Wednesday, June 26, 2024

New book review

I've finished another book review, well I finished the book back in May but couldn't post my review live until yesterday (today because I was lazy yesterday 😂) since that was the official publish date.  So since I've been all over the place this morning since waking up at 4:30, cleaning, and budgeting, I only have 3 minutes to post before I need to boot up the work laptop.  Here is the link to my Goodreads review if you are so inclined to check it out....


May your day be productive!

Kerensa

Currently:
Listening to: 
Throne of Glass, by Sarah J. Maas (Audible - 49%, Chapter 28)
Chasing the Boogeyman, by Richard Chizmar (Chrip Audiobook - 38%, Chapter 5)  
Reading: 
Island of the Dead, by Brian Keene (NetGalley Kindle ARC - 25%)
House of Marionne, by J. Elle (NetGalley Kindle ARC - 1%)
Sewing/Crafting: 
Diamond painting 

Finished:
Listening to: A Court of Mist and Fury, by Sarah J. Maas (Audible 5/13/24 - 6/17/24)
Reading: Incidents Around the House, by Josh Malerman (NetGalley Kindle ARC - read 3/3/24 - 5/8/24)

Monday, June 17, 2024

A Court of Mist and Fury Review

There isn't much time to post today since I've spent most of it updating my TBR shelves.  I did finish ACOTAR book 2, A Court of Mist and Fury.  Here is my review on Goodreads.  I'll eventually post it to Amazon for those who don't have Goodreads or Audible. (you can click on the book image to go to my review)


May your day be productive!

Kerensa

Currently:
Listening to: 
Throne of Glass, by Sarah J. Maas (Audible - 1%, Chapter 3)
Chasing the Boogeyman, by Richard Chizmar (Chrip Audiobook - 29%)  
Reading: 
Island of the Dead, by Brian Keene (NetGalley Kindle ARC - 23%)
House of Marionne, by J. Elle (NetGalley Kindle ARC - 1%)

Finished:
Listening to: A Court of Mist and Fury, by Sarah J. Maas (Audible 5/13/24 - 6/17/24)
Reading: Incidents Around the House, by Josh Malerman (NetGalley Kindle ARC - read 3/3/24 - 5/8/24)

Thursday, June 6, 2024

Just Another Day

It's been not quite a month since I last posted. I seriously need to self-discipline and keep my promise to post more often and to get my boo-tay back into the quilt room, but I've been, in all honesty, depressed and stressed out, which has resulted in my not wanting to do much of anything. I am a "fixer" and a type A personality and those two seem to clash, causing me much more stress than is necessary.  I have been taking on the worries of not only myself, but of my husband, my dad, my adult kids, and worries about my grandkids and the world they are growing up in, not to mention the everyday stresses everyone has of making enough $$ to pay bills, buy groceries and necessities, and still try to maintain some savings to actually enjoy life, because we can't take anything with us when we move on, right? So, when I'm stressed, I often kick back in my recliner, heating pad on my back, soft blanket on my lap, watch my favorite shows, read/listen to a book, or find myself mindlessly scrolling and surfing the web on my phone, not really paying much attention to anything.  I very much need to get myself out of this slump and get back to being me. 

Anyway, this morning I was going through my hundreds of quilt-related emails and saving the tons of free patterns that I had flagged, or am part of QAL's, and found myself, once again clicking and following links that inspired me, and as usual, I ended up at Bonnie Hunters Quiltville InstagramBonnie K. Hunters Quiltville Instagram page.  I love her quotes on quilts images, not to mention the ahhhhmazing quilt patterns she creates with her scraps, and often save them as inspiration to my OneNote.  Here are two that I recently saved that I needed at this time and wanted to share:

 

How fitting they are at this exact moment in my life!  It's like Bonnie has a direct line of sight into my subconscious and posts these at the right time. 😉 Thank you Bonnie!

 I will say that to help me get out of my slump I have decided that when I am mindlessly sitting in my recliner that I must be doing something productive so I pulled out an old cross-stitch pattern and the threads to work on.  I'll share that in another post along with a photo of whatever I decide to sew this weekend, because this is my weekend to do as I please.  I went fishing with the hubby again and quite enjoyed myself (photos to come) but my real passion is reading and crafts.

