are in various stages and I am collecting the steps.  I also have a large knitting deadline on April 30, so I am knitting like mad to get this accomplished.

So now that I think we have a groove being home and I personally think we will be home for a lot longer than Easter, I'm going to start a Fab 4:

Fab 4 - Quilting
Clue 1 - Quilted Twins
Clue 1 - Quiltville Unity
Blocks 1 & 2- Laundry Basket Quilts
Finish all fabric bowls lying around

Fab 4 - Knitting
Tudor Tweed - Weave in ends, block
Daffodil - Finish second sleeve through increases
Daffodil - Finish body and separate
Pink - Knit through separation for neck

While knitting is all about finishing things, quilting is all about starting things.  I know I don't need any more new starts, but hey, this are weird times.  A few new starts will not be the end of the world, in perspective.

Be well.

WFH: Day 2 EOD report

Today went much better.  I felt the groove coming on late yesterday afternoon and then today it was finally in effect.  I can handle working from home for a while.  I got the phone thing figured out on my laptop, using my Jabra (best $75 office gadget I've ever bought!), and had successful meetings, in which I could KNIT.   That was 100% fab.

Got 2 meals on the table for us today, with breakfast being sort of DIY.  The only venturing anyone did today was for Ted to go vote; Renee and I voted last week.  I bet we should probably venture out to get the mail.

I'm slowly doing a set of kitchen cabinets every day, trying to get food put away and also to understand what I have to work with.  That also feels good, to get some needed organization accomplished.  I hope to do one such task a day and really have something to show for my time at home.

Crafty-wise, there was no sewing today, but I did work on Loopy Grad School Sweater #2, now to be called the daffodil sweater.  I'm nowhere near as far as I'd like to be on it, but I have a few milestones / goals in mind.  Sweater #1, called the Tudor Tweed, is at the point where I have to put it on waste yarn, try it on and make some decisions.  I hope to get that done this weekend.

We survived another day.

WFH: Day 1 wrap up

e survived today.  Ted went into work and then was sent home.  Renee slept past noon.  I worked and it was horrible.  I was super-fidgety.  But by the end of the workday, I had a plan set up for the next few days, so hopefully it will be OK.

My guild has just cancelled everything for the next 2 months, including our annual show.  Our guild year ends with the school year, so we are hoping to at least get to hang out for the last meeting before we break for the summer.  The other guild in town is the modern guild, and their calendar runs the calendar year, except for December.  I went to my first meeting in January.  February's meeting was cancelled due to snow (it was a sloppy ride home and Ted described it as one of the worst commutes he's driven).  March was cancelled last week.  We'll take it from there....

I did reorganize one set of cabinets this evening.  A lot of my groceries ended up on the kitchen table, and this week, my goal is to get them all away.  I did stock up on food as I would mid-December, when we are home for 16 days straight.  Then I also bought as if a blizzard was coming.  That means I have planned for a month of meals.  So I have more groceries than normal.

I did sew for 1 hour and 10 minutes today and now I'm off to knit!

WFH: Day 1

Late on Friday, after so very many people left, my employer decided to make  everyone who could work from home do so.  This is not my preferred method of working.  It comes in handy when you need it, but I really prefer to go in.  My commute is short and with my hobbies, home is so tempting.

Anyway, here I am.  I log into the network in about a half hour.

I have made a Plan of the Day (POTD).  3 meals and tea time planned.  Today, Ted is going into work and Renee is still on break, so dinner is the only meal we will have together.  I also have a variety of tasks to do and some crafting. 

Discipline will be key.   We will get through this.