Tis The Season: Starting Thoughts

Now that Thanksgiving has happened and is in the past, it is officially the Holiday Season. Many holidays happen this time of year, and with those holidays come traditions.

First up on my personal line up is Gotcha Days. December first is Pho’s Gotcha Day, and the third is Erza and Gobi’s. A Gotcha Day is a celebration of the day that someone was adopted, be that children or pets. It is meant to mark the day that we got ya. Erza was adopted December 3rd, 2019. The joke that year was that our cats were our Christmas gifts from our parents, because those three kittens each chose one of my siblings and me. This year’s Gotcha Days will be mostly like regular days, with a little extra spoiling of our feline companions.

This is also the first year in a while that I have the ability to buy Christmas presents for my loved ones. My list is not huge due to my current means not being very big either, but I am excited to share some love with those on it. Gift giving has been one of my love languages for as long as I can remember. Usually involving little things that I saw and made me think of a certain person. And because it is one of my ways that I show my affection, I really struggle with waiting to give the gift. I just want to give it as soon as possible so that I can make them smile. One of my purest joys in life is making someone smile.

Over the years my family and I have come up with ways to assist me in keeping the gifts a secret until the actual holiday. I am not allowed to hide the presents in my own bedroom because that is way too much temptation. If I see them everyday, I just can’t help myself. So this year my sister and my mother have offered to hide the gifts so that I can’t get to them until it is time to wrap them. I will be using both spots because it is not like I can ask them to hide their own gifts. I am going to try my absolute best to not spoil the surprise this year. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

My sister has also resorted to rewards for me. One year we did gifts for my parents as siblings. K. told me that if I could keep it a surprise until Christmas morning, then she would buy me a box of candy canes. Because I am not a fan of peppermint, candy canes are always of the fruity variety for me. My Mom usually will buy me one box in the flavor of my choosing, and those are mine for the season, and I don’t have to share!

Speaking of yummy treats, we also do lots of baking. Cookies are the staple around here, there are many varieties made though. Russian tea cakes are one of my favorites. I have to restrain myself from eating all of them and giving myself a stomach ache, and then leaving none for everyone else to enjoy. Other popular versions of cookie are the classic peanut butter blossoms, sugar cookies, and spritz.

One treat that it can’t be the holidays without it puppy chow. Also known as muddy buddies, my family will make up giant batches of the stuff and store it in empty gallon buckets. We have to make large amounts because it is so popular with everyone who stops by and the entire family. One little taste is not enough to satisfy a craving that has been building all year. (And yes we are well aware that we don’t have to wait to make it, but it is our tradition.)

I hope that as we go through this season you all have warm moments that turn into cozy memories to help stave off the chill from the weather outside.

Happy Holidays!

Love Kesinee

Pet Bandanas!

I have been on a creation kick lately. Spending some time with the materials and creating a whole new thing from them has been making me feel productive with my days. The latest obsession started off with some fabric found on clearance at Wally world. I picked it up because it was a great price and the patterns fit the general themes that my family tends to gravitate towards. It was not bought with a project in mind.

It wasn’t until one night when I was chatting with my Mom in her room that I decided what project my three one yard pieces would be used for. I saw one of Maggie’s bandanas that she had gotten from the groomer, and it sparked a thought. I definitely had the skills and materials to make the fabric I bought into bandanas.

(Side note: I would like to thank my maternal grandmother for all the time she spent teaching me and having lots of patience. She spent hours with us grandkids, teaching us how to use a sewing machine. Because of her, I have more skills to help with creative problem solving.)

It ended up being one of my sleepless nights, giving up on trying to sleep at three in the morning, that I started my production process. I got up, got dressed, and started gathering the needed tools to work on my project. Cutting mat, ruler, rotary cutter, sewing machine, thread, and of course the fabric, were all placed on the dining room table.

I did not imagine that I would be doing geometry at 3:30 in the morning, but it needed to be done to figure out how big of a square I needed to cut in order for the middle diagonal, or the hypotenuse, was long enough to fit around the necks of my dogs. The answer, a 19 in square creates a 26 in hypotenuse, which is plenty big. I even measured my dog’s necks just to be extra sure.

So by the time my Mom was up and getting ready for work at 6 am, I had already cut out 4 bandana triangles out of each of the three fabrics, and was getting ready to start hemming the sides so that they stayed pretty and the fabric didn’t fray. When lunch time rolled around, I had 12 dog bandanas sewed up and ready for wearing. It might have been the lack of sleep by this point, but that success started a bit of a frenzy.

The next day I started the process all over again, thankfully around 5 am instead of 3 am. This time I had a different animal in mind. Erza will pretty much wear anything for me, and I thought I would give it a go to try and make some bandanas that were her size. This meant more early morning geometry for me.

The first set wasn’t big enough. The second was! I managed to get it tied on Erza. So I started sewing that set of triangles together. Later that afternoon though, I noticed that the point of the bandana, the part that you are actually supposed to see, was disappearing in Erza’s scruff around her neck. Kind of pointless to put the bandana on her if your were not going to be able to see it. So I set to work again, this time with two fat quarters that I had picked up.

For a cat Erza’s size, I need to make 12 inch squares. This gives plenty of tie length and the design on the bandana can clearly be seen while she is wearing it. I also think it is pretty safe to say that she enjoys wearing them. She helps pick out which one she wants to wear, and gets a bit upset when I take them off, pawing at them as if asking for them back. What can I say, my girl likes to accessorize.

