ENDING 2011 --

Hi all,
Well, life has certainly flown by again and we're logging in another full year. Hope you have managed to accomplish a lot this year, that you haven't had a lot of stresses or problems to clutter your life, and that you are at a good spot now, no matter what has happened.

I ought to be wrapping gifts, but I am playing on the computer instead. I have had a lot of things get piled up and I am slowly working through them now that the weather is cold. No working outside right now -- no decorations outside either for the moment, as it's been too cold to put them out. I may get out there next week early if the weather improves enough to be out there without freezing. We have had snow twice already this year, and I love the snow, but it is cold!!! I think I am also getting older as I seem to feel cold more readily than I used to. Unfortunately I have no snow pictures to show as I didn't take any this time, though we had 10 inches of snow, which is significant for us. I love the feeling that snow brings to the atmosphere. Something about snow that makes you want to cook and bake and enjoy toasty cups of cocoa and cider, or spiced tea. Those are a few of my favorite things -- and coffee!!! Lattes especially are nice for this time of year.

I'm in the midst of sorting through a lot of files and reorganizing spaces in the house and moving furniture in the rooms and cleaning -- though it feels good to get to this part of the work, it is still work . I will be glad when I am all done with it. In the meantime I am trying to do shopping and wrapping and mailing packages and such as well. Needless to say the clock is ticking and I am feeling a little like I am behind time. But oh well...I am learning not to stress about such things. Hopefully I will start earlier in the future and escape the stress that comes from getting down to the wire with the list still in process.

In summarizing the year, I have had a better year. Healing is happening in my heart and life but it is taking more time than I had thought it would. I still have my days when Roger is so on my heart and mind that it makes looking forward very difficult. Yet, the times when I am feeling more 'together' I seem to do alright, and even without a really clear view of what is next, I don't feel so stressed over the fact that I haven't all my ducks in a row. Roger was a significant part of my life and love and I sorely miss him. Family is busy with their own things, so I am finding I am alone a lot more than I was initially. Everyone has to return to their own plans and responsibilities, and I am finding that I am having to do more alone, and work on things on my own -- a new tack for me, but I am managing.

We did manage to get a couple of trips in this year, which were a blessing. I visited Glory of Zion twice, and enjoyed it thoroughly. It is much more fun gong with other people. I also visited IHOP in Kansas City and enjoyed my niece, her husband and son's company for both trips. Gabriel stayed at IHOP as he is an intern there, and we came home to carry on with our own individual responsibilities. It's been a very different kind of year, lots of things to pray through and stresses we had not expected, but they are working their way out of our lives and we are finding our new assignments in life. I for one have worked at changing out my back bedroom to an office, which I can work at, study, watch my DVDs from Glory of Zion, and listen to music while I read, or even stitch. The room is small, so I don't have a lot of room there. I managed to squeeze the things I wanted in the room and it is taking shape. What I struggle with most is finding spaces for everything I want to keep in the house. Some things have had to make their way into the garage -- and eventually I will go through all the containers in the garage and give away, sort through and either sell or donate things so I can clear up the space and have it in a more orderly arrangement. That is part of next year's goals as it's far too cold to work out there right now.

So at least the office is being completed, and I will now work in there instead of on the dining room table . A nice change, and he room is very inviting, and restful.

I attended on line classes with Glory of Zion -- their Center for Advancement -- and enjoyed the classes. I have certificates from these classes, which I have framed and placed on the walls in my office. These frames originally were bought to hold Quaker sampler pieces, but I decided that it was time to do something different and use the frames, so that is how I have filled them. Right now I need to find a few more frames the same style or coloring at least so I can finish framing all the certificates. I have 7 thus far. These classes by the way are Christian Courses -- something I truly enjoy participating in.

I've rearranged my guest room and cleared it out. I had started just stacking things in there that I didn't know what to do with -- space for storage is a problem - so I finally got everything out of there and rearranged and I am so glad that that is also done. NOw if I can get the wrapping done for Christmas the room will really be where I want it to be. I am planning on getting my Yamaha keyboard back and start learning how to play chords on it. I can't do the same or have the same affect with a regular piano, so I am going to work on that as a high priority for the coming year and see if I can't get proficient enough so that I can play at Church. If so, that would be a significant asset in my life. Certainly something I really want to do in my future. So that is a priority for me in 2012.