 On the book front, I'm now almost finished with A Court of Mist and Fury, by Sarah J. Maas and I have to say, while I love listening to the audible version because the narrator is so good she makes me forget where I am for a while, I think I will have to read the entire series the old-fashioned way. This is because oh my gosh I have gotten angry at this book, and SJM for dashing my hopes and dreams from ACOTAR and I'm trying really hard to figure out this trio of Feyre, Tamlin, and Rhysand.  I don't want to give anything away for those who haven't read the books and want to, but my heart was torn into millions of pieces and I'm trying to heal it. 💔💕

Not much else to report at this time and it's almost time to boot up the work laptop to start my day. I wish everyone a bright, sunshiny day today!

May your day be productive!

Kerensa

Currently:
Listening to: A Court of Mist and Fury, by Sarah J. Maas (Audible - 75%) 
Reading: Chasing the Boogeyman, by Richard Chizmar (Kindle - 8% page 20/322)
Learning: My son says to start learning C# 😬

Finished:
Listened: A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J. Maas (Audible 4/2/24 - 5/2/24) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Read: Incidents Around the House, by Josh Malerman (NetGalley Kindle ARC - read 3/3/24 - 5/8/24) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Learned: Three new Excel formulas!

Thursday, May 16, 2024

ACOTAR review


So, I finally finished the audiobook of ACOTAR book 1 and I have to be honest that at first, even listening to an amazing narrator (Audibles Jennifer Ikeda), I almost stopped because... You can read the rest of my review on Goodreads or Audible. Oh! I found this awesome site to purchase all kinds of bookish goodies that make me giggle and want to load up my shopping cart ASAP, not to mention they have an SJM collection, so go check it out if you dare! 😏

I also finished the NetGalley ARC of Josh Malerman's Incidents Around the House but cannot share my review until after the publication date in June so look for that next month, it was interesting, to say the least.

There's not much going on around here right now other than working and helping take care of my grandson while my daughter works.  He keeps me busy but he’s my heart. Here he is the other evening while we were calming down after dinner.  Only 2.5 years old and he's already kicked back, chilling and watching Blaze on his tablet. 😂



May your day be productive!

Kerensa

Currently:
Listening to: A Court of Mist and Fury, by Sarah J. Maas (Audible - 22%) 
Reading: Chasing the Boogeyman, by Richard Chizmar (Kindle - page 9/322)
Learning: Python Programming Made Simple, by Christina Daniel, Ph.D. (Kindle)

Finished:
Listening to: A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J. Maas (Audible 4/2/24 - 5/2/24)
Reading: Incidents Around the House, by Josh Malerman (NetGalley Kindle ARC - read 3/3/24 - 5/8/24)

Monday, May 13, 2024

Just a quote day

I have been cleaning up my files since I made an oopsie and downloaded all of my files from my OneDrive and instead of them downloading into their respective folders they downloaded into individual files and separate folders so now I have years and years of files to Spring Clean, which will probably take me just as many years to go through as it did to accumulate them!  While going through them this morning I ran across this quote that I found who knows where, all I know is I saved an image of it on 12/23/2023 from Facebook.  I do not take credit for, and leave the credit to, the name associated with it, but I live by this quote, so thank you, Brooke Hampton, whoever you are, for putting my life into two short and sweet sentences that set my soul afire!

"I am pieces of all the places I have been, and the people I have loved.  I've been stitched together by song lyrics, book quotes, adventure, late-night conversations, moonlight, and the smell of coffee." ~Brooke Hampton

May your day be productive!

Kerensa

Currently:
Listening to: A Court of Mist and Fury, by Sarah J. Maas (Audible) 
Reading: Chasing the Boogeyman, by Richard Chizmar (Kindle)
Learning: Python Programming Made Simple, by Christina Daniel, Ph.D. (Kindle)


Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Knicky Knackies

Today I finally posted my ARC (advance reader copy) review of Josh Malerman's Incidents Around the House to my NetGalley account for the publisher.  I'll be able to officially post my review in June when the book is published and live for everyone to purchase.  I will say I did enjoy it, not as much as I enjoyed some of his other stories, but it was very interesting.

Other than that and working all day and taking care of my fathers' budget and paying his bills, I finally get to share the cute little knick knack that I purchased from Temu, which I am ordering from waaaay too much. lol  I want the entire collection, but for now, this one gets me started to put on my bookcase:


Isn't it adorbs????  There are 5 more in different poses that I plan on getting, but for now, she's on the bookshelf reading her own book. 😁

That's all for today folks, it's getting late and I have some chores to do before dinner. Take care.  

Until next time!


