Torianna's Corner

In yesterday’s vanity post, I mentioned that I’d be spending some time during my “Unplugged Sunday” working on the following tasks:

1. “slicing and dicing” the last pieces that I need for “Stars”: (60 (2 1/2″) light blue squares; 30 (4 1/2″) floral ink squares; and 384 (2 1/2″) floral ink squares);
2. do some measuring for another quilt project of mine. I need to figure out how much fabric I have for this project and how much, if any, I still need to purchase!

So… I thought I’d take a moment to give you an update.

The bottom line is that everything takes longer than I think it will! This was true regarding these tasks, too. Even though I managed to cut out (“slice and dice”) all of the needed 4 1/2″ floral ink squares and about thirty of the 2 1/2″ floral ink squares, I’ve STILL got LOTS of “slicing and dicing” to do.

As far as the second task is concerned, I haven’t even started that one, BUT I hope to spend some time getting started on it after this I’ve pushed the “Publish” button — before I “hit the hay”, which is something else that’s been on my mind lately.

So, yeah… Everything takes longer than I think it will…

This is my official “I have nothing worth writing about and/or no time to write it” vanity post. From now on, whenever my schedule is so busy that I don’t feel I have time to (or can’t) come up with something interesting in a timely manner, I’ll publish “Vanity Post #14” — my version of Chuck Lorre’s vanity card #111.

I FINALLY had my eyes examined, so I can NOW get another pair — or two — of glasses! I can’t even remember when I last had this done!! All I do know is that I’m overdue for a new pair of glasses, especially since the last pair of glasses I had (a pair with a “flexible” frame that ended up NOT being very flexible — or flexible enough) were in terrible shape AND had been lost for probably over a year (or longer) — until Sweet Thing found them sitting on our “travel” trailer’s propane tank recently.

After Sweet Thing failed the eye exam required for renewing his driver’s license the other day, I jumped at the opportunity to get my eyes examined at the same time! So, yeah… We both had our eyes examined, AND we ordered a pair of glasses for each of us as well as a pair of sunglasses for me! I’m just glad that I was able to find a frame that I like since the last time I tried to order myself a new pair of glasses, I didn’t like any of the frames that the place near my eye doctor had at the time. Thankfully, it was a case of “better luck next time” when it came to ordering eyeglasses!

I worked much of the day — much of my first full day on an “early bird” schedule” — on something that’s been one of “the three tasks” for quite a while, but I think I’ve finally got it! I think I’ve finally got a better version of my “Daily Block Schedule”!!

Through the years, I’ve been working with “Daily Block Schedules”, which are my attempts at trying to get myself organized enough to follow through on the tasks needed to accomplish goals that I’ve set for myself. I’d love to be able to say that these schedules have been effective, but I can’t. I don’t think the “Daily Block Schedules” themselves are to blame. Instead, I suspect that it’s my inability to stay focused on the tasks in these schedules. There have been times (many times, sadly) that I’ll start the day and get through the first couple of blocks, and then distraction hits, leaving me totally distracted and far from accomplishing everything.

Well… Today, I created what I think — hope — will be an effective “Daily Block Schedule” — after going through many, many notes on what should be included, how long each task should take, and how long each of the various blocks should be. I checked — and double-checked — everything in my notes, so I’m hoping I’ve taken as much as possible into consideration and that THIS plan WILL work for me. But… As I’m so fond of saying, only time will tell how successful it’ll be for me…

I’ll certainly keep you posted, but, in the meantime, I’d love to hear any suggestions or tips that have worked for you when it comes to getting — and staying — organized enough to accomplish your goals. Please leave me a comment below.

Until later, take care!

Yay! I do NOT have to purchase more of the dark blue fabric that I wasted when I was “slicing and dicing” on Sunday like I first thought! During Tuesday’s “quilt-along” session, I managed to cut out enough of the 2 1/2×4 1/2″ rectangles out of a few of the dark blue fat quarters that I’d purchased a while back (long before I even thought of “Stars”, my current “quilt-along” series)! Now the only “slicing and dicing” that I need to do is for the actual star blocks for this project, and believe me, I’m going to start with the 4 1/2″ squares needed instead of the little 2 1/2″ squares!

I also confirmed my suspicion about the “Lightning McQueen” quilt (or just “Lightning” for short) that my darlin’ daughter’s sister-in-law requested that I make. My first thought was to make a reversible quilt using both kinds of fabric that I received last month. After a while, I started thinking that this might make the quilt a bit “too busy” and that I should use a solid color for Lightning’s backing instead. Yesterday, I ran this by Liz (“quilt-along” instructor), and she agreed with me. She also agreed that the Lightning McQueen fabric will work for our next “quilt-along” project. So, yeah… I got some good feedback regarding my “Lightning McQueen” (commission) project yesterday!. Now, I feel much better about taking on this project, and I hope to be able to give her more than she originally requested.

