When life is hectic and crazy, when work is stressful or overwhelming, it really helps to focus on the good things that are going on. Honestly, it’s always helpful to focus on the good things and that’s why this week’s Ten on Tuesday topic is 10 Things I’m Happy About Right Now.

1. The Patriots are going to the Super Bowl!
2. I’ve returned to running. I know – again. It seems like I get to this point over and over and never break through the interval part to actually get to the all running part. But now this time – I’m happy with running and I’m going to keep pushing those intervals until I can run for an entire 30 minutes.
3. The Oscar nominations. There are some great movies on the list this year. You know I’ll be talking about them more in the weeks to come.
4. Long weekends. Mondays off make me very happy.
5. My One Little Word choice. I don’t know if it’s the word or if it’s because this is my second year of doing this but I find myself thinking about it a lot and really using it as I move through my days.
6. Reading. I have been reading some really great books lately.
7. Handknit socks. Mine are all clean right now, as evidenced in the photo above.
8. Parks and Recreation is back. I love this quirky show about people who work in town government.
9. The iPhone 6. While I don’t love the bigger size, I do love that I can see it better. And it’s nice to have a phone with lots of GB so that I can have plenty of apps without slowing it down.
10. Mango Languages. My library has a subscription to this and I’ve been using it to learn Spanish in advance of this year’s trip to Mexico.

And I will leave you with this: Que tenga un buen día!

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I saw this comic on Facebook last week and thought: YES! That’s exactly my opinion of winter and why I’d like it if we went from Christmas straight to spring. Alas, it doesn’t work that way here in New England and we are now mired in the gloomy, grey days of winter. But you know what? We must make the best of it! We must focus on the positive! We must enjoy the moment that we have because, to put it bluntly, it’s all that we have. And so, today, our Ten on Tuesday topic is 10 Ways To Make Winter Less Bleak.

1. Leave the twinkle lights up – that little bit of sparkle makes everything glow.
2. Watch lots of movies – the Oscars are coming soon!
3. Play games. Quiddler, Phase 10, Cards Against Humanity are great ways to pass a cozy evening by the fire.
4. Light scented candles. My favorite right now is one from our local candle company and it’s called Cinnamon Balsam.
5. Plan a vacation to somewhere warm. I booked our trip to Mexico last week and we’ve been talking about what we did last year and what we want to do this year.
6. Go to the gym. It’s bright and warm at the gym and once you get all hot and sweaty it makes the cold seem less, well, cold.
7. Wear colorful hand knits. I may not love the cold but I appreciate that, as a knitter, this is my season to show off all my pretty stuff.
8. Hang out at a bar with Dale. The warmth and the lights, the noise and other people, the delicious food and booze make winter seems much nicer.
9. Buy fresh flowers. Tulips  are on sale this week at my grocery store and you know I bought some.
10. Have an indoor picnic. We’ve done this occasionally, spreading a quilt on the floor in front of the woodstove and enjoying that old standby: a jug of wine, a loaf of bread, and thou. It’s silly but it’s fun even if our bones do creak when we sit on the floor these days.

Those are my ideas – I’m excited to read yours, too, and hopefully find some new ways to beat the winter blahs. If you wrote a post for today please add your link below and if you’d like to subscribe to the weekly Ten on Tuesday email please click here.

It’s the first Ten on Tuesday of 2015 and that can mean only one thing – we are going to talk about intentions. Or resolutions. Or goals. Or things we want to do. Call them what you will, ignore them if you will, but I think it’s good to think about what I want to do, ways I want to change, things I want to accomplish at the start of a new year. And so, My Intentions for 2015 are to:

1. Use my iPhone camera. As my friend Gale always says, the best camera is the one you have with you and I always, always have my phone with me. I’m open to suggestions for great apps to make my photos look better but I can already see that the camera in the iPhone 6 is a good one.
2. Join instagram. Maybe. Mary says she’s making it her personal goal to get me to do this so I’m putting in here. It may not be my intention but if it’s hers I have a feeling that resistance is futile.
3. Fully participate in One Little Word. Last year I got behind a bit over the summer and, while I managed to catch up, the prompts didn’t feel as fresh as they would have if I had been doing that as they were released. This year I plan to fully embrace the whole thing and in a timely way, too.
4. Recommit to exercise. I used to go to the gym 5 times a week and now I tell myself I’m too busy. Nothing has changed, I’m not busier than I was in 2013, I’m just better at making excuses. So I’m committing to 3 times per week. It should be more but 3 feels doable and I think being realistic is important here.
5. Read 52 books. I almost made it last year – I finished book 52 on January 2nd. I like the idea of a book a week so that’s what I’m setting for my goal.
6. Stop procrastinating. I know you all thing I’m this paragon of organization and virtue but when it comes to stuff I don’t like to do, I’m just like everyone else and I procrastinate. You want to know the biggest thing I put off? Going to the bank. I hate going to the bank but I have to do it frequently for work and I put it off and well, I’m going to just stop doing that.
7. Get all gold medals in Mario Kart. Yes, this is silly but I love playing Mario Kart and I just need gold  in the 150cc races. I’m doing it even if Rainbow Road makes me want to poke my eyes out.
8. Waste less food. This starts with meal planning and I’m off to a good start, having planned this week’s meals partly from purchases and partly from stuff in the freezer.
9. Spend less money. I’m still good on spending money on the big stuff – hell, we just bought a new car – and I sure hope we go to Mexico again this year – but I want to cut back on spending money on little stuff like take out and eating out and buying stupid things I don’t really need. Spending less on the little stuff will mean we have more available to spend on the big stuff. Yes, there is a method to my madness.
10. Try new things. Make mistakes. Be bold. Change. Grow.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it, my friends. What will you do in 2015? If you wrote a blog post for today please add a link to it below. If you want to subscribe to the weekly Ten on Tuesday email then please click here.

I love end of the year type posts – you know the ones, right? Best movies of the year, biggest news stories, blah blah blah. The thing I do the most of – other than knitting – is reading and that’s why today’s Ten On Tuesday topic is 10 Best Books I Read in 2014. I’m sharing links to these in Goodreads but I’m not writing reviews here as I’m afraid of giving stuff away. Just know that if it’s listed here then I really recommend it.

1. This Is Where I Leave You
2. Me Before You
3. The Fault In Our Stars
4. Goldfinch
5. Wonder
6. Room
7. Byrd
8. The Winter People
9. All the Light We Cannot See
10. The Man in the Window

I read some really awesome books last year. What did you read that you loved? If you wrote a post for today please add a link below. If you want to subscribe to the weekly Ten on Tuesday email please click here.

Are you busy? I am. I’ve got lots done, like the peppermint patties pictured below, but our Christmas Eve party is tomorrow night and there’s lots to do to get ready for that. All of this stuff doesn’t leave a lot of time for blogging – but – this Ten on Tuesday thing is my responsibility and I wouldn’t want to let all of the participants done. I figure everyone has a to-do list right now and it would be pretty easy to just cut and paste that list into a blog post and call it a day. So, today’s Ten on Tuesday topic is 10 Things On My To Do List. Quick and dirty, guys, with my apologies.

1. Grocery shop.
2. Make Swedish Meatballs.
3. Get beer. (No worries, I’ve already got a healthy supply of red wine, white wine and champagne.)
4. Make baked macaroni & cheese.
5. Make crabbies.
6. Make cranberry cake.
7. Cook chicken for chicken salad. Mix up tuna salad. Stuff finger sandwiches.
8. Set up the buffet table and bar for the Christmas Eve party.
9. Make a cheese ball.
10. Finish a knitting project. I can’t say what and I probably won’t get it done for Christmas but I’m going to give it a good effort.

Guess what? That’s not all of it! It’s all good, though, because I love to entertain our family and friends on this holiday. Be sure and add a link to your post below. If you want to subscribe to the weekly Ten on Tuesday email please click here.