Annual Checkup

Wow,

I seem to be really good at taking a year off of this thing. I'm sorry y'all. No more of that. It's just that I'm pretty busy. Since I last was on here, I have been keeping myself going. I am still a ghostwriter and working on some projects of my own (when I find the time.) I also do audio, host a podcast, and am going to start a craft blog because we do a TON of crafts, so be on the lookout for that one. Life of Xaoc will go back to being a story about my crazy life and more of an online journal for anyone to follow the crazy things I do. I'll still post stuff about music, movies, life, work, exercise, food, crafts, photography, you know, pretty much everything. I like to keep busy. So, stay tuned for new blogs and even more Xaoc (which, if you are wondering, is Russian for chaos) because Xaoc is my life.

Thanks for you continued following. I do appreciate it.

-MK

Busy is the Land of Chaos

Whoo,

I feel like I've gone missing for some time and for the few actual followers I have, I am sorry. I get so caught up in all the four million things that I have time for now that I tend to neglect the little things like spilling my guts and whining about my life in my blog post.

I joke, this is not one of those.

All in all things are looking pretty well. I do NOT have a steady income, but I feel more empowered by it somehow. I don't get paid for just showing up, I get paid for the work I actually do and that is a feeling I can't describe to anyone who puts in the hours. I think I found my problem with the workforce. It has been so clear to me all along, while I was getting paid the same amount for working my ass off that others were getting for being lazy as hell. How did I miss it for so long?

No matter, I love my job(s) now because none of them feel like work. I get paid to wash my face, share my imagination, help others bring their imaginations to life, make crafty little things for fun. I am soon going to get paid for reading books. WHO WOULDN'T LOVE THAT? Do I miss the steady hourly income?  Not really. I don't do much outside my house, never did. I don't tend to spend a lot of money, especially now that I don't have to fill up my gas tank every week or pay for daycare for my children.

I've been offered a chance to clear all the crazy out of my brain and get paid for it. What?!?!

But, I digress. So, what have I been doing lately?  Reading. Writing. Drawing. Creating. Finding myself in my art. Learning new skills. Enriching my life with knowledge. Spending time with my kids. Taking pictures. Teaching. Reaching out. All the things I never managed before.

Now do you see why I never have 5 minutes to sit down and bang out a blog post. I'll try to be better. I really do need to keep up my "professional" blog on the other site. I hope yall are looking forward to seeing more of me. I'm not stopping,

New Year, New Skills

I have already mentioned this on Facebook, but I think that while I fulfill my resolution this year, I will track it here on my blog.  So, as it now stands, I have resolved to teach myself one new thing a month for the entire year.  That is at least 12 new skills I mean to pick up this year.  I already have a boat load of skills, but some could use a brush up and some are things that I have just always wanted to do but never put in the time to make it happen.  This year, each month, I will focus on a new skill and spend at least 1-3 hours each day working on it.  I am still taking suggestions for skills, but I have some that I definitely want to work on and fully intend to make this things work.  Here is my list so far.

January-- ASL.  I KNOW one can not learn and entire language in a month, believe me, of all people I know this.  However, I fully intend to learn enough to be guide book conversational by the end of January.  I picked this skill for the first month because, given the resources available to me (between youtube and the library) it is a relatively free skill to tackle so that appeals to me as the first of the year is always a bit tight.  I also hope to develop the habit of "talking with my hands" or making gestures as I speak, which will aid in the continued learning of the language year round

February-- I think I want to dedicate February to baking.  I am terrible in the kitchen, but it would be nice to learn how to make at least one signature baked good.  Maybe a certain type of cookie or at least a decent cake.  I chose February for this because, frankly, its the shortest month and I really do not need THAT many baked goods.  I do not believe that I will be baking one thing a day but maybe 2-3 times a week I will try a new recipe.

March-- Meatless March (this one is dependent on if I can talk my husband into the challenge).  Basically, I want to learn to cook without meat products.  This serves two purposes; 1. after a month of baked goods, I'm gonna need to back off the fat foods and take a healthier break and 2. I really do want to learn how to make delicious foods with no meat simply because it would be an alternative to the same ol' things we always have.

April-- (undecided)

May--(Still undecided)

June-- In June (or possibly May depending on how the weather works out this year) I am going to try my hand at gardening again.  Maybe by this time I will have my greenhouse redesigned and in working order, in which case I intend to try my green thumb on vegetables (another reason to learn to make meatless dishes). In the case of not having my greenhouse up and running, I want to build a tiered herb garden.  The challenge here is to build something that I will be able to sustain for some time (in fairness, usually all my plants die before a month is up)

July-- (undecided)

August-- (still got nothing)

September--Sing on September.  During the month of my birth I plan on completing a goal I have had for a very long time.  I WILL learn (master) at least one song (using chords) on my guitar.  If I have to play until my fingers bleed, I will learn one.  This one I placed at the end of the year so I can take a bit of time to try to teach myself how to read music.

