Holiday Cheer

Wow... I haven't posted in forever... just been busy I guess... besides, I dont think anyone besides me reads this anyway.  So it doesn't really matter, except that like keeping a journal, it's a matter of personal discipline... not my forte.  But here goes...

Since August I've been going thru a lot of periods of depression.  I'm not sure why I've been on such a rollercoaster of moods - I've been taking my meds.  Was playing a lot of Evony, but I was before August too, so that's not why I haven't posted.  I've been trying to keep myself busy with mah jong, gaming, reading, watching TV (now there's a real mental vacuum if ever there was one), and other time wasters.

I went on one quilt retreat in November and finished one quilt 'Lucy in the Garden' for my friend Janet.  It was a surprise for her birthday, and she loved it.  I need to get a new photo of it however - this one was taken prior to beading and other embellishments.

I made one tablerunner, which I'm in the process of quilting right now.  Don't think it's gonna be done in time for the holidays, so it won't be the present it was intended to be - I will give it as a 12th night gift.

I am working on designing a new quilt (really not designing, more adapting) for my guild's fabric exchange.  Designing something entirely new and different is hard - every time I think I've got something cute and original, I see the same or similar pattern somewhere on the web.  Very frustrating.  This time I am merely adapting, so I know from the outset that it's not original. 

I did manage to get through Chanukah without major upset.  I thought it was very sweet that my son's fiance, who isn't Jewish, followed along with the candle prayers with us.  Since we are a multi-cultural household, we also have a solstice tree for the holidays - and that is finally up and decorated with Star Trek ships for ornaments.  They all light up and make sounds, so it's very festive (and noisy).  The cats are fascinated with all the wires and dangly things.  Lovely. 

On an upnote for me, we are expecting a week or so of rain...  I LOVE rain!  So far we've had a full day of drizzles - tomorrow should bring some real rain coming down.  I am looking forward to it.

Today I am grateful for family and unconditional love.  I suppose even among family, love is conditional, but so far, in our small nuclear family unit, while sometimes we aren't thrilled with each other's actions or decisions, the love remains unconditional... gotta love it!

Kitty Corners

Not a new finish, but I just got this quilt back from the Ventura County Fair, where it took a blue ribbon.  This is my first ever rag quilt and was a lot of fun to make.  I'm not sure I'll ever make another - all that clipping!  I love the kitty and all the paws on this quilt - and with flannel on the back, it is so warm and cuddly, I won't be able to use it til winter - right now we are in triple digits here in so cal! 

I'm grateful for movies and television.  I know people survived for millenia without them, but I don't know what I'd do without the comforts of old movies, tried and true, to enjoy again and again. 

Do What You Love

With all your heart....  I made this wallhanging as an opportunity quilt for my guild.  No quilting room is quite complete without a cat... Cats and quilts just seem a natural pairing.  Both are warm and comforting.  This quilt was a joy to make.  I had so much fun making and embellishing it.  I have to be honest, I didn't want to give it away when it was done.  They had to pry it out of my hands!  I even bought tickets for it, hoping to win it myself!  Sadly, I didn't win... but it was fun trying.

I am grateful today for the freedom to do what I love without having to worry about making a living.  To my wonderful husband who works hard and my parents who left me a small nest egg to subsist on, I thank you.

I've Got Hooters!

This is a quilt I made for a friend's birthday - she loves and collects owly things.  I really had fun sifting through my scraps and fabrics for interesting textures and colors to make the owls.  I've entered this in the 'Pets on Quilts Show' at SewCalGal's blog.  Please visit her blog to see all the wonderful entries and vote there.  Click here to view the Show and see all the pets and quilts!

Today I am grateful for humor.  Life would be pretty miserable if we didnt have the capacity to laugh with or at ourselves and others (not in a mean way though).  Humor makes the worst of circumstances bearable sometimes.  It helps us heal our hurts and forgive ourselves and others for slights, both real and imagined.   There's truth to the old adage "Laugh and the world laughs with you... cry and you cry alone."

So Cal Quilt Run Epilogue

I won!  I won!  I won!  lol... I've been on this quilt run many times and never won anything, but I just got a call yesterday that I won one of the Grand Prize drawings - a $500 gift certificate!  I'm can't wait til it arrives in the mail!  I can go on a little spending spree between now and December 31st, when it expires.  I'm so excited!  I usually never win anything, so this is a big deal for me..

Today I am grateful for hope... there's always hope for a better day, a lucky turn of events, a silver lining even on the darkest cloud.   

So Cal Quilt Run

Well, the run is over... for us at least.   Two friends, a 4 month old puppy and I traveled 980 miles in 4 days, hit 38 quilt shops, collected charms and patterns and had a lot of fun.  I bought too much fabric, but it was worth it... I did manage to curtail myself and keep the purchases lower than in previous years, but I still bought more than I wanted to.  I bought 3 books of patterns and just a little of this and a little of that.  I'm looking forward to making the new Buggy Barn Dragonfly quilt with some of the fabric I bought.  I started tracing the pattern tonight... I'll finish tomorrow and start pressing and planning my fabrics.  I got my 'Idiot' pin (it really says 'IDIDIT!' but it's all smooshed together and looks like it says 'IDIOT'.

Thanks to Marlyn and Debbie for going with me, making it a fun trip and keeping me awake when I started to fade while driving.  It was really amazing that we traveled without plans or reservations... managed to get a nice room in nice hotels (that accepted pets!) both nights we stayed out.  I love playing things by ear, something my husband can't deal with at all - he's a planner and a 'stick to the plan' kind of guy.  Sometimes it's nice just to be spontaneous.