I have also a large project in my kitchen -- refinishing my cabinets. I have had a different cabinet added over the pantry and to the side. These hold my trays, bowls and spices on the side cabinet. It works really well, but it is not finished as yet. So I have to sand the cabinets in the kitchen, then stain them, and get them all to match, and once that is done, seal them with polyurethane and add new cabinet handles. A fairly big job for me as one person, but something I will get done this year or by the end of January. That is one of my major goals as well. I am setting a time table for it so that the work gets done fairly quickly. I figure it will take me at least 2 weeks to sand everything down; two to three days to do the staining; one to three days to polyurethane the cabinets and let them dry between coats; and a couple of hours to replace all the handles. The stain, polyurethane and handles are the only materials required -- and I hope to get to the job quickly once the holidays are over. The kitchen will be sealed off while I work on this, and I'll sand the wood outside as much as possible so I don't create a lot of mess in the house. Still, it will be a fairly big job for me to do on my own. I'll take some photos of my progress and process so you can see the whole thing. I'm actually looking forward to getting the job done.

I would like to paint my guest room -- it is a very light pink, and I haven't decided what color to use in there. I am thinking that I'd like to still use a rose tone in the room, but as an accent color, and I may go back to the pecan colored walls in there with a deeper rose tone on one wall. That is my "February" job probably as I would like to get it done before the weather warms up.

I'm trying to just work on a specific project for each month so that I stay focused. If I do it this way I might actually get more done and feel less stress over the whole. Not sure how other people do it but I get stressed with too man things going on at once, or feeling pressure about having to get a lot of things done. I am trying a new tack -- and hopefully pigeon holing each job to a specific time frame will help me get it done better with less anxious moments. So this is a new strategy for me .

I have some sewing I want to finish -- I have extra fabric (purchased pieces, and some left over from upholstery, curtains, etc) that I want to use up. It will clear up my garage, give me some gifts I can give away as presents, and I'll enjoy the process of creating them. So I want to pull out my serger and sewing machine and get them both humming in February and March. I figure that I can work on these indoors and enjoy the process while Winter is still in effect. I'll end up with some nice pieces to give away -- from purses, and totes to decorative pillows, sham covers, and bolster pillows that I know will be nice presents for family and friends. I also have some towels that I want to add fabric pieces to match my bathrooms -- if these turn out well, I may make some additional ones for gifts to give later to my family. Sewing is a great way to create!! I have always enjoyed sewing by machine and I hope to use it more in 2012 to create one of a kind gifts.

The number of projects really has diminished -- especially work projects, for that I can say a hearty "Praise God"!!! Really!!! You can enjoy working on projecs for a while, but there comes a time when you really want to see them come to an end, and the number of new ones also be fewer and farther between. I am getting there, finally!!!

Here are the minor outdoor projects I have to work on in Spring: (a total of 18)

• Stucco patches on the house where water or 'workers' have affected the walls.
• Clean out and repaint the Fountain bowl, also replace the pump (hired out)
• Trim all the bushes, fertilize and especially pay attention to the wisteria and spruces
• Reseal the counter on the outdoor barbecue counter
• Create a space for your wood to be stored outside
• Treat the pine trees and get them thriving and healthy again
• Treat the arborvitaes on the upper terrace and get them healthy and enough water so they look healthy and grow better
• Clean the courtyard of pine needles, either add more rock there or clean out and add cement
• Buy a better blow/vac machine to use for this purpose
• Reupholster 6 outdoor chairs (create the seat covers)
• Reupholster the swing seats (include canopy, side pockets for storage, center storage container top and back panel/sun shield) -- move to front patio area
• Remove the dead Mugho Pine in front yard and replace with an Arborvitae, fix the water line
• Remove the dead holly from courtyard. Do not replace it.
  
