Where Did November Go?

Do not be alarmed by the new widget at the bottom of the post! He's just here to keep us all on track.

I noticed when I came here to write this post that I haven't been here since November SECOND. So much for NaBloPoMo! I guess I blew that pretty quickly. I tend to do that. I get fired up about stuff and kind of fizzle out. I don't know why that is. I'm sure there's some deep psychological stuff that I probably don't want to get into.

I am still VERY fired up about crocheting and working at the salon. In fact, ever since I posted this pic on Facebook, I've got requests for more ponchos coming in just about daily! They're all all for the "Frozen Inspired" color scheme like I've done here. I've got some in school spirit colors and another in what I call peacock colors. I can't wait to share them on here!

I have the capacity to make about 3 to 5 more ponchos in time for Christmas. If you would like one, head over to my Etsy shop today! I can do any color combo you would like. Just include the colors in the comments. Please include your phone number too. I like to contact the buyer with pictures of the colors in case there is any doubt.


I'm still trying to get my holiday gift giving organized. I'm PRETTY sure my expectations of myself are WAYYY too high. I really, REALLY want to make a graphgan for a certain family member. BUT, if I do that, then I kind of feel obligated to make them for certain others, too, but I don't know what design to do. Plus, I'm pretty sure I don't have the time. Maybe I could make something else for them and a note saying, hey, yeah, I WILL make you a graph, but let me know what kind cuz I have NO idea! Hmmm, no, that doesn't sound very heart felt, does it? I better work on it.

I have discovered ways to put love and thought into giving gifts for some of the ladies in my life, while shaving a few afghans off of my to-do list in the 33 short days (shipping time not included) left before Christmas.  Spirit Lockets are a fun way to give the gift of jewelry, while still gifting something very personal:

Could've Been a Hero

This post has the potential to come across the completely wrong way. I honestly hope you hear my heart the way I intend it to.

Here goes:

Both of my brothers have had first aid training, including CPR through their prospective jobs. Each of them have subsequently put those skills to the test shortly thereafter. As in, my brothers are bonafide heroes, y'all. Lifesavers. They stepped up to the plate and saved another life. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.

I halfway joke with my mom that I'm afraid to get my own CPR certification for fear that someone close to me will then NEED it shortly after. On the one hand I know it's something I should do. For one thing, I am a fitness instructor and it's just smart to have that skill. Plus, it's just a good life skill to have cuz "Ya just never know..."

Take both my brother's situations, for example: My oldest brother was a bird dog event when a friend "hit the dirt," as my brother says. He immediately administered CPR and continued to do so, I believe, all the way to the hospital. I'm a little foggy on the details because I wasn't there. Brother #2 was driving when he saw a vehicle in front of him veer off an embankment and roll over. Another driver had determined the driver of the vehicle was a "goner," but my brother wasn't so easily convinced.

Well, just yesterday "Ya just never know" may have happened to me. I had taken my daughter shopping for some much needed new clothes.  We were headed back home when I drove past what appeared to be an ugly motorcycle accident. I wanted to stop. I started to stop, but then realized: What could I do? Absolutely nothing. There were others on the scene who appeared to know what they were doing. I saw a few onlookers with cell phones, hopefully calling 911. I prayed and posted a prayer request on Facebook at the next stop light. That's it. That was all I could do.

I felt so helpless. Completely useless. Yeah, yeah, yeah, power of prayer and all that. I'm not discounting or minimizing that in anyway. I'm just saying this incident was a major eye opener for me. A huge call to action. I WILL research and enroll in a local first aid/CPR certification class this week. You have my permission to call me on it. Seriously. Ask me a week from now if I've done it.

It's Not Too Late to Have a Sane Christmas

Throughout the year, my dear BFF messages me how the evil Santa on Twitter has tweeted the latest #shoppingdaystilChristmas or whatever. We're like, yeah, Dude, whatever, it's way too early for that. Then, all of a sudden, like out of NOWHERE, we turn the calendar and it's...duhn-duhn-duhn-DUHNNNNN: NOVEMBER! Just like that. No warning, whatsoever.