Anyway… Now, I need to focus on finishing all of the “slicing and dicing” needed for “Stars”, my current “quilt-along” project!

Yay! I FINALLY have an appointment for an eye examination, which is definitely a much-needed appointment since (1) I think it’s now been over a year since I had my last eye exam; and (2) I lost my prescriptions a year or two ago and I need another pair of eyeglasses. (By the way, Sweet Thing recently found my long-lost pair of glasses — sitting on the tongue of the trailer of all places!) So, yeah… It’s a long overdue — and much-needed — appointment…

AND it’s getting me onto a more “normal” sleep schedule. To prepare for this upcoming eye exam appointment, I’ll have to start going to bed A LOT earlier than this “night owl” (read: me) has been doing lately! I’ll even get to see what morning looks like — for at least a day or two or however long I’m able to keep my “early bird” (read: “normal”) sleep schedule going. Only time will tell how long I’ll be able to do that.

One more thing… Since today is a Tuesday, I’m going to share a quick “Tasty Tuesday’s recipe with you! It’s a recipe for something that I’ve enjoyed a couple of times during the past week: Oven-Roasted Potatoes — though I call ’em “oven-roasted veggies” since I like adding carrots and onions to the potatoes. Without further ado, here is Merissa’s (from littlehouseliving.com) recipe for “Olive Oil Oven Baked Potatoes”:

Olive Oil Oven Baked Potatoes

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Potatoes
• Salt

Directions

1. Wash up your potatoes first! You can use any variety of potato you would like for this recipe or a combination of a few different ones to change it up. Gold and purple potatoes would make a fun combination the kids would love!
2. Peel and slice up the potatoes into cubes or pieces; place them into a bowl. (If you’re using smaller potatoes with softer skin, you can leave the skin on if you prefer.)
3. Pour some olive oil on the potatoes and sprinkle them with salt. Stir the potatoes around in the bowl, so everything gets coated lightly.
4. Put the potatoes into a bar pan or some kind of cookie sheet with sides; bake at 400 degrees F until the potatoes are soft. You will want to flip them or stir them around halfway through baking. These generally take about 30-40 minutes to bake depending on how many you are making at once.

As I mentioned above, I prefer to add carrots and onions to the potatoes as well as either a package of onion soup mix or just straight bouillon powder — either beef or chicken, depending on what will accompany the “oven-roasted potatoes/veggies”.

However you make ’em, this is a simple and quick side dish, which can be served with the main dish of your choice! Bon Appétit!

I’m now at the point in my current “quilt-along” project that I have to cut out (or “slice and dice” as Sweet Thing likes to say) the pieces needed for making more blocks. So… That’s what I decided to do on this week’s “Unplugged Sunday”. Sadly, I made a mistake… Hence the “Grrr…….” in the title of this vanity post!

The other day, I had taken the time to make a list of how many pieces I needed of each of the various fabrics and sizes, so I’d know how many I needed to “slice and dice” to have enough for all remaining blocks. Today, I took a look at the list and then grabbed the fabric that seemed the least in need of ironing, which, in this case, was the dark blue fabric. According to the list, I needed both 2 1/2″ squares AND 2 1/2″x4 1/2″ rectangles. Since the squares are the easiest, I started with the 2 1/2″ squares, and using my new “Stripology” ruler and trusty rotary cutter, I had cut out more than enough in just a few minutes.

Well… My happiness at having cut out so many in such a short time quickly turned to anger when I went to put away those 2 1/2″ squares, which had used all of that dark blue fabric and discovered that I ALREADY HAD almost enough of the 2 1/2″ squares already cut out AND that I needed the fabric I’d just used for the 2 1/2″x4 1/2″ rectangles! Grrr…..

Now, I have to go to the store to buy more of that dark blue fabric, so I can then “slice and dice” it into the needed rectangles!

Grrr…..

While getting caught up in my e-mail, I came across several quotes that I thought I’d share with you, including one that made me laugh. So… Without further ado, here they are (in no particular order):

“Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.”

~ Michael McGriffy ~

“Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant — there is no such thing. Making your unknown known is the important thing.”

~ Georgia O’Keeffe ~

“Focus less on winning, focus more on improving.”

~ James Clear ~

“The palest ink is better than the best memory.”

~ Chinese Proverb ~

“The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at a time.”

~ Mozart ~

So, there you have ’em: several quotes that I found to be inspirational. I especially liked the last two: the Chinese proverb since it validates my need to write things down AND Mozart’s reminder since it seems as though people have been trying to “multi-task” (and probably failing at it) for a VERY LONG TIME if Mozart was quoted for saying something like this.

Oh, and please leave a comment to let me know which quote you think made me laugh. If you’d like, please also leave me a comment with some of your favorite quotes since I like collecting quotes — almost as much as I like collecting postcards!