Arts and Crafts

I’m getting so many ideas lately for art for my kitchen. I had originally thought I would do a ton of cross-stich or embroidery, but I think I’ll be doing a mix of things because needlecrafts take a lot of time. I can have art sooner if I do some easier things using paints and other techniques. I found some stencils online that use layering techniques and they’re good sizes for small wall art. Many of them have seasonal themes, which makes them perfect for what I want in the kitchen. I want to change the art for seasons and holidays in there.

Soon I’ll be done the sink side and I can put art up on it. At this rate, the first art will be winter themed.

Decluttering and Minimalism

Some days it feels utterly hopeless in my condo. I know it will get better, but I just want to be on the other side of the renovation approaching my home as I want it to be.

I spent a lot of time on the bedroom this weekend. There’s a lot left to purge or store, but I will soon have space for working out and I’m super excited about it!

DIY and Projects

I finally got the doors onto my sink cabinet. I kept tripping on them and reached the limit of that. I may need a light coat of paint on the one because it got slightly scratched. Of course, that means I’ll need to do both of them or it will look weird. So that’s a fun thing in my future.

I picked up a jigsaw on the weekend because I really needed a power saw that was a bit less intense than my circular saw for some smaller work like for cutting the piece of wood needed on the upper cabinet. I have a hand held cutoff saw, but it’s really not good for more delicate work. My Ryobi One family includes a drill, a tile saw, a handheld cutoff saw, a circular saw, and a jigsaw. If I had more major destruction to do, I’d probably want the reciprocating saw. And if I did more woodworking, I’d want a router. Anyway, I’m looking forward to using it soon.

That came on Thursday morning. It was a bit of a fight getting the blade into it, but I made it happen and did the cut I needed for the inside of the cabinet to close off a gap that is the result of an idiotic design. I don’t want a place for pests to hang out, so I needed to get this handled before that could be a possibility.

Next up was to paint the visible part of the wood for this gap and attach it to the backer board. I figured I could just use some screws from the old cabinet hardware that were in good condition for this bit. This was harder than it sounds. It was a pain to put it place because I couldn’t hold it, drill holes, then assemble. I had to take part of the cabinet apart to get it to work. Something to know for the bigger cabinet later on. I’ll add the piece before putting the big cabinet in position. I’ll be doing the paint part on this one when I’m ready to paint the other piece of wood for my upper cabinet above my fridge. Oh, and perhaps it’s obvious, but despite all the measuring, it needed an extra cut once it was in place. I will likely put some caulk in there too to be sure pests really have nowhere to hang out. I can do that anytime though and I’m going to wait until I’m doing other caulking.

Education and Spirituality

This month’s Music Oracle jumped out of the deck. Considering who it is, I’m not entirely shocked.

In high school, I was in a play that used Under Pressure as the intro song. We also played a medley in music class that included Another One Bites the Dust. I actually can’t remember what else was in the medley. The barry saxophone sounded so good. Perhaps it’s a piece of my journey to learning bass guitar. That song is on my list of songs to learn.

Gaming and Puzzles

This week, I mainly focused on Cyberpunk 2077. I did this super cool move that has no bearing on anything. I hit a jump while on one of the motorcycles, spun 180, then hit the roof of a truck, bounced, and spun 180 again to find myself back on the road like nothing had even happened. I totally meant to do that…

But now I’m stuck. I keep dying while trying to escape Dogtown with the President. There’s this defunct museum and this giant Chimera. The tech in it has gone wonky and it’s chasing us. I never make it to the exit door in time and it smooshes me. Ugh.

Health and Fitness

As my Quarterly Update showed for Q3, life has not been going according to plan at all this year. At least I am starting to get view of the track to hopefully get back on it soon. I’m thinking a lot about how busy I want to be and after reducing some things, I’m truly enjoying having more breathing time and freedom in my schedule. As such, it’s equally likely that I won’t join a gym of any kind to leave room in my schedule. It may partly come down to price. A lot of them are quite expensive and there is a lot available for free online these days. It may be best to just get a new membership at Fit4Less since that is very budget friendly. HIIT or SIT are highly recommended for women my age too. There is a lot to consider.

Later this week, I began adding to my small home gym. I ordered gloves for punching my inflatable bag with and a pull up/dip station. If I really want to later, the station could also handle a hanging punching bag and be used for rope climbing (especially feasible at my height). I plan to focus on calisthenics and some Ring Fit. The station was under $100 and the gloves were under $50. This is less than a cost of one month at most martial arts clubs today. With the spare twin mattress out of my bedroom, I could actually begin work on the home gym. At least figuring out the full layout of the room could be done.

I decided on the stand alone station because I’ve never had a good experience with a doorway pull up bar.

With my old TV on wheels, I can move it as needed. I have cardio programs on disc like RushFit, so I’ll have no shortage of workout options. I also have yoga and some dance programs too. The only thing I may want later is a bigger mat. My rowing machine is currently in my closet as well. I’ll have everything I need to work on my fitness goals.

In the future, I may go to my friend’s women only class, but saving money is a priority for me right now and I’d like to be in better shape before I go there.

Music and Songwriting

It was wonderful to be back at choir this week. I didn’t know how much I had missed it! We’re working on wintry songs that are not religious for a concert in December that will have both choirs together for a number of pieces.

Reading and Writing

I’ve been enjoying having more time for writing. I don’t know why it took so long, but this week I made an editing to-do list. When I get ideas now, I pop them into the spreadsheet to keep track of where they go and when I’ve slotted them in place. I also moved my word count tracker to the same workbook.

Reviews

My friend got me these gluten free Madeleines from Oui love it! They are absolutely delightful. The taste and texture is rather like the cake part of a 1/2 Moon snack cake and I miss those. I finally have something comparable. They go really well with Buddha’s Blend from David’s Tea.

Catch you on the flip side,

Rae