New year ahead...

... and fir this one I actually have a resolution.

In 2010, I resolve to find BALANCE. Balance among my personal life, social life, and professional life. Balance between obligations and choices, wants and needs.

In 2009 I found myself putting more energy into certain aspects of my life than others, and those priorities were not necessarily the best for me or for those around me. I want the people closest to me to have the best of me - not what's left after work, school, and everything else I've committed myself to.

Meet Bella!

This is our new little lady, Bella.  8 weeks old yesterday.  She's a Great Dane, so of course she won't be this size for very long!

Domestic training just got kicked up a notch.  She's a tough little one to keep up with!  That and she takes up so much of my attention that I have trouble doing normal everyday tasks like cooking and laundry.

Industrious me!

This was the yuckiness that was our spare room closet before the transformation...


Unfortunately this picture doesn't capture the several boxes strewn around the room (tucked under the desk, along the walls) that were still packed with stuff!

So last weekend I channeled my inner construction guy: I bought some lumber, cut it, painted it, made use of my measuring tape, level, and drill. Add some necessary organizing, purging, and even a trip to The Container Store, and now...


Everything fits, and it's all accessible! No more tumbling piles of stuff to get to the stuff I want to use - AND there is room for more stuff. I could even hang some clothing in there. I'm already thinking the DVDs might find a new home...

Best of all, the room is no longer cluttered with boxes. Success!

Bug Mugs

So a Boston-based bicycle shop owner commissioned me to make some mugs - to try to sell in said shop. Coffee mugs in a bicycle shop? I could work with this: Their team mascot is the cockroach, every time I've watched a race or looked at pictures the cyclists are covered in mud...

The result is something I would never drink out of. The style and aesthetic are (shall we say) unpalatable.

They sold out within hours of being posted on the shop's blog. Wow.

Have I found my niche?

Easy Minestrone

I love Minestrone Soup. I hate chopping vegetables. Actually, I don't mind chopping vegetables. Sometimes I'm just not in the mood.

Here's my easy recipe:

1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can crushed tomatoes (or 1 large tomato), pulverized in the blender
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
about 10 oz. frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup ditalini pasta
salt and pepper
olive oil
grated parmesan

Saute the onion and garlic in oil until soft. Add broth, beans, tomatoes, and frozen veggies. Bring to a boil and add salt to taste. Once the soup is boiling, add the pasta and cook for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Serve with grated parmesan and pepper.

YUM!

Can I finally finish unpacking?

I'm getting ready to build a closet unit. Bought the lumber this morning, going to a friend's house to do a couple of precision cuts, charging the drill, and we'll see what the afternoon brings.

My *hope* is the shelves will offer enough room to empty the last few boxes that have been sitting in the spare room since last June. I'd love to say that's the only place the mess is coming from, but I can't! (sigh.) I wonder if building shelves will help with my domestic goddess cause... or if it just proves that I'm industrious!

A day's work

I made a loaf of bread and a batch of bagels this afternoon. I've gotten pretty good at wheat bread - I use the bread machine to knead/rise, then finish the loaves in the regular oven. I do that so the pieces of bread will fit in the toaster.

It's only my second attempt at bagels, and they came out MUCH prettier this week. They actually look like bagels! Last week's bagels were ugly but delicious. I used a different recipe; hopefully they aren't pretty but yucky. Too hot to taste right now.

It took the better part of the afternoon, but I'm very proud.