A Happy 2010!

Another New Year! Amazing 2010! Seemed almost unreal in a way, and yet we're definitely here. I normally spend a bit of time thinking about what I want to accomplish each year, and I have been dragging my feet on that for a while. So I am going to take this coming weekend and sit down and create some kind of goals and accomplishments for myself. I have always worked best from a list, and it certainly feels good to see it shrink as the year moves along. It is also a good way to gauge what I have managed to complete in the year. There's something important about looking back to see progress you've made. Most people need that, and I am one of those people.

So goals are on the horizon....and then the work of reaching them.

• R & R -- This year I want very much to spend some time enjoying the things I have done in the past. I have spent a lot of time working on the landscaping and on the interior decorating in the house, and I feel like a lot of my life has been spent working and not necessarily stopping to 'smell the roses'. So this year I want to regain some of that rest and refreshing that I have skipped over for most of my life. There is a time and a season for everything as the Word says in Ecclesiastes, and I think this is my time to find some rest and refreshment, and even some order in my life.

• FINAL TOUCHES -- I have been here and there with life lately, trying to make some changes in the house and just tying up a lot of loose ends in my life. It has been quite a time. Not everyone enjoys challenges, and I do to an extent, but there are times you wish that things were not quite so overwhelming. That's getting better, and I am glad for that. I'm actually finishing up the last room that requires painting and then I can get it all organized the way I like it, and that will be all of the 'real' work for a while. Just in time for Spring

That said, this also means that I have some time to think about and do other things that are interesting. I haven't been stitching the last 9 months, but once or twice, and not for very long. Just couldn't seem to get into it -- but I am finding now that I think about my needlework in one way or another from time to time, so maybe the inspiration is coming back. I do have some friends I want to make some gifts for so I am working at that right now and hoping to get them going in the next few weeks. I am saying few weeks as my life has been a bit topsy-turvy lately and it is hard to say what is going to get done at any given time. Just reality.

• GIFTS TO STITCH -- So I am looking at designs of smalls and pockets, and all sorts of different finishing techniques so that I can do something that works for the gifts I have in mine. Not too complicated, so that it doesn't take too long to complete them, but enough so that it looks good and is a nice presentation for a gift when I am finished. Needlework has always been such a blessing in my life, a way of creating, and getting lost in something that totally consumes my thoughts while I am actively at work. I really enjoy that part, it is a great therapy so that you calm down and really forget about the 'stuff' of the day. So within the next 4 to 6 weeks I may have some nice pictures to share with you -- and I really do want to finish them within that time frame.

• DECORATING TOUCH UPS -- I've been painting and finishing up some changes in my 'stash room'. I am combining it into a sewing room - or stitching room; a small desk for studying and a mini office area; and it will also become a prayer room. We have two areas where we have desks in the house, but this is tucked away and very quiet and I can leave things that I am working on in place and pick up the next day where I left off. Once it is finished I will be doing Spring cleaning again...which seems to be needed every year no matter what you try to do to keep from collecting things.

Spring sounds like such a good thing -- I am really looking forward to the sunshine, and fresh air, and flowers; even the work! It won't be long now. Somehow Spring revitalizes me, and clears the fog in my head ! There are still projects to do outside, and they will be put on the list of "to dos" once the weather is a little more reasonable. It's been quite cold this Winter.

• CROCHETING -- Digging up my UFOs is also on the list of things I want to do this year, and crochet up all the yarn I have in stock. I may give it all away as Christmas gifts but at least it will no longer be stored here in my garage or in the closets. Crocheting has always been a joy to me. I learned at 16 -- self taught, and I would love to learn to knit as well. So maybe this will be the year .

• UFO STITCHING -- The cross stitching UFOs are in my garage right now, sitting and waiting, but I plan to take out 3 of them to begin to work on again, once I finish the needlework smalls that I am stitching for gifts. it will be nice to see them reach a finish -- and who knows it could be this year. Just now, thinking about them, I am considering the redwork sampler that was free on line a year or so ago. The other one I want to pick up is the Quaker RR so I can finally get that finished and framed.

• EXERCISE ? --The other item on the list of new year plans, which ends up on most people's lists is exercise. Yes, that lovely word! Most of us forget out plans and goals regarding weight loss or exercise after a few weeks, or months. I'm hoping to get back into a routine so that life starts to feel like it has some order to it. I love exercising in the Spring and through Fall, but winter is always hard as it is so cold and windy and I don't much enjoy being out in that kind of weather. So we'll see how I fare in that category by year's end.
  

