What have I been up to this year?

I've been trying to keep myself occupied while all the snow has been on the ground. I have to admit I'm really tired of the white stuff now. Other areas have gotten much more than I have, but this is like the 3rd year for lots of snow in the winter months and it is taking a toll on me emotionally.

I remember when I would drive through bumper deep snow in my Jeep Wrangler (I miss that Jeep!) since I worked as a police dispatcher and HAD to be at work. Back then I was in my late 20s/early 30s and wasn't worried about the concept of dying young. Now, I am. I have a healthy balance of annual leave (vacation time) so I take it when it snows. I don't like leaving my co-workers to fill in for me, but I have 40 miles to drive (one way), and 90% of it is on a county two-lane road over hills. I can't just hop on the interstate or drive up one of the other main state roads that gets cleared first. If I did, I would go to work. So I'm hoping my friends at work don't begrudge me my time off. I rarely take sick time (I have 10 months+ worth saved) and usually don't take vacations unless something special comes up, like my anticipated trip to Italy in April to see my niece.

So anyway, the sewing machine is the one I bought so I could make quilts. I made one on my old machine, but it wasn't really made for quilting. So I got a new one and I've been sewing strips (see jelly rolls below) together for a postage stamp quilt-a-long I'm participating in. Mom gets it when I'm finished with it.

I also have been waiting for the book New York 1900 to come down in price so I could buy it. I'm still in the planning stages of my trilogy that I started during NaNoWriMo in 2009. I failed miserably this year writing the 2nd story, but that's OK. I went into without a clear idea of what was supposed to happen. Won't happen again. I hated to lose this year. So I have gone back to the planning stage for all three of them, to better get a sense of the overall plot and what needs to happen in each individual story.

So that's about it for now. Trying to get through all the snow without wrecking my car. Trying to keep myself from going crazy. And trying to get a little bit of writing done.