Since I am a girl who is obviously a bit obsessed with her cat, I went into production mode once I found the correct size for her. Remember that frenzy I mentioned earlier? Well, as of last week, I have sewn together 32 dog bandanas, and 33 cat ones, for a total of 65. Don’t worry, I have give the majority of them away for other animals to be able to wear as well. Ruby, my maternal grandparents’ dog, looks extra pretty when she wears a bandana that features red, living up to her name. My paternal grandparents’ golden retriever Luna, posed for the picture that they sent with her wearing one of the bandanas I gave them. She obviously was feeling pretty.

Some of the frenzy has died down, but Erza is currently laying on my calves wearing a bandana with print on it featuring Hocus Pocus characters and sayings in honor of Halloween. I do plan on making more for future holidays and seasons as well. Obviously Ezra will be the most spoiled, and I might have to get a second bin to supplement her current bandana storage plan. For now though, I am pretty content with the productivity that came from this.

Positivity Shift

Now that the weather shifts in trend towards the warmer side of things, I have been truly loving just finding a pool of sunshine and parking myself in it with my book of the moment. I am lucky enough to have western facing windows in my bedroom. The afternoon sun comes in and creates nice warm rays across my bed. I will often find Erza lounging on my bed, soaking up the warmth.

Vitamin D has been proven to help lift your mood. Sunshine helps your body with the processing of vitamin D, so that means that laying in the sun, within reason, can have some pretty nice perks. With the warmer weather, that means more chances to get outside for your daily dose of sun.

I have been getting curious about what activities people are doing outside while we are still warming up. Here in Wisconsin, the water is certainly still way too cold for any fun to be had, so that means we need to find things to do on dry land. My family has already started the spring cleaning of our yard. Sunday afternoon was spent picking up sticks, raking the grass to lift the dead vegetation off, and cleaning up a winter’s worth of dog poop. The gardens have been left alone for now, to allow the new life a chance to get a solid start.

Green has become the color of the moment due to the sprouts that are peeking out from under the leftovers from last year’s garden occupants. My favorites are the daffodils, mostly because they pop up so early compared to the other flowers. Certainly doesn’t hurt that they are my favorite color, yellow. There is a small patch of them in one of our backyard gardens that I go out and cheer on every year. The one year that I forgot to get out there early, we only got one actual bloom from the bunch. So ever since I have been informing the daffodils that I believe in them and celebrate each bud that turns into a beautiful flower.

This time of year, as things begin anew, I try my best to embrace the positivity in the air. Time to renew a little bit of faith, and spend some time just soaking up the sunshine.

Year 29

I recently celebrated my 29th birthday. This year also happened to be my golden birthday. Turned 29 on March 29th. To mark the occasion my family went out to eat for dinner. There ended up being 18 of us around the table. I felt incredibly loved and special to have so many people who traveled to celebrate with me.

Now, I recently was reminded that when we celebrate a birthday, the age we are turning actually marks the completion of that many years. So having said that, I have been thinking on what I have come to learn in those 29 years.

I know that it doesn’t take much effort to be kind. People go out of their way to be mean and rude to each other these days and it boggles my mind, and hurts my soul. If you just take a breath, and think a moment, being kind to your fellow person makes the whole day much brighter. Spreading just a little positivity can lift spirits and it might come back around to you in ways you never expected.

Laughter has become some of my favorite sounds. I treasure the memories of chatting with my siblings or my friends and everything we said would just make us laugh even more. My parents were never afraid to laugh and have fun with us while growing up. They would sing along with us in the car, be incredibly silly with us, and show us that it doesn’t take much to have a wonderful time. Those moments will forever be something I will hold close to my heart.

Finding small moments of joy or positivity can lift your spirit. When I have those days where it felt like everything was working against me, making a small list, just three things long, of the little happy moments, would change my perspective and show me that it wasn’t as dark or bleak as I had thought. Once in a while I reach for one of my notebooks and find that looking back at the happy moments from previous days helped me see that times where I feel like I can’t get any headway, are really not as horrible as I have been thinking.

I have been learning and growing for 29 years, and I will continue to grow and change as I age. So I am grateful for moments like birthdays that remind us to pause and reflect on how far we truly have come.

Thank you to everyone for all the birthday wishes and the love sent my way. Here is to year 30 and all the incredible moments that are to become wonderful memories.

Fun Filled Weekends

This weekend I have been getting out of the house and having fun with my friends. Yesterday B. and I went out for lunch and then to a garden center that was hosting a thrift sale for the local humane society. I obviously wanted to go and support them, they have given me five incredible animals the past few years, and I am glad I have the means to give them a little help. Today, A. and the kids are picking me up and we are heading to Action City for a morning filled with games, laughter, and memories in the making.

Some weekends I am not up for having big plans. The week was hard enough and I need the weekend to recuperate my energy levels for the following week. This week though, I am very grateful for friends who make plans. I have been enjoying getting out with them lately and I hope my body cooperates, and lets me continue to have lots of fun. (One of the draw backs of having chronic illness.)

My friends have always been a bright light in my life. They get me and are very understanding. B. A. and L. are my three best friends. Sadly L. lives across the country or I am sure we would be hanging out much more. I am also grateful to have lived in the time of easy communication. I am able to reach out to all three with a quick text whenever I need or want to. That text can sit there, in their inbox, as long as it needs to, and they can answer when the get a moment. Two of them are professionals with busy jobs, and the third is an incredibly devoted mom who is always busy as well. So I am glad whenever they get the chance to message me back.

This weekend is the first in a long time, where I get to see more than one friend, in just those two days. My social battery is being given a workout, but I couldn’t be more thankful to have the time with them. Like I mentioned earlier, it is weekends like these that are memories in the making, and I know I will look back at them and smile.

Fun filled weekends are few and far between these days, especially as adults with responsibilities. So when you get the opportunity to spend a little extra time with someone you love and cherish, don’t let it slip away. Let yourself have those fun packed days every once in a while.