The New Year

Sometimes I find myself in the thick of family things....especially between Christmas and New Years.  Daughter being home from her first quarter at college was a new experience and one which surprised me.  My husband is always home between Christmas and New Years, and this year he started to paint the master bedroom.  I've had the paint since we bought the house in 2005.

My priority was to get the sewing room emptied so that it could be painted and new flooring put down.  Presently, it is carpet....and twice someone shut Luna the wonder husky in there and she dug at the carpet to get out....so several times I have tripped going into the room over the ripped up carpet.  We've had the laminate purchased and waiting to go in for 2 years.

Emptying the sewing room is a major undertaking....I haven't been able to work in there because it is such a mess and now, I'm spending the time emptying it when I should be happily SEWING in it....I need to get some pieces done to submit for the SAQA show...

I've also been working on decluttering....the piece you see above is a Valley Vista hostess set...for relishes, etc.  I'm putting it up on eBay tomorrow....But, true to form, I'm doing many things at once...and going to doctors and stressing over the pains I have been having isn't good.

Some things are just going to be put by the wayside.   For instance, I'm dropping out of the Sketchbook project.  I joined it last year and tried (unsuccessfully) to do a drawing a day.  I wanted to improve my sketching abilities and I thought this was just the thing .  The problem was, it became a chore....in addition, I don't usually sketch out my quilts.  I make a drawing and I dive in...there's not a lot of thumbnails, or elements.  I dive in, do the drawing, ,tweak when necessary as I go along.  The Sketchbook Project just began to make me feel like I wasn't productive, disciplined, and it wasn't helpful to my psyche or my artistic ability.  Maybe another time....but not now.  I really laughed when I read Vivien Zepf's article in the SAQA journal about this...once again, it looks like we are twins separated at birth.

Last year, I selected the word "be" for my word of the year.  That was a good one.  I managed to survive....through a lot....and hopefully I will continue to "be" for many years to come....although the fact that the cancer is spreading isn't a good omen.  Hopefully, I'll have some good news soon, or at least be put on another drug which will nail this sucker again for some more time.  I figure heck, if my dad can survive 3 heart attacks, the first one at age 50, and still be around at 89 (he'll be 90 in February)...just maybe I can hang in there as well.....

So...a word for this year.  Maybe it is Live...maybe it is Persevere....hmmm.  Suggestions?

May your new year be full of good things....