Kerensa


Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Empty Nesters....again

Good morning!  Today is Wednesday so I've made it halfway through the workweek and still have my sanity. 😂 Just kidding, I love my job and was surprised to be offered to lead our next project even though it is only a 2-week project vs. 2 months, I'm excited to be able to show what I can do, how I can lead, and especially to find out the trends of our analysis. I didn't get to propose or create this project but that is okay because #Teamwork makes the #DreamWork right?

My daughter and grandson finally moved out almost two months ago so we are empty nesters once again and I do love it because we are finally getting our house back in order.  A 2-year-old sure can keep a house destroyed lol.  But while I'm loving the quiet again, and being able to do what I want when I want, I do miss talking with my daughter and the early morning "knock knock Nannie" on my office door when he wakes up.  And I really, really , realllllly miss his sleepy morning hugs and kisses.  Now, when they come to visit, he is all about his pawpaw who takes him on the "vroom vroom" (riding mower), and Nannie is all but invisible. 🙈 This morning I woke before my alarm went off and found myself listening to the quiet house and realized I was listening for my grandson or my daughters' footsteps.  Now I have to just look forward to their visits.  And hopefully, my son will be visiting soon with the other 4 grandkiddos because I miss them so much.  The last time we visited them I was shocked at just how much they have grown in the month or so since we last visited.  I'm missing out on so much of their lives.  At least our kids were able to grow up next door to my parents and only a 25-minute drive from my husband's family, so I don't think my mom missed out on anything before she passed away.  I wish she were still here to see them growing up.  It's so hard to believe Scarlet will turn 10 years old this year! 

Anyway, I have some emails to get through in my quilting folder, and when I say some I mean more like 310 "new" emails, plus those I've looked at before. hahaha 

I did take some time this morning to create my email signatures, take a looksee below, although I have redacted my personal information since I'm sharing them here:

My Coding signature:


My personal signature:

My quilting signature:

And finally, my Analyst signature:

Time for me to skedaddle off to slam through some emails and get myself ready for work.  May you have the most wonderful day!


Kerensa





Friday, April 26, 2024

Barn Quilts...but I don't have a barn! ;)

 I've been so busy lately that I haven't even thought about updating my blog, and for that I apologize to anyone who follows me, and to myself for not keeping my own promise to keep the blog updated.  But that's neither here or there right now.  It's 6:34 AM on Friday (WOOT), April 26, 2024 and I've been playing around updating the look and feel of my blog this morning when I should have been doing other more important things, like pulling fabric for my table runner I want to make, and downloading the most recent QAL patterns that I've joined but haven't even started, nothing new there lol.  So since I have to get my work laptop booted up in about 10 minutes to get ready to work and make the $$ to support my quilting habit, I figured I'd type up a quick post.  

For those who have ever been in the country side, just crusing around looking, being the famous "Sunday drivers" I'm sure no matter where you live you've seen barns, and on many of those barns there are huge colorful quilt blocks called "Barn Quilts" and I've always been enamored by them and wondered where the idea started and, of course, how I could make one and hang it on our home.  Well here is a bit of history of the Barn Quilt and a link to a YouTube video that I found to help me make my own.

Barn quilts tell a story


YouTube: DIY Barn Quilt - How to Make a Pattern, Paint, and Supplies by DoodleDog Primitives

One minute to go so I'm off to make that $$.  Have a wonderfully productive day today!

Kerensa

Friday, February 2, 2024

NetGalley and BookSirens ARCs

Happy Friday morning!  I'm so glad the weekend is upon us because I know I will get to do some reading and sewing, and maybe even get into my closet and get it organized.  It's been a hectic week, my father had a PET scan and then a biopsy of a spot the doctors found on his lung and it came back as squamous cell carcinoma cancer so now we are waiting for the Thoracic Surgeon he was referred to, to schedule him for a consult to find out if the cancer can be surgically removed. This has reminded me more of when momma was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer adenocarcinoma stage 4 back in the summer of 2014 and while she opted for treatment, the cancer was too far along and had metastasized into her bones. Momma passed away on 11/3/2014 and I miss her dearly every day. Hopefully, daddy's cancer was caught early enough and they can remove it. Unfortunately, he is a heavy smoker and probably won't quit any time soon, if at all. 

