Tag Archives: Martha Stewart

Planning For the Next Few Months

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It’s Halloween Eve and since I live out in the boonies there’s no kids to hand out candy to.  Probably a good thing since I’d likely eat it all if not enough kids stopped by.  I’ve already started to obsess over Christmas anyway, so Halloween really doesn’t have any space in my head anyway.

Over the next few months I am looking forward to cutting out sugar (eeek!), Christmas baking with a vengence (have I mentioned my obsession with Martha Stewart?), planning the perfect gifts, preparing for Reverb11 and creating my New Year’s resolution.

The cutting out sugar and looking to significantly reduce my gluten intake is due to how gross I feel lately.  I’ve been stuffing my face full of junk food and while the scale is creeping upward at an alarming rate, it’s really how crappy I’ve been feeling that’s actually the reason why I’m doing this.  I’m tired of feeling sluggish and rundown, bloated and fat.  I’ve had enough.  So I’m attempting to eliminate sugar (ultimately it will be refined sugar but I think the fruit has to go for a bit) and cut down on gluten.  Because this isn’t a medical necessity I will likely indulge now and then, but it is to strictly be for very special occasions.  I intend to take the next 8 weeks and see what transpires.  I’ll keep you posted!

Which brings me to my baking.  It’s weird that I follow up my plan to eliminate sugar from my diet with my obsession with baking.  However, it’s not that often I eat my baking.  Ok, well I will eat muffins and all that, but not that much else.  If I put a lot of work into something, I get very sick of it and don’t eat it.  Which is why I should always do the baking!  I’m doing cake batter truffles and sugar cookies, probably my chocolate chunk toffee cookies, maybe some nuts and bolts… who knows what else I will concoct.  But I will say this, they are all gifts.  There’s very little I intend to keep here at home.  I’ll eat it, or worse, my Dad will eat it!  He needs this junk food about as much as I do – which is to say, he doesn’t.

Reverb11 is coming soon.  December 1st is the start of the daily prompts.  It will be my third year participating in this project.  I love it because it’s a chance to reflect on the past year.  This was a big year, not only did I turn 30, start to learn to love myself and stop apologizing for who I am, and most importantly, I lost my mother.  I feel certain that this year I will have a to share during Reverb11.  And I look forward to exploring the year I’ve just lived and preparing for my year ahead.

Ya, I know, the New Year’s resolution thing is usually the kiss of death to anything you really want to do.  But I am determined to write cards for 5 days a week for 52 weeks.  That’s 260 cards if you’re really wanting to know (I was).  The reason I want to do it is that with the advent of Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and email, electronic communication is normal and letter writing and card sending is now special and different.  I want to send cards to friends and family to let them know how much I care about them, was thinking of them or just wanted to say hello.

Funny that I’m excited for the future.  Normally I’m slightly fearful, curious or impatient.  Tonight I’m filled with wonder and excitement for what the future holds.  I’m excited to share with others how I feel about them, create warmth and love and to search out the perfect gift to show someone how much I care for them (at the cost of nothing or everything).  I feel full of possibilities and challenges.

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Are you looking to the future?  What are you looking forward to in the near or far future?

It’s Saturday Night and I’m Home… Alone

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It’s 11:45pm at the moment that I’ve begun to type this post.  I have a feeling it will go into Sunday before I’m ready to hit Publish on it.

Wednesday I showed you a part of myself I usually keep hidden, and in the end, I did not have to formally eat my humble pie, although, I did end up eating in a round about way.  It was ok, I deserved it.  And now it is Saturday night, nearly Sunday, and I can’t decide how I feel about myself.

Ok, let’s clarify that, I mostly know I’m awesome.  But it’s night two of sitting at home and pulling out my inner Martha Stewart to find stuff to do while I drink wine.  Yes, I drink wine and pretend to be Martha Stewart.  She’s secretly my idol.  I mean, this woman makes her own EVERYTHING.  Who wouldn’t want to be her?  Really?  Ok, fine.  There’s a limit, don’t get me wrong.  I’m not about to make my own laundry detergent (but I know where you can get the recipe – hello Pinterest!), but there’s something that appeals to me about making my own Christmas presents, cookies, dinners and cards.  Call me crazy but I like people knowing I was thinking of them.  Which also leads me to my thoughts on my new year’s resolution.  But that’s for another day.

What’s really got me tonight is that I’m home for night two.  The Cowboy never called.  What do I do with that?  I don’t call him that’s for damned sure.  The Cowboy is probably out with friends.  Or even home alone as well.  I don’t know.  I know I won’t ask.  I texted The Cowboy this afternoon about chasing sheep.  Oh yes, I got the privilege of chasing sheep around my backyard.  (Have I told you lately how much I LOVE living in the country?!  No sarcasm either.  Just love it.).  No response.  It was ok until about 9pm.  Then I was tired and perhaps, maybe, possibly, a bit tipsy on wine.  That’s when it started to be not so ok.

And before you even go there, NO!  I did not text him.

But I am learning something valuable about myself.  I’m ok with my inner Martha.  She’s kinda cool.  A little wacky and perhaps has an extreme sense of a To Do List (hello double batch of homemade pastry, 2 dozen muffins, pot of turkey soup and 2 turkey pot pies!), but she’s also kinda cool, kinda thoughtful and even better is that she has my sense of humour.

So yes, I sat at home, alone, with a glass of wine texting one of my BFFs (yes, I do use the phrase – it’s too long to type!) and cooking/baking like a mad woman.  Do I wish I’d been out with The Cowboy?  Yup.  Was I willing to sacrifice a little self respect? Nope.

Cheers, my loves!