• Level the one planter in the front yard
• Create a growing stake for the Trumpet vines on the side yard
• Trim back the two large photinia bushes in back yard
• Clean out the path near the pine trees and set up the table and chairs there for use.
• Add a new shade to the back porch
  

These are the major outdoor projects: (only 5)

• Sand all outdoor woodwork on doors and windows and porches
• Water seal twice each of the woodwork areas outside
• Paint the woodwork twice outdoors
• Replace the wood trim on the pillars in the back porch as well
• Caulk all windows and door frames outside

Indoors there aren't a lot of new projects -- mostly going through my closets to sort things out and either give away, or organize what I have. I plan to go through all cabinets and dressers as well and do the same thing. These are Winter projects though, and ought to be well out of the way by March.

I'd like to reorganize my kitchen cabinets and where I keep things once I get the restoration on the cabinets done. That won't be a big project, but certainly will take me a few days to figure it out and get the work done. I plan to add some of those slide out gadgets on the lower sections of my cabinets so I can get to thins without having to get on my hands and knees to reach back there. I've always thought that these lower cabinets should be built that way!! All the ladies say "Amen"!

One of the things I have always thought I'd enjoy in my kitchen is a baking area set up in my kitchen where the majority of my baking supplies and gadgets would be kept. I am hoping to do that and set up a spot for cake pans, baking sheets, pie tins, and glass baking dishes; also the flavorings, spices and small appliances to accomplish any baking task. My kitchen doesn't ahve that much storage space so I am going to concentrate on keeping only what I use regularly in the cabinets and everything else will go in a separate pantry in the laundry room. It will give me what I need at hand, and hte others will be easily accessible if I need to use them. I am definitely a kitchen gadget kind of person .

My dentist told me recently that I was a shoe person, -- I added to that that I am also a purse person, and an electronic gadget kind of gal - not so much that I own a lot but I like them . If I could I'd be a watch person and a jewelry person, but that's a bit more expensive so I don't have a lot of those kinds of things.

This coming year I'd also like to take at least one trip. Not sure where it will be, Arizona, Texas, Pennsylvania? Who knows. I am just thinking I'd like to do something new and enjoy the time, and even maybe go alone and see how I manage. It's a new thing going on vacation by myself. But I have to learn how to do this as I don't have Rog to take me anymore. Also, I can't always be asking my family to go with me, as that can put them in a spot and I don't want to do that. So, we'll see how it goes. I may ask one of my sisters who is also a widow and see if we can't go together and have a nice time. So that too is in my thoughts for 2012, God willing.

Otherwise, I have loads of unfinished stitching projects to work on and I'd like to get involved with doing a lot more of that. I've already pulled out several projects that I am keeping handy, and some smalls that I want to finish stitching and assembling so I can use them, and some to give to friends.

I plan to work on some ornaments too, for fun, and seasonal things -- I like door knockers and i like creating small decorating accents that you can use without having a huge commitment of time to get them finished.

There are a few large projects I want to work on as well - needlework oriented. A hardanger tablecloth, a crocheted tablecloth that are 60x108; I have some pre-made tablecloths that I want to add a crocheted edging to about 4" deep. I also plan to stitch a crocheted edge of 1" on the napkins.

I plan to work on crocheting a round tablecloth as well, and possibly a withdrawn thread/special stitches tablecloth 90" round. Whether all these will see a finish in 2012 is doubtful, that's a lot of work!! But I do hope at least to get one or two completed, and then just keep working on them.

As for other goals, personal, I am not sure where I am going with that, except that I want to start working out more, depending on the weather. I will walk when it's good weather, and otherwise work out in some other fashion when it's cold. I'd like to get consistent with that as well, just to get back to a healthier weight and strength.

So that's it for me...a fairly substantial list when you put it all together, but I have done more than this before in one year's time, so I know the biggest part of this is just staying with it until the list disappears. Diligence is the key, and hopefully I will find more enthusiasm as I go along and get to the jobs on my list. HOpe you are working on your goals and that you will succeed at getting them accomplished in 2012. God bless you in the new year!

Miss Kate....