My husband had his lithotripsy and stent placement on Wednesday.  Six hours at the hospital, most of it spent waiting to be called back to the pre-op room, then 2 hours waiting to be taken back to surgery, and the rest of the time was me sitting back in the waiting room, but he is doing well, just hurting, as expected.  Now hubby has to strain the urine to capture the stones so the doctor can find out what they are made of and hopefully stop them from happening. We went through this over 20 years ago but he had to have surgery back then and it was absolute hell for almost a year with his recovery.  This is so much easier and has a faster recovery time.  We go back on 2/8 to hopefully have the stent removed if all pieces of the stones have passed.

While waiting for the lithotripsy to be done I had plenty of time to finish my NetGalley ARC (advanced reader copy) of the book The Sunlit Ruins by Andrea Septien and you can see my review here on GoodReads. The story was good, although not one that I would normally gravitate toward and the narrators, Luzma Ortiz and Martin Martinez did an amazing job. I also picked back up on my BookSirens ARC, The Architect, by  Melanie Bokstad Horev. I'm only 30% into it and have 8 days to finish it so I must focus tonight and this weekend to make sure I get my review in on time.

I love posting reviews of books I've read and products I've purchased because reviews help people make decisions on what to buy, well at least I use reviews to make the final decision.  Too many negative reviews and I'm out, plenty of positive reviews and I am about 90% inclined to purchase if it was something I wanted. You can see products I've reviewed on my Amazon Profile. 

I've also continued listening to the House of Flame and Shadow, by Sarah J. Maas and I am so loving being back in Bryce and Hunt's world, and the narrator, Elizabeth Evans brings their world to life. if you love Romantacy (the new Fantasy Romance genre) you should really read the Crescent City series, and I read that SJM is going to have a fourth book so yayyyyy!

Since I was up early this morning I played around with some of my 2.5" precuts.  I want to do a triple Irish chain quilt but can't decide on colors.  I don't know if I want to go completely scrappy, controlled scrappy, or stick with one color value, etc.  Here's what I did this morning.  I was thinking red and maybe teal for the chains.  


These are just a few of the pre-cuts that I have accumulated so I have a nice little stash of assorted colors and patterns all sorted by color in these sweet little containers.


These are a few patterns I've found that I am trying to duplicate.  If I have the links to the creators then the photos are linked, otherwise, I apologize I don't remember where I found the images, but I liked them enough to use them as inspiration. Credit for these patterns does not go to me at all.  If you know who created those without links, please let me know so that I can give credit where it's due.

Anyway, I need to get myself ready to log into work.  Have an amazing day and weekend!

Kerensa

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Busy or Lazy, that is the question...

It feels like I've been busy without a moment to spare, but when I look back over the last few weeks since I last posted here, I feel like I haven't done anything other than laze around.  So now I have to think back on what I did to trick my mind into thinking I've been productive. 😂  Don't get me wrong, at work I'm probably the most productive person on my team and potentially in our department, but at home, I have so much going on that my brain jumps from thing to thing to thing and it seems like nothing gets done.  For example, I get up at 4 AM every morning intending to get through all of my personal, "quilty", and coding emails (yes, I have 3 different email addresses just to stay organized lol) but by 6:30 AM, when I need to switch my personal brain off and turn on my work brain, I realize that all I've done is surf through quilt blog after quilt blog, or I've scrolled through Audible and Chirp looking for audiobooks, or I've updated the checkbook register but not cleaned out the emails associated with the bills I paid.  

The 2-year-old grand has since greeted the daylight and bugged nanny for the last bit of her "free time" and now it's time to get ready for work.  So for now, I wanted to share that I'm so giddy because as of midnight last night, the audiobook I've been patiently waiting for has dropped into my Audible player. I finally got to continue the story of Bryce Quinlan and Hunt Athalar, from the Crescent City series by Sarah J. Maas.  I made it through almost an hour of House of Flame and Shadow, only 28 hours and 44 minutes to go!


Be Productive and have a fantastic day!

Kerensa

Saturday, January 13, 2024

2023 #AudibleStats

 It's that time of year again...time to get all those 2023 stats from Audible, Kindle, Spotify, etc. It's so neat looking back at what I listened to and read over the past year.  Here's my #AudibleStats for 2023.  Not too shabby.



Stay warm and cozy out there.

Kerensa

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Yes, I'm still alive...

I know, I know, it's been a while since I've posted, life just seems to get in the way, we can all relate, right? The last time I was here I played around with my page, made some updates, and found what I liked but then had to stop for a while.  What you see is what you get right now, but I'll eventually get back to finishing it up.  I've since finished book 5 of the Blood and Ash series by Jennifer L. Armentrout and now I'm impatiently waiting for the next book, I need to know what happens next in one of my favorite fantasy true love/soulmates series!  I'll update my book reviews when I have a bit more time.  It's almost time for me to clock into work lol.  