October--Ollie October.  Call me crazy but I have always wanted to learn how to Ollie on a skateboard.  It seems like a nothing task for some, but I have never been able to accomplish it.  I don't care about crazy grinds and flips, I just want to get the board in the air. (my husband says I should make sure our insurance covers stuff like this.....dude has no faith, I swear)

November--Nail art November.  I am kind of obsessed with nail art.  I want to learn how to paint my nails with little mess and master a few really cool designs or styles.  I placed this one so far down in the year because a)I need time to buy a few (lot) nail colors (since I can't seem to find the ones I previously had) and b) I will probably need to let them grow back out after I cut them short to work on my guitar playing.  Come to think of it, I may have to move one or the other to a different slot....

December-- (undecided)

So there it is.  I've got my year about half full.  I fully intend to also work on some yoga this year as well as mastering a new stitch or learn to crochet this year, I'm just not sure where to fit them in my schedule.  I'm still looking for things to fill up the other slots.  Some one suggested a cool doodling thing (Zentangle).  Also on the list are calligraphy, belly dance and meditation.  I may work these ones in.  I think I will work in a drawing one at least, but I am still up in the air on a lot of things.

Stay tuned to see what happens

Crafty things

Tonight I am embarking on yet another adventure of epic proportions.  You see I have this room. At first it was basically a catch all for the crap I couldnt find a place for when we moved into our house. Then it became a guest room of sorts. A nice bed in there, a closet, dresser, perfect for the visitors we so rarely have.
Next, I adopted a dog that had to be quarantined from my other dogs, so it became "Betties room" while she overcame her infection and went through her heartworm treatment. Needless to say, she was bored. She ate the bed. Yes, thats right, ate the bed (and about 100 dollars worth of DVD's).
When we were finally able to spring Bettie from the backroom, it became a "foster room" for our foster kitte s who also had to be quarantined, and were not quite dog ready.
Finally, the kittens have gone to adoptions and I have big ideas for the room. I fully intent to turn it into an idea center/craft room. Im going to set up a sewing table, shelves for stuff, jars fkr beads, a computer work center, etc...seriously huge plans.  Today I started the journey by cleaning up after the kitte s (which in itself is a BIG job. Little cats make huge messes!)  
My next step is to refurbish the old dresser my brother left me into a usable storage/work table. I intend to paint it and make a few modifications. Next ia organization and a bit of moving and shuffling of things. Im really hoping to have it up and running by the end of the year. Or better yet, mostly finished by then. Even my husband is helping chip in ideas. I think he sees the possibilities the same as I do. It will be a good space to work. So here, attached, are a few pictures of the very humble beginnings of my craft room and the dresser in its original form.

Knitting Is a Process

So, for some reason I decided to start knitting. My mother in law gave me some needles, I got some yarn, watched a few videos and thought, "yeah, I can do this." So I decided to make my boys a scarf each. No big deal, right? Riiiight.

I started one day about 11 am. Figured I would start slow. It turns out, I started REALLY slow. In fact, almost 12 hours later, I had about three rows going. It took FOREVER for me to figure it out.

After that, I was able to really get moving. I got about 6 inches done and realised it looked really sloppy and had some huge holes in it, so I tore it out and started over. And over, and over, and over.

I FINALLY figured it out. I spent hours trying to tackle this mess. Two weeks later, I have a fairly passable, albeit very short and sloppy, scarf and one pretty satisfied little boy!  Now to get some more yarn and start another one. Le sigh!

Challenge accepted

Today I embarked on a journey of epic proportions. I did not expect it to be so, but it is turning out that way. My cousin wanted me to make a tablecloth for her nice new table. She wants a few seasonal type ones. I couldn't find any fall/thanksgiving type fabric so I started with Christmas.

Problem 1- it's on oval table. Therefore needs to be an oval tablecloth. I puzzled for days on how to make an oval. Once I Lao it out, it was actually much easier than I though. I even learned a smarter to do it for next time.

Problem 2- fabric not long enough to overhang table. Have to get creative and put together two fabrics to make a border type effect. This is less than easy when dealing with an oval shape!

So far I've figured out the two long ends. Tomorrow I will have to tackle the short ends and fill in the rough edges. So far it looks pretty good, I think. It's been frustrating and a total brain challenge. Glad I have my mathematically minded husband here to help me out.

Ps. The table it is on in the pictures is NOT the table it will end up on. This is my progress so far. I hope to get a picture of it finished, and on the right table, in the next week or so

New found respect

Yep, it's there. I've always thought pinstripes were pretty badass. What a talent to paint those minuscule little lines so perfectly straight and neat, often next to other things.

Me, I can't even get a damn stencil to work properly! After stencil long some names on these buckets (made even harder by te curved surface) I had to go back with a tiny brush and try to straighten up sole edges and curves. Not as easy as you might imagine. At any rate, here is the progress of my camo project so far.