2026 OneThing #35 - Install Oven "Mat"

 I can't believe how long it has taken me to do this . . . here's the story.

 

Sometimes things in the oven spill over and make a mess. One time, my sister-in-law Delavon was at our house and I expressed frustration about this issue. I do not love scrubbing my oven. She raved about a product you could put on the bottom of the oven to deal with it. I told her I wasn't interested. I want less stuff, not more. She was insistent and ordered some for me.

 

I was resistant to her suggestion. (I can be a stubborn pill sometimes.) The box sat in my cupboard until I just about forgot about it.

 

Then I was at her house and something spilled in the oven. We waited for the oven to cool down after the meal, then I went to clean up the mess. It wiped right off. No fuss. I was amazed. Ah! Now I understood her insistence that we use the product! It worked great.

 

But I kept not reading the information and installing the stuff. Don't ask me why . . . more projects than time? Out of sight, out of mind? So I finally made it my "One Thing" this past week.

 

I don't have cool photos, so I'll just share the directions. Because our oven in Jordan is double and has a covered heating element, I cut it so that there was an inch between the mat and the walls / door of the oven. I laid it ON the bottom rack in each oven. 

 

I did have an issue when making pizza. As I tried to shift the baking stone that was resting on the mat on the rack, the whole mat moved. I had to get creative in using oven mitts to hold the mat in place AND move the pizza stone. Minor issue and I'm sure I'll get used to dealing with it.

 

I highly, highly recommend these things for anyone who loves to bake and hates to scrub out the oven! I really need to thank my sister-in-law. Now it's time to put the third one in the oven at the lake . . .  (The box she ordered for me had three sheets in it.) 

 

 

2026 OneThing #34 - Sort Through Baby Toys

This was interesting. I wanted to keep some baby toys for visitors but don't anticipate having any more babies in my life on a regular basis. I started with the board books. Then I kept the toys that I thought were the best / favorites for my grandsons or other young guests. Instead of downsizing the bin, I put a few "older" kid toys in that fit. I don't have photos of that process, but I delivered a box of books and toys to my sister-in-law who has a new grandbaby.

 

Then we came across two army men . . . and my husband commented that we had a bin of them in the garage. He and our grandson Joshua retrieved said bin and I was dismayed. If I didn't even know we had them, I was ready to just get rid of them! But Joshua had fun sorting through and pulling out the fortification pieces. I have now put the entire set on Craigslist for sale. If no one wants it, I'll probably just donate it. 

 

 

They also brought in a bigger bin of "Nick's K'nex." I didn't even know Nick owned any! He doesn't want them, but Alex will add them to his collection. It was fun to sort through them and see the many things Nick made from cardboard, duct tape, and other stuff to supplement his play. Joshua latched on to the vehicle with missiles you can fire. I suggested he and his dad go visit Alex to play with K'nex . . .  Grandma is really trying to reduce the amount of stuff in her house!

 

 

Along with all this, I spread out all the "stuffies" on the sofa. Joshua and I took turns selecting a favorite to put in the bin. After we had saved our faves, I put the rest in a box to donate. Although there's enough room in the bin for more, I really want to cull out the toys that aren't being played with. I have a lot of puppets that I may see if Joshua's teacher wants for the classroom . . . 

There's more I could write about this process, but I'm ready to move on with my day. And perhaps get to work on this week's OneThing!
 

2026 One Thing #33 - Sew Green Chair

When I sat in one of the big green chairs we got from my in-laws' downsizing and it tore (last fall? last spring?), I was determined to fix it. I brought it home and had it in my sewing room for a long time. Then I got some green "horse blanket" fabric and fashioned a new seat. Then my dilemma was how to sew it ON to the aluminum tubing. Louie suggested a sewing tool he had purchased. I brought the frame and the "new" seat to the cabin.

 

This trip, I finally asked him for the sewing tool. It is awl-based and called "Speedy Stitcher." I opened the little box and read the directions. I was confused. A few days later, I watched a video (there are several, though when I typed in www.speedystitcher.com, it came up with an error message. Just now, I got straight to their website!). The videos (and there are many online) are much more helpful than their print documentation.

 

Then I decided to use the black thick waxy thread Louie had bought for another project instead of the pre-loaded tan thread. Unspooling (and re-wrapping it on an empty spool) the tan, then carefully winding the black thread onto the spool, threading the tool, and trying to sew took me longer than I'd like to think about. But the black thread wouldn't pull through! It was like a brick, so I unspooled it and went back to winding the tan thread. 

 

Finally I was ready to sew! It was harder than regular sewing and it took me a while to get the hang of it. I'm not proud of how it looks, but the chair is usable now! And I've learned how to use a new tool. The one thing I didn't really hear mentioned was leaving a long enough piece of thread for the length of your project (so you have enough for a knot at the end). 

 

 

You can see that the stitching on one side is neater than where I started! Actually, both sides look "iffy." But again, it was harder than regular sewing and it's done! The green of the seat is darker than the seat back, but I don't really care about that. I would use this tool again for a hard to reach bit of sewing.
 

 

 

2026 OneThing #32 - Quarterly Review - April / May / June

Right off, I'll say that I've not been super successful with this . . . since it's August 11 when I'm writing a quarterly review! I try really hard to not be "too busy" for things. Life is more pleasant with some down time and a slower pace. But here's what those three months looked like:

 April's verse was Ephesians 2:8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."

 

I feel pretty good about the stuff I got done in April. Nothing major or momentous, but productive. I was subbing and doing other life stuff as well.

 

 

 

May's verse was the same as April! Apparently, I forgot to select a new one. Or perhaps I decided I really needed that message. Or perhaps I didn't read it / say it as I sat in my studio. That's problematic.