I've also started watching a new anime series that my son recommended to me.  I'm a huge Vikings fan, accurate historical and not-so-accurate stories created around it, particularly around Thor and Odin, Ragnarok, etc. So he told me to watch the series Vinland Saga on Netflix.  So here I am this morning when I should be getting things ready for our 5-day cruise on Saturday, watching it, and checking out the awesome Audible audiobook sale for Cyber Monday/week.  Should you wish to check out the series, here is some info on it:

Thorfinn pursues a journey with his father's killer in order to take revenge and end his life in a duel as an honorable warrior and pay his father an homage. A young man named Thorfinn finds himself in a quest for revenge against his father's killer. Firstly indulged in the apparent greatness of war and honor, Thorfinn quickly changes as he endures having to survive alone and then alongside the man he vows to kill, developing conflicting emotions towards the causality of his past and present life. Thorfinn vows to kill the man who took his father's life. But the life of a hate-filled Viking comes at a heavy cost; will Thorfinn succeed and finally kill Askeladd, or could his rage be his undoing? Only Odin himself knows the answers, and Valhalla awaits those waiting to die in battle. —Johnny-the-Film-Sentinel-2187

Well, that's it for now, time for me to log into work and get some real work done so I can earn a paycheck. 😊

Have a great day!
Kerensa




Monday, October 30, 2023

Another Audiobook Bites the Dust....

I finished book 4 of the Blood and Ash series, The War of Two Queens this morning!  I'm onto book 5... but first I must go get ready for work.  Until next time, here is my review:

The War of Two Queens audiobook review


Have a great day!
Kerensa


Saturday, October 7, 2023

Blood and Ash series, by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I did it!  I finished another book, well in Audible Audiobook format anyway lol.  I love holding paper/hardback books, I love the smell, the feel, and the weight of them, but I often have little time to curl up with a good book, especially with my almost 2-year-old grandson living here with us, as he demands ALL of Nana's attention. 😂 So the only way I get to "read" is when I am driving, or in my office/quilt room doing other things I need to do, like paying bills/balancing the checkbook etc. So I finished book 3 in the Blood and Ash series by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I loved the first 2 books so I've purchased the rest in the series, including pre-purchasing book 6, which is supposed to be a companion guide for the series, which I normally don't bother with.  I've posted my reviews of book 3 on Goodreads and Audible if anyone is interested and included the links below:

Blood and Ash series, by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Book 1:

Book 2:

Book 3:

Until next time, 

Kerensa

Wednesday, October 4, 2023

What I've been up to lately

Hello once again, my wonderful bloggers, who have had so much patience with this ADHD, OCD, post-menopausal, crotchety old lady, who keeps putting off things she should be doing for herself, such as sewing and reading, to take care of everyone else, adding their worries on top of her own.  🙅 But life does go on.  I'm currently trying to catch up on my "Currently Reading" list, knocking them out as quickly as I can, while still taking the time to enjoy the stories.  I've finished another one and will post the link to my review below before I sign off for the night.

I haven't sewed anything yet, other than a small coster for my desk (I'll take a picture and share it later) but I have printed out the patterns for the first couple of blocks for my Dear Jane quilt. The first block is A-1 Pinwheel Gone Awry. I'm using my own copy of Electric Quilt's Dear Jane and Susan Gatewoods' Dear Jane site, where she graciously shares her own progress.

I really, really, really want to start working on my Aves BOW (Block of the Week) quilt, I am paying for it after all. But I haven't purchased the fabrics yet and I don't want to pull from my stash because most of my stash is fat quarters and half-yards.  I certainly don't have enough of each fabric to pull for the requirements.  So I am purchasing the fabric a little at a time, fabric is VERY expensive don'cha know, and when I have the required amounts of each, I will begin.  Until then, I am saving all of the instructions and blocks in my OneNote Aves file as well as backup copies on my external hard drive. Did I ever share an image of what it can look like if done in the colors that first caught my attention? If not, well here it is, and if so, well, sorry, you get to see it again. :)

Oh my gosh, isn't it gorgeous? 

I've linked the picture to the site where you can register for the next round that may be offered. One day, soon I hope, I will finally get to start working on it.

