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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

I'm Back

Well, now I have my repaired computer back, so no more excuses for not posting.  I will get back into the swing of things, I hope, soon.

Tomorrow, I play Mah Jongg, and get back to quilting in the evening.  In the meantime, I've made a LOT of hexagons... I'm almost to 400 now!  My problem is that I'm running low on cat fabrics I haven't used yet.  I picked up some new ones at Road to California, but only 7 or 8, so still need a lot.  I will have to start scourimg the internet for cat fabrics I don't have already.

I really would like to feel inspired to just sit at my sewing machine and sew something, but the mojo hasn't been there.  I DO have to make my spring seasonal quilt, part of the series that my mini group is making.  I will be selecting fabrics for that in the next week or two I hope... perhaps I will feel the urge to actually work on the quilt itself once I have my colors selected.

I started dieting with my husband on Monday - we are trying to do this together, so we are cooperating on keeping bad stuff out of the house at the same time.  Perhaps this will help us both stay on target.  It wasn't exactly a New Year's resolution or anything, just a desire on both our parts.

Good News!  My son and his long time girlfriend have set a date for their wedding - they are getting married on June 2nd.  My husband and I leave on our cruise to Alaska on the 3rd of June.  It will be a busy month!  I'm so looking forward to BOTH events. 

Luke and Jennifer have been engaged for about 5 years, so this is something we have been waiting for for a long time.  She has finished college (BA), and he is still finishing his up.  I hope they make it, they are a very cute couple, and obviously deeply in love.  Bless them both and their union.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Long time, no post

Ok, so it's been a while since I last posted.  I have an excuse.  My computer has been down again (I'm making this post from my netbook - a less-than-ideal platform).  

Some of you might remember when my computer was down for a couple of months August-October last year.  What happened then was that one or both of my hard drives failed at that time.  I had to send them out for data recovery first (to Best Buy), then I sent the entire computer to Alienware to have the hard drives replaced.  That's what I thought they did. 

Well, earlier this week, the computer died again.  I took it in to a local computer repair place.  When they opened it up, the hard drives in the computer are dated 2008 and still have Best Buy's repair stickers on them from when they extracted my data. 

When I called Alienware, they first tried to tell me there was nothing they could do - my computer fell out of warranty as of December of last year.  When I explained in detail especially about the stickers showing they never replaced my hard drives last year, they finally admitted they were at fault and promised to send me new hard drives.  I am waiting for them now.

I will probably need to buy a new operating system since these new drives will probably come clean (no windows or anything on them).  Still, I hope to have my computer back soon. 

Until then, I will not be cruising the internet much, or visiting blogs.  I think I might put this time into doing some more sewing and quilting.  Lately I've been making hexagons but not much more.  See you all soon, I hope.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Welcome 2012

Another new year is upon us.  Another chance to make resolutions, another chance to screw up... and most importantly, another chance to get things right!  I intend to do very little of the first, none of the second and hopefully a lot of the third.

I've decided not to make a lot of resolutions.  I tend to make unrealistic ones that I either couldn't possibly keep, or have no intentions of really doing.  So with that in mind, my only resolutions for 2012 are that I RESOLVE:
1. To let go of guilt over regrets for things not done or things not done to my perfectionist sense of righness.
2. To be more forgiving of slights, and remember that they are usually not intended but accidental.
3. To be more loving to my DH, who deserves better from me than I usually give.
4. To be forgiving of my own mistakes.

I hope I can keep these few resolutions.  I'd like to make more:  you know... the typical ones to lose weight, keep my house neater, that sort of thing... but why be so unrealistic?  It's like reading science fiction - when you get to the end, all you can say is 'well, that's never gonna happen.'  lol... and I love science fiction, but you know it's true.  And resolutions tend to end the same way - you start out with all the good intentions in the world and end up failing.  I refuse to set myself up for failure this year.  It's just another source of the guilt I have resolved to let go of...

I won't allow myself to screw up this year - not big time anyway... and I just won't sweat the small stuff.  No big mistakes.  If I DO make any, I will forgive myself - that's one of my few resolutions, so there it is.

I look ahead to the new year with hope and gratitude for what I DO have, and without rancor over what I don't.  2012 is a new chance for everything to go well.  And while nothing is ever perfect, there is no reason why the year cannot be a good one overall.  It is MY year... and by that I mean it is the Year of the Dragon and since I turn 60 this year, that means I was born in the Year of the Dragon in 1952.  My year should be a positive one for me, at least I hope so.


Here is some information about the Dragon in Chinese mythology and Zodiac:




The key to the Dragon personality is that Dragons are the free spirits of the Zodiac. Conformation is a Dragon's curse. Rules and regulations are made for other people. Restrictions blow out the creative spark that is ready to flame into life. Dragons must be free and uninhibited. The Dragon is a beautiful creature, colorful and flamboyant. An extroverted bundle of energy, gifted and utterly irrepressible, everything Dragons do is on a grand scale - big ideas, ornate gestures, extreme ambitions. However, this behavior is natural and isn't meant for show. Because they are confident, fearless in the face of challenge, they are almost inevitably successful. Dragons usually make it to the top. However, Dragon people be aware of their natures. Too much enthusiasm can leave them tired and unfulfilled. Even though they are willing to aid when necessary, their pride can often impede them from accepting the same kind of help from others. Dragons' generous personalities give them the ability to attract friends, but they can be rather solitary people at heart. A Dragon's self-sufficiency can mean that he or she has no need for close bonds with other people.

Dragons are:

Innovative - On occasion, I can be
Enterprising - Usually too timid to be
Flexible - I like to think I am
Self-assured - Oh, I really wish I were moreso.
Brave - Not me!
Passionate - Definitely
Conceited - Maybe a little
Tactless - Never on purpose, though I do tend to open my mouth before thinking sometimes
Scrutinizing - Yeah, I try not to be, but I am
Unanticipated - Sometimes I can be a little spontaneous
Quick-tempered - Sometimes, I can be, though not so much as when I was younger...

You can learn more about your Chinese Zodiac sign at Chinese Zodiac. Just enter your birthday and it will tell you YOUR sign and you can look up all about it at the links below.

Anyway - hope YOUR 2012 is a wonderful year and brings you all the quilty and non-quilty goodness you deserve!   Thanks for dropping by and most importantly ----

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

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