Cold - Heat - Gas

Sheesh. My plans for a productive new year is not going so well on account of the weather. See one thing about me - I HATE BEING COLD - cold takes up all my energy and makes me grumpy. Now I admit that we haven't had weather as cold as in many parts of Canada or the United States but it's been cold enough here and unfortunately our house isn't built for the cold. It has single pane windows and no furnace. There are electric baseboard heaters but they are all mounted on walls with windows so basically your expensive heat just goes up the wall and out the window. And, over time, only a couple of them work or furniture had to be placed in front it as is the case in the kitchen.

We rely on a gas fireplace to provide us with the majority of warmth in the winter and supplement it with an electric oil space heater in the bedroom (that's about as efficient as we can get). But the other day I kept smelling gas and was concerned we had a leak. We turned the fireplace off and waiting 2 days for a repairman to inspect it. He finally arrived yesterday and said we didn't have a leak per se but the fireplace was very old and should be replaced as it wasn't burning all the gas,  only the middle portion of the burner was consumed by flame and the remaining portion was being released - which is what I could smell. He said it wasn't a risk to us but we should get a new fireplace. The only way to avoid this would be to turn it off or to have it on high.

Depending on the outside temperature that means that our living room is anywhere between 14 and 16 degrees C in the morning (recommended room temperature is 19 degrees C, while most people live with their furnaces set at 21).

Which brings me back to the beginning of today's story as I struggle to find a way to take a chill off my body so I can get things done otherwise I risk climbing into bed under the covers and watching TV (although there's already someone else doing that).

See? Cold. Grumpy. Aren't you glad you're my friend?

Done!

7:30 Sunday night and I am finished all the gifts I wanted to make that needed to be mailed. Now anything I start making is either for someone locally, something for my shop or something for me.

And speaking of my shop - two good things happened to me last week. One, a friend of mine with 5500 friends promo'd me on her facebook page. That's nice exposure. I am very grateful. And second, I received an invitation to join EtsyBABY which is an exclusive group that promotes shops specializing in baby items. Being part of EtsyBaby gives me more exposure to my shop and they profile items and promote their members, as well, it's not so easy to get in so getting an invitation is a good thing. I am very grateful and very excited. As soon as I wrap and mail my out-of-town gifts tomorrow, I will start working on my MustHaveThat Etsy store (see right side bar for the link) and figure out a game plan. I have some very good advice to follow from my Number 1 fan - my brother and from Leonie Dawson who offers several how-to business course and planners etc  - so  definitely have my work cut out for me.

 I am very pleased to have completely my hand-made Christmas gifts "on schedule" and look forward to some 'free' time. I say free in quotes, because it's really stuff that I should put first but always struggle with as I always let the minutia of daily life get in the way. If ever I had a resolution that would be it. To make time for creative time NO MATTER WHAT. Which is kinda what I did to finish this last project, I neglected some housework and cut back on the baking/cooking as I had to get that last gift done.

I have also finished shopping  - unless I have forgotten someone - so I am feeling positive about the next 2 weeks.

How about you? Do you celebrate Christmas? 

Are you on schedule for gifts and preparations? 

Miniatur Wunderland

Okay, mind is officially blown - after yesterday's post about the train-wrecks of life, you must watch this most amazing and inspiring clip - sent in by my brother:

This is most definitely on my Goals list!!!