Let's see, what else?  Oh yeah, I went fishing with the hubby.  He caught a fish, and I caught a photo of a turtle sunbathing on the dock:


We installed a couple of Roku outdoor cameras and found a new friend...  Such a cute hummingbird who visits the camera every day.

Last night we drove down to the beach for a presentation and before we came home we stopped and tried out some rolled ice cream.  Not too bad.

And finally, I bought myself a most adorable gnome, my "Dunkie Junkie".  It fits my personality so well.  Love my Dunkin' cold brew. 

Now that the basic updates are all done, I'll let this be the end of my entries for today. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day/night (as applicable lol).  Thanks for stopping by.  Come back soon now, ya' hear?

Book review time...you can choose which site you would like to read my review on. 

The Quiet Room, by Terry Miles

Side Note: Minnow Beats Whale Podcasts - You should check out the podcasts created by Terry Miles and Nic Silver.  I guarantee you'll get addicted!

Kerensa

Monday, July 31, 2023

Just a really quick post today before I have to unplug from my personal life and plug into my work life. I know I've been slacking. I haven't been doing too much lately, to be honest.  Quite disappointed with myself about it.  I just can't seem to get motivated to do much of anything.  I haven't been learning to code, I haven't been listening to my audiobooks since I finished the last one, and I haven't been reading for pleasure.  I know I have three books I need to finish and submit reviews on, and I'm so very, very late doing that. I just have to find my inspiration to kick me in the kiester and get me going again.  I know my depression has been overwhelming to me for almost 3 years now and I really don't want to go back on the medication again, but it's starting to look like I may have to.  I need a life again, well more life than sitting on m fat kiester watching TV.

Speaking of TV, I found out that my very guilty pleasure show "The Only Way is Essex" is on Amazon Prime, ALL 17 seasons!  I did not know there were that many seasons.  I got hooked on it years ago, back in 2010 when it came out on regular TV but I never got past season 1 because life got in the way. So every morning, when I wake up early (3:30-4:30 AM) I come into the office and plug into my show.  The episodes are short, around 25-30 minutes long, and I've made it up to Season 2 Episode 1 this morning.  I watch it on the computer while I organize my OneNote with all my quilt patterns, writing and book reviews, etc.

Other than that, I plan on sewing for an hour or two this evening after work, as I plan every day, but never do.  I really need to push myself to do it.  Well, time for me to plug into work and get ready to clock in.  

Stay cool my friends,

Kerensa

Sunday, June 25, 2023

Just an Update (skip if you want)

I thought I had lost my original blog because every time I tried to access it, the page would pop up for a second, disappear, and go to some weird link, so I started creating a new blog.  Then, when I was messing around with "Adsense" all of a sudden my old blog popped up!  Talk about releasing a considerable sigh 😎. I then combined the two, deleted the new one I had started on, and updated the look and feel.  I hope it looks better. 

Hubby went fishing with daddy today so I've got the day to do whatever I want without too much interruption. I'm currently listening to "The Map of Bones", book 2 in the Fire Sermon trilogy by Fancesca Haig, cleaning up the quilting emails that I've hung onto for years, saving them into OneNote, while waiting on my grandson to wake up so I can sew some today and then hopefully finish watching From on Amazon Prime with my daughter, I'm just dying to find out what the heck is going on.  We recently finished season 2 of Yellowjackets, which we absolutely loved!

My weight has gone up since being placed on insulin.  I can no longer take any of the newer medications like Victoza, Trulicity, and Monjauro because they have caused pancreatitis, which is not a fun thing.  So I'm now up to my highest weight and struggling to lose it, especially since my spinal surgery.  I'm in constant pain, but it is a struggle to do anything that remotely involves walking or exercising because of the pain, which means, even if I were to starve myself, I couldn't lose weight because I'm not able to burn the calories necessary based on my daily intake to stay alive.  What a vicious cycle right?  So I continue to struggle and focus on the best life I can live with pain.

So as far as my quilting goes, I've been in a pretty bad depression ever since momma passed, and it's been 9 years now! It's been so hard for me to get in here and sew, mainly because I'm using momma's Babyloc machine and we did a lot of this together.  But it's also been difficult because my daughter and grandson Xaiden, who will be 2 in December, moved in, and he is all about PawPaw and Nana.  Even if my door is closed, he will come up to it and knock and holler out Nana, Nana!  Love my boy but makes it hard to get, and stay, motivated. I have purchased Kathryn Kerr's Aves quilt project and am also working on her 365 Challenge quilt that I never finished, not the new one called Star of Wonder that came out in 2022, although I would love to work on that one too, it's closed now. And I am also working on the Jane A. Stickle Dear Jane quilt but using paper-piecing techniques thanks to Susan Gatewood and Electric Quilt. But I am also working on my WIPs that have been shoved into the closet for 9 years now waiting on me to bring them into the light of day.  I have to make my quilting a priority again because it makes me happy, and I want to be happy.

