Don't Get the Puppy!!: And Other Helpful Tips

 P.S.  I know...you are going to get the puppy.  We will cover that, too.  😉

My macho, macho man...

Ok.  Kidding, not kidding.  But seriously.  Are you stressed yet?  'Tis the season.  It seems like everywhere I turn everyone around me is falling to pieces...one by one, like dominoes.  I blame time change and daylight depletion and weather fluctuations, but we shan't (yep...I used it) neglect the good old addition of extra holiday "fun" duties.

I, myself, am just trying to take it one little step at a time.  Minute by minute.  Hour by hour.   Breaking it down into nice, easy steps, and not neglecting my need for creative downtime for things like:

"It is finished."
-Jesus

I FINALLY finished the cross-stitch Starry Night.  If you were with me then, you may remember I bought this kit in February of 2019.  I recently put "finishing projects" and "getting rid of excess" into high gear around here. I finished this one last week, all 36,080 stitches and 26 colors of glory.  I am ecstatic.  

Now it's a waiting game...  Matt promised to make me a frame, and I assured him that - if this is one of those 5-year honey-do-wait-list items, I will be taking matters into my own hands.

Patience is a virtue.  It just doesn't happen to be one of mine.

Fortunately for him, Matt has a couple of more patient, kinder children.  Like this one 👆, who got him a very special Star Wars Sock Advent for Christmas this year.  Isn't she lovely????!!  I would say I don't know where in the world she came from, but I do.  I know.  And it was NOT from my dominant traits. 😉🤣

I have other special, unique gifts.  My super-power is hyper-active productivity, and this little break has allowed me to express that to my fullest.

And speaking of break, we have made it through the holidays, my friends!! Now...it's time for the let-down period of steady, monotonous routine where we fight boredom, cabin fever and depression until Spring FINALLY sets in. (I'm kidding.  Kidding!!  Kind of.)  Let's just put those thoughts on the back burner for a week or so and come back to them...perhaps.

But back to stress...the funny thing about stress, and depression and other negative emotions...is how we are always trying to drown them out with all of these grand, impulsive plans - like getting a puppy after the Co-Vid bomb dropped.  

That's also when I picked up this hobby.  I had since dropped making the sourdough until Xander expressed a desire to learn how to make it...which turned out to actually be her way of manipulating me back into the every two week bread-making extravaganza.  😂. Oh well...I've got the process down, and it is really endearing to watch them annihilate in 5 minutes the loaves that take me all day to make.  Turns out filling their bellies from the work of my hands happens to fill my heart, simultaneously.

Yes, even I am guilty of this incessant attempt to mask my discomfort.  But, hey, at least I went into the whole puppy thing knowing it was a bad idea and committing to it wholly.  Jesse and I have come a long way in our love/hate relationship.  I can, proudly, report it is probably about 90% love right now.  That's pretty stinking amazing, don't you think?

Plus, he's brought some really important people and experiences into my life.  That's a plus.

So,  I'm not saying we should NEVER get the puppy.  Just, maybe, only get the puppy if you can admit you are feeling really crummy and need a little pick-me-up, and you KNOW that it is going to bring with it a lot of time, effort, duties and frustrations.  'Cause if you are NOT acknowledging those things, you might be leaning toward blissfully ignorant hope that a puppy is going to solve all your problems.  Hear me out: a puppy will NOT solve all your problems.  It will bring you more problems!!  More. Whatever it is we "bring home" to try and fill our negative voids - it typically brings more problems. I know from experience...too many to count.

Which brings me to:

Our next "puppy" project.

Let's face it.  Getting through winter is tough, and I may just be a glutton for punishment.  We, officially, have our first incubation experiment in the works.  Thanks to a very precious, dear friend of Jesse (and me), who brought me (potentially) fertilized chicken eggs!!

Look at all those chickens.  (I mean, I had to say it...)

I have promised myself no more chickens so many times I could scream, yet...here I am...working on hatching a potential of 16 more in the middle of January.  I can only keep 6 hens where we live, which makes it a little more difficult to experiment.  So...on one hand I hope it works out.  On the other, I hope it doesn't.

Ah well...I couldn't help myself.  I have ALWAYS wanted to get to be there when they hatch.  And to be responsible for their care from egg to chick is just too overwhelmingly heart-warming to deny myself the pleasure.  So...I will try to keep you updated on their progress, as I attempt to manage all these one million projects I have going on over here in Casa de O'Hara.

Like the last minute Christmas gifts I decided to knit, including two of these large, comfy blankets!!  

It seems nature and productivity actually FILL my cup, and I had a lot of cup to fill after the great October-November depletion.  That horrible case of Covid.  A thousand-million stressors I can't seem to remember right now.  And Dillon's spontaneous "flight."  Speaking of...check out the flight of stairs my kid jumped to break his leg.  

Yep...I can't!!  I just keep telling myself we are going to get through this.  We are going to get through this...

He is weaning out of the boot this week...about 10 weeks post-jump, so...

Yeah.  I was washed up for about 2 whole months, and I am relieved to have had a bit of a break (in between the holidays and stress) to craft my little heart out.

I have been a little Martha Stewart on speed around here, flitting around from one project to the next.  (Actually, Martha is not a very good comparison.  She is too neat and careful.  I am more like a bulldozer. But, all the same...I've been busy with my inner maker.  I LOVE to create!!

These needles, though!!  How could I not take this on???  It was definitely a quick knit with a gauge like that.

And fortunately for me, a little of my love for fiber crafting has rubbed off on at least one child.  Check out the ADORABLE sweater Eden completed just in time for our O'Hara Christmas Eve celebration:

Isn't she so stinking adorable, though?  How can she just go and graduate on me?!!!

The benefits of my mad creative-mania are exponential, don't you think?

If I do say so, myself...

I call it all good.  I actually rang in the new year last night (I NEVER stay up for that!!  But, it was for my boys.), and we closed out New Year's Day with a trip to Smithville Lake to see the Bald Eagles.  (You do KNOW about my bird fascination, right?  On par with Steve Martin and Jack Black...)

I think that's a successful wrap! How about you?

And the REALLY cool part is that we (me and the boys) have these random extra days off, so I'm not even walking into Monday with a case of the Mondays, just yet.  Call me blessed!  I sure am grateful.

That's a great blue heron on the ice and a juvenile bald eagle in the air.  Happy nerding!!

I hope you find your happy places in the week ahead and that your cup never runs dry!

Amen, goodnight and good New Year!

Your Friend, 

Kristen