 

Although I got my May "OneThing" items done, it seemed like too little, too late. NONE of my freesia bloomed. I planted so many of those dang bulbs and I LOVE freesia flowers. Pooh.

 

What else did I do in May? Subbed, puttered, . . . it's gone now.

 

 

 

 

June's verse was Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"

 

It was another good month, but not an extremely productive month. I did succeed in four of the five tasks. (I still haven't bought tickets to go see the Obama Center.)

 

I remember feeling pretty good about the Health Care Savings Plan money and finding a new home for my father-in-law's music. Praise God for the things I was able to do in the second quarter of the year.

 

I'm typing this at the lake. Being here is just another home. I hope it becomes our primary / only home soon. But July and August (so far) have been busy. I need to be more deliberate about how I spend my time.  

 

  

2026 OneThing #31 - Prep for Pahl Picnic (fail)

I'm really on a roll . . . of not successfully getting my OneThing done. I thoroughly enjoyed the picnic with my cousins, but I did not spend time preparing for it. My Pahl family notes, photos, etc. are not extensive, but it would be nice to share. It surprised me to realize / remember that my cousins are older than we four "Somers" kids (Not sure about Chris and Tom - they are about the same age). They have memories and stories of grandma and grandpa that I don't! I didn't realize that the "shack" to the south of our house on Aldrich (long since torn down) was the Pahl home before the "big" farmhouse was built! Jane told me that.

 

Here's a picture that Raymond sent to us four:

 

Front row: me, Barb (Kevin's), Jane, Ann, Louise, Julie, Tom

 

"Middle" row: Raymond, Linda (Mark's), Kathy (Chris's)

 

Back row: Louie, Kevin, David, Bob, Mark, Chris

 

 

Or in order of eyes: Louie, Jeanne, Barb, Kevin, Jane, David, Ann, Bob, Raymond, Louise, Mark, Linda, Chris, Julie, Kathy, Tom 

 

I did get other things done during the week. Specifically with family genealogy, we visited with Louie's cousin Chynne and now I have four more boxes of LaMoore history and photos. There's some really neat stuff, but it's a lot! Stacie has offered to help go through it. My basement is more full, not less.

 

One of my Pahl cousins commented that it was unusual for all eight of them to be in attendance. Many have lost spouses . . . Marilyn (Raymond's), Steve (Jane's), Chuck (Julie's ex), Becky (David's), Nan (Tom's) . . . and I'm not really sure about Bob. I feel as though I don't know my cousins very well! Next summer, I hope to be more on the ball. I had also forgotten that I missed the 2025 picnic. I don't remember why, but it's a priority for me moving forward.

 

Oh! At the quilt retreat that Ann won (A Place to Sew in DeSoto, Wisconsin), I put together the fleece pieces for a baby blanket / decrease my fleece. This past week, I snipped the seams for a finished baby blanket for Del and Jeff's new grandson Leon. Yay! I didn't take pictures of the finished blanket, but here are the "layout" pictures:

 

2026 OneThing #30 - Try Chair Yoga

This one isn't a huge success . . . because I've tried one fifteen minute thing one day. And I've been intending to start doing this for a long time! When I took my father-in-law to the exercise class at his assisted living facility in September, I thought I would get into doing a workout at home. Ha! Over two weeks ago, my youngest son's father-in-law shared a couple of YouTube links with me that he uses. (These exercises have helped him lose 18 pounds!) 

 

And finally, last week, I tried one. I was surprised and pleased at how it felt like an actual workout. And that was it. Once. So far. I'm blogging on Tuesday instead of Sunday. 

 

I've thought about doing the chair yoga instead of my morning journaling. I apparently struggle with priorities. Here are the two links he shared with me (I've tried the first one):

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttX60COiU4E&list=PLHiXDbUkO4Kw

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26t2WVY9ITo&list=PLHiXDbUkO4Kw&index=2

 

The first one is more geared to women; the second to men. They both have percentage done bars and countdowns. Now I just need the motivation and determination to do morning exercises! Health is wealth.  

2026 OneThing#29 - I Was Busy

First, I made "Akina playlist on my phone" my OneThing. Then I realized that I didn't want to pirate the songs OR buy all the music. I figured I could just play the Christian music already on my phone in a pinch. (Which worked out fine because the wifi was better this year AND other people had the newer, more popular songs on their phones.)

 

Then I made "Finish reading Radium Girls" my OneThing because I figured I'd have a little down time for reading throughout the week. Well . . . that didn't happen.

 

I came home from Grand Marais on Sunday, July 19. I left for Akina camp near Pillager, MN, on Monday. I got home from camp on Saturday, July 25 and left for a quilt retreat the next day. I had my packing for all three trips mostly done before I left for GM on Friday, July 17.

 

Camp was excellent, but kept me very, very busy. The kids were dynamic but I don't have permission to share pictures of their faces. I can share a picture that Lonna took of some of their tie-dyed shirts hanging out to dry.

 

According to my step tracker, I got the following steps at camp:

Monday - 10,735 (my drive day / planning / no kids)

Tuesday - 20,029

Wednesday - 22,225

Thursday - 15,952

Friday - 15,048

Saturday - 13,824

 

So . . . yeah. I was tired. Helping with the tie-dyed shirts was fun. I learned a lot. I'm still not terribly good at it, but this was better than my first attempt. I was with Sara for our small group of girls. What a blessing! And the Amazing Race challenges were especially good this year.

 

I am writing this on the Wednesday after my busy week! And I've already changed my OneThing for this week twice . . . because I'm mostly just trying to catch up with things.