That's about it for now.  I decided since I spent a couple of days after work updating my blog, that I should at least post something, and I have managed to do that.  Since I started this post my daughter and grandson have woken up from their nap and are waiting on me.  Have a fantastic rest of your day! 

Until next time....

Kerensa

Sunday, May 14, 2023

Happy Mother's Day 2023

 

⚘ Happy Mother's Day ⚘
To all the tough, hard-working, 
patient, loving, and all-around 
amazing moms out there!

What better way to start back up with my blog than by wishing all the mother's out there a Happy Mother's Day!  I lost my mom in 2014 to Adenocarcinoma of the lungs that metastasized into her bones, stage 4 when we found out. She was diagnosed on 9/10/14 and passed on 11/3/14; she was 62 years young.  And while I miss her so very, very much every single day, I have to remember she's no longer in pain and would want me to move forward.  So a shoutout to my momma. I love and miss you!
 
  

A little bit about me...


Hobbies

I have a few hobbies that I'll be sharing here and I invite you to peruse and comment on, and if nothing else, I hope to inspire at least one person.  Forewarning though, I work full-time, help to take care of my 1 1/2-year-old grandson, and boy is he a handful, and to top it all off, I have ADHD, so it's hard for me to stick with things sometimes.  I jump around like a bunny, from place to place, or interest to interest, and it's only the ones that I truly enjoy that I continue with. 

Book Reviews

I love to read and have since I was young, and thanks to the digital age I can now share my personal feedback on them with more than just family and friends.  I'll share links to books I've read, want to read, and how I felt about them.  Yesterday I spent the entire day, from around 7:30 AM until 10:30 PM working in my office/sewing room organizing and writing book reviews.  I noticed I was missing some reviews so I had to compare Goodreads, Amazon, NetGalley, and Book Sirens, which is why it took me all day long. Now I know which books I have already reviewed and which I need to review. I just finished reading/listening to Bentley Little's The Influence, which I really do not recommend even though I'm a huge fan of his work, and I recently finished both House of Earth and Blood and House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas.  I'm in the process of working on my reviews for them.  I told myself I would NOT start another book/audiobook until I wrote my reviews. 

Quilting

My second favorite hobby is quilting.  I taught myself to quilt along with free tutorials I found online back in 2004.  Then I joined a Yahoo quilt group (don't laugh it was a while back when Yahoo groups were popular) called Beginners & Beyond and that group of wonderful ladies, and gents, taught me so much! I made my first king-size quilt in 2008 and never looked back.  Sadly, after my mom passed away I lost the desire to do anything more than work and watch TV (another one of my passions/hobbies).  It's now been almost 9 years since she passed and I'm finally ready to get back to it.  So if you are interested, follow my blog and see my progress. I am currently working on multiple WIPs (Work In Progress) aside from finishing up projects I've had sitting in storage for years. I just started my Dear Jane quilt and Aves quilt.  These will most likely take me years to make unless I get to retire soon lol, but I will share my progress along the way.

TV Shows, Movies, Streaming Series

My most guilty pleasure is watching TV.  I can watch it for hours on end and thanks to streaming services I can spend an entire day binge-watching shows I've missed on live tv and original shows from the service.  I currently subscribe to AppleTV, Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Peacock TV, and Paramount TV.  Yes I know, that is way too many, but it's okay.  I'll talk about current shows and movies that I'm watching/binging etc.  I work from home so I do miss physically going to work (eh, not so much) and chatting with others about the previous night's episode.  At this moment I am binging Brave New World on Peacock TV S1 E5: Firefall and enjoying it very much, gives me a lot to think about, all those "what-if" situations.

Lifelong Learning

Finally, I believe in lifelong learning, as my student loans can confirm, but the cost of higher education has become excessive so I look for ways to learn for free.  There is a plethora of free learning on the internet.  Just about anything you may want to learn is out there just waiting for you.  I found that with The Odin Project., which teaches you about web development step-by-step.

