365 Fresh Starts

A Blog About Life

We've been conditioned to expect things to be all or nothing. We make dramatic resolutions on December 31st that we break by January 2, and then feel terrible about ourselves. We think that we can't change at all because our annual, dramatic attempts at change just don't work.

We get 365 fresh starts each year.

Comfortable Shoes

My closet was a graveyard for ill-fitting shoes. I’ve always been hard to fit. My feet were always long and skinny — shoes needed to be at least a size 10 and as narrow as you can make them. Then I broke my foot in 2010. Even though the break healed well, my right foot no longer tolerated the […] Read More

Rehab Training

When Your Body Stops Cooperating I haven’t really talked much about my broken-down body, but today I’ll share more information than you really want. I’ll start by saying that I started rehab training this week. Why did I need rehab training? Well… last year, while lugging a suitcase up the stairs in the London Tube, someone bumped […] Read More

Even More Recipes

Variety is the spice of life. Also salt. Don’t forget the salt. This week, I’m sharing dinner recipes AND some of my existing go-to bread/muffin recipes that I appear to have been keeping to myself. Sorry about that. The Winners Banana Bread The availability of overripe bananas — and the ability to make banana bread […] Read More

bowl of noodle soup with chopsticksMore Easy Recipes

Dinner Variety We’ve both been home for more than a week! This has opened the door for the backlog of recipes. Ready for something different? Let’s do this. The Winners Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili (*psst, it’s actually curry) I had some doubts about any chili that involves coconut milk. I should have known better […] Read More

photo of Pyrex baking dish that exploded in the ovenCooking With a Bang

Remember how I said I was going to cook some new meals for a change? Ah, all the best intentions. See, in order to bother with cooking new and interesting meals, I require both adults to be present in the household. (I’m not putting the effort into something innovative for The Assistant, who’s just as delighted by pasta.) But […] Read More

chicken with spinach pestoMeal Plan: The New Normal

For the longest time, I approached meals as if our crazy schedule would somehow settle back to normal and I’d have time to really plan and prepare new and interesting meals every night. Instead, my meal plan has relied on me making the same half-dozen things in the slow cooker, and I’m sick of every single […] Read More

photo of focaccia breadWhat I’ve Been Cooking

Some New Recipes I’ll bet you think that I haven’t been cooking much, what with not ever posting anything to this blog. You’d be wrong! I’m still cooking five or six days a week, albeit less interesting stuff than I used to. This has been my busiest year ever, work-wise, and I don’t have much time […] Read More

Of Muay Thai and Life Lessons

Battered, Bruised, but Better I’m coming up on nine months of Muay Thai, and I feel like there’s a tale to tell. So gather ’round, kids. It’s story time. As y’all know, I started Muay Thai classes because I won an auction at my son’s school. I had no intention of winning the auction. I just bid to bump […] Read More

Favorite Crochet Patterns and Resources

Everything You Need to Know About Crochet I’ve decided to compile my favorite crochet patterns and resources in one easy-to-find post. Now when I try to find these patterns and resources later, they’ll be waiting for me. Thanks to everyone who came to chat with me at Maker Faire 2017. I hope that these resources […] Read More

My Crochet Creations

What I’m Making It seems that my favorite crochet creations follow two distinct themes: Möbius infinity scarves in bulky weight yarns… The same Möbius pattern in lighter weight yarns… And much lighter weight shawls and scarves made with yarn that has cool effects. And that doesn’t even include the ones that I’ve given away as gifts, or the […] Read More