The Beginning of a New Year

Well, here we are into the second week of the new year and it still feels fresh and new.  I'm counting down the days until the lemons (nasty criminal neighbors) are out the door, gone for good.  I'm sure once they are out, they will not be back.  My brother said to seize the day, when life gives you lemons.  I clicked like of course and said there will be lemons rolling on out at the end of the month.  Something like that.  And I sure hope it is true that it's the end of the month.  I don't want to deal with them for another moment, but they are there.

I'm going to make an effort to not be there as much during the day.  I like to wake up in the mornings, have my coffee and watch a movie and knit one of my invented patterns before starting off writing at least for now.  I should mix it up though.  I have been enjoying going to the library or MacDonalds for my internet time.  I don't want to spring for internet until sometime after they are gone.

I am working on finishing a yummy soup I made for my Soup, Pasta, and crackers book.  However, I think I will need to change an ingredient in this recipe.

I was making a homemade pasta to use in my pasta machine, however, the seminola pasta dough was too crumbly to go through the machine and I'm going to have to find a pasta recipe for this more to my liking that will work in it and then I can add my spices etc... later.  It's got to be able to go through the machine so that I can cut it.

I know the machine works fine, as many people use them all the time.  It's got to be the dough.  I'm going to try one with regular flour next time.  Needless to say, those bits of pasta are not getting eaten and thank god they sunk to the bottom when I took my pictures!  ha ha.

Yes, seize the day is so important.  Don't ever let life get you down.  Yes, there are constantly problems in everyone's life.  I recently sent a text to my sister that she should consider herself lucky that she hasn't been dealt a hard life like me.  Of course, I know she has problems too.  We all have problems in our lives.  And even I should be thankful that my life hasn't been as bad as someone else's as there is always someone in the world worse off than us.

I also told my family that when these people are gone, I am going to want to just put it all in the past and not even remotely talk about it.  I am going to want to get back to a normal life, without having criminal neighbors harassing and stalking me.

And someone in my life wants me in it, so it's worth the effort to go with the flow and see what happens.

That's all a person can really do in this life is to practicing going with what comes your way.  You can always pray for a dream, a miracle, hope, wish, etc., but what it all boils down to is what you make of it and what enters your life.  You can't ask to live on Pluto and get it.  You know, the impossible dream.

But, I think that any dream can potentially come true if we try for it, shoot for the moon, lasso it and ask.  If we rest on our laurels and don't try because someone tells us it cannot be done or we don't believe in ourselves that we have the power to do it.

If you try your best to do things, it can be done.  And if it can't at least you can honestly say that you tried, right?

I've pumped up The Glorious Money Tree to 159 pages and hopefully it will be more by the end of the week of course.  It's coming closer to the 200-300 pages I am shooting for.  I think after this month is out, I just want to diligently work at it full speed.  And then get started on the second books.

I am thinking for part of my cover, I want to do a drawing partially from that wonderful close up of Emily Parker.  The eyes, nose and lips and the rest will be invented.  I'm going to have to do a few different covers to see which one I want to choose.

Jennifer Jo Fay

Copyrighted January 11, 2013

Luna

the ruffle scarf I am making right now from my own pattern.  This one is tricky.  The yarn likes to slip off my needles.  I've got to find my knitting stoppers.  And one of the rows I am doing that bobble stitch which takes longer to do.  I've set this pattern down for today, it's about half way done.  I'm making a quicker and easier pattern from a raspberry type stitch that's cool.

This week's soup!  The spinach meatball patties are in it too!  They sunk just like the pasta that I'm going to not use in the recipe.  Opt out for different pasta.  Or another soup recipe may even have dumplings in it.  That may have to be in next week's soup as now I'm craving it.

These were fun to make in a muffin pan.  I saw the idea from Pinterest.

A friend told me that I should put a cheesecake recipe in the book that I made for a Thanksgiving dinner.  However, that one I had done wasn't my original recipe.

I think everything in my books have to be original.  I can begin with someone's recipe, but I would of course deviate from it every single time and make my own recipes.  I think in most recipes though, you have to follow something in order for it to come out the right consistency and then once you know it works you can add other things you want.

Like for certain recipes have to have the right amount of flour, eggs or other ingredients that are going to hold it's shape, etc....

How to Make the Best of a Hard Situation

Hard to believe now it is a new year!  2013!  I am excited for it to be a really good one once these criminal neighbors are out of my life.  This is the hardest thing I have ever been through.  It is a very hard thing to be monitored on every little single thing that should be extremely private.  There is no way they should know a majority of the things that go on in my apt.  Yes, they can play off a phone call, conversations, things they can see me bring in from outside the apt, but not all the quiet goings on inside my apt.  And then they talk about it the second after it happens every single time.  When I am knitting, when I am writing, when I am cooking, when I go to the bedroom, beyond the closet, when I am photographing something, when I am on laptop and on and on and on.  They even think they know what I am doing on my laptop, when I am texting, (it's on vibrate),  when I get a text message, when I take it under a blanket, etc.......

Absolutely no privacy not to mention where I have to resort to undressing.  And when they don't like something I am doing, like reporting and writing it down on a statement form for the police, they get bolistic, when they are ticked off.  It's really their problem if they are ticked off because they have invaded my privacy when things in my private life suddenly seem to be what they make their business.

None of what I do in my life is their business. They are gone later this month, hopefully.  But a landlord or the police hasn't confirmed this yet.

I'm at the point now, where it's coming down to the wire and their plan all along has been to kill me on the way out.  They are in 4A above me, thin walls.  I am almost positive she is a black girl and he is a black guy. These are the two that are harassing me.  I'm going to broadcast a little here, as if they go ahead and kill me, let's have this up for people to know who did it and PLEASE GIVE THEM THE DEATH SENTENCE IF THEY DO.

I am seriously hoping that they move out and pick a new target.  It's a worry.  My four children shouldn't be without a mother.

But, anyway, besides this, it hasn't made me stop what I love to do, see my kids and their new friend, and mom that are moved in with my ex husband.  Which is a good situation, win/win.  New dynamics to all get used to of course and there will be days I am sure when my girls will fight with the other one, but all adults will just tell them not to do something if they need to learn not to.

I put up new curtains in my studio and in the living room.  Folded up my nailed up sheets and put them away.  I wanted to let the light in during the day and be able to see people coming and going.  And to watch whoever I don't know who leaves the building.

I have added some more chapters to the novel, worked on the recipe books some more and even put in a few of my knitting patterns for scarves, etc.. and a few pictures are in.

The Soup, Pasta, and Crackers book is fun as I do a recipe, I photograph them and then write the recipe down and put it in the book and figure out what pictures I am using.

For one of the knitting patterns, I had Julia model the scarf for the pictures.  I am using a side view of her with it for the pattern (minus most of her face)  Just the lips.

I've been enjoying doing some cooking in my apt.  And enjoyed springing for some new kitchen items for me to do the cooking and baking I want to do.

These nuts are complaining and talking about my purchases and it's none of their business.  The way I see it is I don't do drugs, I don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't go out partying and this is my treat.  And it's none of their business to know my finances period.

I've had to be smart in all this and personal stuff has to be turned into a private activity so that they don't know what I am typing, and I've been taking advantage of local places where I can use their wifi and bills and anything of upmost importance does not get done in the apt.

I wish they would be gone today and I could be comfortable in my own skin.

Jennifer Jo Fay

Copyrighted January 3, 2013