That's about enough for today's post.  Very simple and to the point. Off to sew some before the hubby returns from fishing.  Until next time...  A messy house is the sign of a happy quilter.

Kerensa

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

The Defender

Wow, so it's been a little over a year since I last posted on my blog.  So much has happened but the only really exciting thing was my grandson, Damen Gene Davis was born.  I'll share some photos later. But for now, I finally have my quilt room back and almost have it set back up so I hope to get back to quilting again this weekend.  I have been going out of my mind not being able to sew for a year now since my son and his family were staying here with us. 

So I follow Pat Sloan's blog and work on a lot of her free BOM's.  She issued a 2017 UFO Challenge and although she only went with 12, one per month, I threw in 13, because 13 is really a lucky number. :)  So these are the projects I want to either finish or start and I will try to remember to post updates here with photos of my progress:

1.  2011 New Years Eve Mystery quilt
2.  Flowers All Around paper pieced BOM
3.  Black & Bold quilt
4. Globetrotting BOM
5. School's Out
6. Christy's quilt (sister in law)
7.  Stacey's quilt (sister in law)
8.  Celtic Solstice (Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt)
9.  Crossroads
10. Splendid Sampler
11. Solstice Challenge
12. Damen's baby quilt
13. 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 Quilting on the Square paper piece mini BOM (ongoing project)

Yes, I know that is a lot of projects but to be honest, some are already completed tops they just need to be sandwiched, quilted and bound.  Some are in progress that I have been working on, while others I haven't even started yet but I want to.  So that is my plan this year, plus I want to begin using mom's embroidery machine and work on some of the projects she had started but never completed.  It's going to be a busy year for me. YAY!

On another note, we completed a personality quiz as a team at work and I wanted to share my results.  It's really scary how close this is to the way I see myself.  Of course, depending on the time you take the quiz and your mood at the time etc., your results can vary, but it should only be slightly.

ISFJ Personality (“The Defender”)
Love only grows by sharing. You can only have more for yourself by giving it away to others. - Brian Tracy
The ISFJ personality type is quite unique, as many of their qualities defy the definition of their individual traits. Though possessing the Feeling (F) trait, ISFJs have excellent analytical abilities; though Introverted (I), they have well-developed people skills and robust social relationships; and though they are a Judging (J) type, ISFJs are often receptive to change and new ideas. As with so many things, people with the ISFJ personality type are more than the sum of their parts, and it is the way they use these strengths that defines who they are.
ISFJs are true altruists, meeting kindness with kindness-in-excess and engaging the work and people they believe in with enthusiasm and generosity.
There’s hardly a better type to make up such a large proportion of the population, nearly 13%. Combining the best of tradition and the desire to do good, ISFJs are found in lines of work with a sense of history behind them, such as medicine, academics and charitable social work.
ISFJ personality
ISFJ personalities (especially Turbulent ones) are often meticulous to the point of perfectionism, and though they procrastinate, they can always be relied on to get the job done on time. ISFJs take their responsibilities personally, consistently going above and beyond, doing everything they can to exceed expectations and delight others, at work and at home.

We Must Be Seen to Be Believed

The challenge for ISFJs is ensuring that what they do is noticed. They have a tendency to underplay their accomplishments, and while their kindness is often respected, more cynical and selfish people are likely to take advantage of ISFJs’ dedication and humbleness by pushing work onto them and then taking the credit. ISFJs need to know when to say no and stand up for themselves if they are to maintain their confidence and enthusiasm.
Naturally social, an odd quality for Introverts, ISFJs utilize excellent memories not to retain data and trivia, but to remember people, and details about their lives. When it comes to gift-giving, ISFJs have no equal, using their imagination and natural sensitivity to express their generosity in ways that touch the hearts of their recipients. While this is certainly true of their coworkers, whom people with the ISFJ personality type often consider their personal friends, it is in family that their expressions of affection fully bloom.

If I Can Protect You, I Will

ISFJ personalities are a wonderful group, rarely sitting idle while a worthy cause remains unfinished. ISFJs’ ability to connect with others on an intimate level is unrivaled among Introverts, and the joy they experience in using those connections to maintain a supportive, happy family is a gift for everyone involved. They may never be truly comfortable in the spotlight, and may feel guilty taking due credit for team efforts, but if they can ensure that their efforts are recognized, ISFJs are likely to feel a level of satisfaction in what they do that many other personality types can only dream of.

Feel free to take the test yourself and see what your personality is.
https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test

Kerensa