Let's just take a moment and google "shopping days til' Christmas," shall we? Go ahead. I'll wait. Did you get the same answer I got? As of this posting, this is what I got:

Probably a little too early to freak out. I'm still way ahead of the game compared to my usual schedule. Here my current strategy, which I will share with you. It is my attempt to have a sane holiday season.

1. Create a calendar using Calendars That Work. I love this handy dandy free tool.
2. Create the Christmas card list. 
3. Calculate and purchase postage.
4. Schedule time on calendar to address the cards and mail them.
5. Create the Christmas gift recipient list. 
6. Create the ideal list of gifts for each person. 
7. Consult with spouse for holiday gift giving budget. 
8. Adjust lists 4 & 5 accordingly, bearing shipping costs of homemade gifts vs. the blessing of Amazon Prime's free shipping. These things must be considered carefully throughout the process, especially when considering the realistic amount of time one has time to actually create gifts from the heart...refer to info-graphic of countdown above.
9. Create list of items to be made by hand.
10. Create list of baked goods recipients. 
11. Compile list of goodies to bake. 
12. Make shopping list of needed ingredients for baking treats. 
13. Schedule said baking day(s). 
14. Schedule time to package baked goodies and put it on the calendar, created in step 1. 
15. Schedule time to create home made gifts from the heart, from list in step 9.

That's about as far as I go today without getting overwhelmed! I  better continue this another day, but this is a good place to start!

Oh, before I forget, there is ONE more step I've taken toward a sane Christmas! I'm having a virtual Scentsy party! You don't even have to leave the comfort of your home. If we're friends on Facebook, I have probably already invited you. If you didn't get invited, please don't be sad. Sometimes Facebook is funny and doesn't display all friends' names to invite to these online parties. You can still ask me for an invitation or simply place an order online through my party link. It helps me earn credits toward Christmas gifts for my family and friends (who knows, you might be one of them!).

I've got my eye on THIS guy right here!

If you haven't heard of Scentsy  before, here is a description of how it works from their website:  "Scentsy Warmers use a low-watt bulb to slowly melt specially formulated wax. With no flame, smoke, or soot, the Scentsy wickless candle system is a safe way to enjoy Scentsy fragrances." You choose a warmer (or two or three or...) and a few bars of bricks of wax in scented fragrances. Break off a chunk and put it in the warmer. I find a chunk scents up a room pretty well. Each chunk lasts about a day or two. A bar comes with eight chunks of marvelously scented wax.

If you are in my local area, I will gladly share some scent samples with you. I have some handy. If you are in the Chico, California area, my Scentsy Consultant, Tabatha can meet with you during the party.

Simply SaraSue - My New Blog Home?

Welcome to Simply SaraSue - my new blog home, for now at least. I have started many blogs in the past about the many things I am passionate about:

• Celebrate Books - about my love of books, reading, and my Kindle
• The Melody Show- a private blog about my daughter's life, intended for our family to follow. 
• Craftarrific - a place to journal my crafting adventures, misadventures (a.k.a. Pinterest fails) and a place to promote my online store
• Saranity Fitness - my pace to chronicle my fitness journey and encourage others along the way. 

The thing is, that's a LOT of blogs to juggle and maintain. I know I just pick a niche and run with it. That is very hard for me to do because I love all of these things. I love to read about them, learn as much as I can, and share with others about them. If I can monetize those words and make a few extra bucks a long the way, FANTASTIC!

But for now, I just want to write about it all in one place, OK? On top of all of the above, I've also opened up a mini-salon, which takes a lot of time to market and promote and get butts in my chair and let me do what I love to do: create beautiful hair and help people feel like I do when someone transforms my hair into something beautiful: cry a happy cry, step livelier, smile a little brighter, and all that feel good, mushy stuff! 

I got an email from BlogHer about updating my profile. That inspired to me to get blogging about pretty much all of the above again (I have so much to catch up on!), then I realized that NaBloPoMo is once again upon us! Perfect timing! Let's see if I can get through it again. I better get going...I have a blog calendar to create...