• SEWING/DECORATING -- I have committed to sewing some pillows for a great nephew who is redecorating his room and using gray, red, white and black in the room. I have the fabric on hand, so I just need to make time to sew hem up and get them delivered to him. Also, I had collected so many different fabrics for decorating that I pulled them all out one day and let my niece pick several that she would like made into pillows for her home. So I want to get that done also this Spring, or by early Summer. There's no rush, but it would be nice to get that off the list of things I have committed to. It will also be a nice distraction, and I have always enjoyed sewing.
  

• LEARNING - I spend a bit of time through the week in the Bible, reading, studying, reading books about spiritual growth. I have not written a newsletter for our church in a long time, but that will come too. I have some catching up to do there. So I will be working at regulating my life so that there is time enough to do these things, and enjoy the process. I love doing this, so it's not a matter of if I will do it, just when and how much. There have been some web cast conferences that I have been able to sign up for and I have myself signed up for three of them between now and early April. They are enjoyable and much less costly than flying somewhere. Not that that's no enjoyable in itself, but seriously, it is much more practical to do it on line and I really like the convenience of not having to pack . It's great to be able to pour yourself a hot cup of coffee and take notes in Word while you listen and absorb the messages.

• POSSIBLE EARLY CHRISTMAS PROJECTS -- I have several nieces that I am close to and I am thinking that I would really love to make them some night gowns using cotton, and eyelet lace, and embroidery and small buttons, ribbon, etc. You get the idea. I bought a pattern ages ago that is specifically for this type of gown, and has several versions. It would be the perfect gift for Christmas and I would enjoy the process of making each one special according to their personalities and tastes. So that may be on the agenda also, and I will need to buy yards and yards of white cotton, lace, and colored and white ribbon. In the meantime I need to get my serger worked on and ready for a workout!

• PICTURE PROJECTS - There hasn't been time to do it, but now that I am working my list down to 'manageable' I am considering working on a few picture albums. I have never done scrap-booking, but it might be fun, and I do want to get all of my Mom's pictures made up into CDs for my brothers and sisters so they have all of them and can print up whatever they want. The originals I will be keeping in my own scrapbooks, and that is he project I want to work on this Summer. Also, Rog's pictures and mine and all our cards will be another project to work on in the Fall and Winter. Little by little they will all get into some form of organization, and hopefully in a beautiful manner. AS I said, I have not done any scrap-booking but it is time to learn.

• SEWING/CLOTHING -- I have some fabric that I want to make some tunics with, and they will be great for this coming Fall and winter. The fabric is a velveteen and in really luscious colors. I also bought some fleece fabric to make a coat and I would like to get that sewn as well before the Fall. So there are a lot of small projects to keep me occupied this Spring and Summer, and actually I am glad to have them to do.

• MAJOR PROJECT -- REFINISHING KITCHEN CABINETS -- And yes, I am going to do it myself. Big project, and slow, but I will do it. The cabinets they make today are so flimsy that I decided I couldn't just switch off the doors and have them refinish the rest to make it look like it matched. Just wasn't going to be the kind of quality I have, so decided the best thing was to sand and refinish them all on my own. The process is slow and it will look pretty ugly for a while until they are all sanded, stained and sealed, but it gives me something to do and it is definitely worthwhile. The wood is good and solid, and not that laminate stuff which I really do not like. Replacing them, with the same quality would cost way too much so this is the least expensive way to go and will give me a really nice finish that will last a long time.
  

• FRAMING -- There are a lot of photos I want to frame and hang in the house, so I need to gather them together, enlarge a few, and then go frame shopping. I'm actually going to enjoy the process of doing that, as they will make such a nice display in the house.
  

• LANDSCAPING -- Though I don't have too much to do outside this year, there are some final touches that weren't completed last Fall. The weather got too cold and blustery and it just wasn't pleasant to be outside. So on the list to finish are: moving some rock to the side yard and back yard around the wisteria. Followed by repairing the bowl of the fountain outside. A process I have never done before, and hope that it works. Leaf raking. I get all the neighbors' leaves in my yard! Bush Trimming, and though this isn't a landscaping job, replacing the screens on the windows. Have all the equipment and supplies, just need to pull them all down and redo them. Also a new experience for me. Lastly will be plants for the fountain, and two flower beds that are new in the front yard, and the individual flower pots that are in the front yard. Bush trimming and a little fertilizer and that's about all that needs to be done outside, thank goodness!!!
  

Well, that sort of covers most of the bases for my year 2010. God willing, they all will see a finish, and I will find more time to just enjoy the work of my hands.

God bless you all and hope that your 2010 turns out to be a wonderful year for you in every way. Your friend.... Cathy