SPAM

I received my first bit of spam today in my comments to a post from last year. It was written in an Asian language that I frankly don't wish to know the translation of. The one word that needed no translation appeared in the middle of the comment. "SEX". Because of this, I must now start moderating all of the comments made to the blog. Please don't see this as censorship. If you leave a negative comment against something I post, that will be displayed after I ensure it is not harful.

If you have a blog, I encourage you to do the same. I wouldn't want the crap that gets put in as a comment to show up in a google search attached to your name and blog.

Merry Christmas To YOU!

Merry Christmas To YOU!
Originally uploaded by aldorris105

It has become a tradition for me and my grandmother to put up and decorate the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving when the rest of the family is out shopping. I love having little traditions to keep with my family members. My mother, grandmother and I also spent some time sewing together the night before thanksgiving. They made aprons from the Lotta Jansdotter Simple Sewing book. I had to buy them a copy to share before they headed back home to Mississippi. I'm so thrilled that they have been sewing together quite regularly and my mother had her sewing machine repaired after many, many years of collecting dust. I encourage you all to find a connection with your family to share. These are the times I will never forget.

Creativity Blooming

Creativity Blooming
Originally uploaded by aldorris105

I've not been feeling well today so I have been camped out on my sofa with a few crafts and books. I've been embroidering and appliquéing and sketching up new projects for the coming year. I also have a little bit of knitting and my Nintendo DS on the table.

For a look at some of my recent projects, follow the picture over to my Flickr page. I'm going to take the week after Christmas to do more crafting. I am developing new projects to teach at the quilt shop and I am so excited about the ideas that I'm coming up with.

I don't like being sick but I don't mind not going out in the cold at all. Hope you all are staying warm. I'm trying hard.

Reverse Applique

Reverse Applique
Originally uploaded by aldorris105

I'm trying a little reverse applique inspired by the book Alabama Stitch Book. Let's see how this turn out. The fabric underneath is a pink stripe. The purple paint will go away for the most part.

I've been doing a little bit of Christmas knitting for someone else but I am not motivated to get it finished right now. I'll really concentrate on it this weekend. For now, I am trying to make this little onesie into something cute for a special little newborn girl.

What Are You Reading

IMG00035-20091208-0919.jpg
Originally uploaded by aldorris105

I am trying to get back into reading. I had slowed down as I went through the job change. Now that Nanowrimo is over, I am more inspired to get back to it. Today, I spent a little time loading my kindle with some book samples to look into. I am probably most excited about Omar Tyree's new title, "Dirty Old Men". Just hearing the title makes me think of the men around when I was growing up. Ha! You just ignore them and laugh them off as the dirty old men you know them to be.

I am also very happy with the progress I made during Nanowrimo. I have started developing what I think will be a really great novel. I wrote a total of 26,253 words. My 2008 total was a little over 14,00 so I saw a vast improvement. My dialogue has improved greatly and I am much better at story development. I am looking into increasing my writing over the next year. My first step was starting the blog and I have done quite well with it I think. Look for more general writing from me in the next year as well as a lot more crafting. I am in the process of developing more classes to teach at my local quilt shop and I'm looking at picking up a lot of those kitchen skills that I have been avoiding, like bread making and canning.

TwentyTen is going to be a fabulous year and I hope you all will continue to follow me on this journey.

New Office Supplies

New Office Supplies
Originally uploaded by aldorris105

Not that I need any new supplies, but when I found the DayRunner Life Tracker system online, I had to go out and get it to try. I picked it up from Staples along with some Post-it goodies and the 2010 calendar inserts.

I'm posting this update from my Flickr page. For certain things I tend to post more to Flickr than to anywhere else. It will be nice to share with the blog from here. Let's see how it works out.