On a completely other note, I'm feeling very guilty.  I missed my sister's birthday and didnt send her a card.  I should send out a belated card.  I promise to do that tomorrow.  I didn't get my husband a father's day card either... even tho he's not MY father, he did get me a card on mother's day.  It still makes me sad and wistful on mother's day and father's day - with both my parents gone, those days don't carry the same feeling they used to... sigh.

Today I'm grateful for fun.  Sometimes dealing with life's roller coaster doesn't allow for a lot of day to day fun.  Nice to take a break now and then and have some.

Smile

This morning, I forced myself to get up and out of the house - late, but out.  I finished the borders on Victory Garden before I left for class...

and took photos of that quilt and the unfinished Stars & Strips Forever.

Now I just need to finish it (borders and quilting) and write up the directions for the quilt and 'publish' the pattern.  I also need to finish and publish pattern #2 for my guild's b&w exchange.

On the way home from class, I picked up some cheap fabric at the J-store for the back of Victory Garden and pieced the back when I got home.  It's all ready to send to the quilter (I'm not doing this one myself).

Tomorrow starts another quilt run that I'll be going on with my friends Debbie and Marlyn.  It should be a lot of fun - I'm looking forward to the run, the companionship, and four days on the road, away from everything...  should I take the computer or not?  big question, but I probably will... Need to get my email fix every day, lol.

Anyway, time to head out for the gym, get some exercise and fresh air.

Today I am grateful for the simple capacity to smile.  Even when everything seems like a chore, there is a smile in so many little things in the day - from spending a little time with one of my cats, talking to friends, making something even if I can't finish it (yet), finishing something, greeting my husband at the end of a long day, sharing a joke with a friend... even a little smile - given or received, can brighten a gloomy day.

Another Finish... almost

So a little mojo back, I almost finished another 'flimsy' - sans borders... I call the quilt Victory Garden.  It's from the book Gathered From the Garden by Cindy Lammon.  I did it in all red, white, blue and gold.  I'm thinking a red strip for the first border, then maybe a floral in patriotic colors?  I'll need to find and audition some fabrics for that outer border.  But at least I finished something.

Hopefully it will get quilted in time for my guild's quilt show in October, which is patriotic themed.  It will fit right in with all the other red,white and blue quilts.

Today I am grateful for being able to get up and get out of bed while I can.  There are a lot of people in this world who can't.  Be grateful for what we have - no matter what we lack, there are others who lack more.

Quilting Mojo

I seem to have lost my quilting mojo for the time being.  Not sure what is wrong... the new job with the census bureau, a problem with my depression meds, just general ennui, addiction to Evony... pick one.. pick any or all.  Whatever it is, I force myself to do a little from time to time, but I'm just not up to my usual speed, determination or inspiration.
I DID do something fun this last weekend - I went to Renaissance Faire.  I attended their 'Queen's College' and learned how to make batiks!  that was SO much fun... probably more fun than I've ever had before at Ren Faire, at least since my 'going in costume' days.  They had all these crafty classes, and if I'd been there sans husband, I could have stayed all day making things.  As it was, I only did the batik class.  We got to work on muslin and on silk... oh my... that was fun and really made me want to work with fabric again.  I hope I can carry that inspiration back home with me.
Today I am grateful for being alive.  'nuff said.

Gaga at Glendale

So I went a little gaga at the Glendale Quilt Show.  After swearing off spending money on quilting, too. 

I took a machine quilting class from Harriet Hargrave.  She's a hoot - had some great stories, and really made traditional quilting fearless.  I was amazed by her incredible quilting all done on her DSM.  She took a lot of the intimidation out of the process. 

Of course getting there was a total panic.... here's my story:  I was supposed to take classes at Glendale for all four days of the show.  Harriet's class (two days long) and two other one-day classes, plus a Saturday night class.  The two one-day classes were cancelled, and somehow I got it in my head that Harriet's class was on Saturday and Sunday.  I spent most of last week slowly prepping for Harriet's class, so I had SOME of the stuff we needed ready.  Still getting ready for the class, on Thursday morning at 8am, I cut out my show badge and looked at the letter that came with it.  The letter gave the dates of the class, which I glanced at but didn't pay much attention to... When I was done prepping for class, I sat down at the computer to fool around for a while.  This was 8am on Thursday. That's when I realized that 3/18 WAS Thursday, not Saturday.  I dropped everything, tossed a few more tools and supplies in a bag, ran off to shower and dress.  I grabbed a quick breakfast and raced off to Glendale. It was 8:30 am when I left the house, and I arrived, breathless, at 9am and slipped into the classroom.  I was already an hour late... sigh...  Not an auspicious start.. and I was embarrassed as hell walking in so late... but I made it...

Finally got into the swing of things by the time we started actually sewing, and on Friday, I brought the rest of the supplies I hadn't had time to gather up on Thursday.  I hate showing up unprepared for class.  So humliating.
Anyway, after two days of classes, I went back to the show on Saturday to actually attend the show itself, look at the quilts, and shop.

I fell off the no-fabric-buy wagon and bought two panels, a piece of cat fabric, a small piece of dark teal for the borders of my OBW quilt.  I also bought a kit of fabric that had bunnies, possums, raccoons, and squirrels - I'd been looking for this fabric for months and the only way they had it was in the kit, so now I have a kit I don't need that has fabric I wanted.  I bought a ruler and an iron cozy and a Laurel Burch bag, too. 
Most important, I had fun with Kathy and Debbie at the show.  We went to lunch at Momotaro's - awesome sushi.  And there were some really nice quilts at the quilt show, too. 

I'm glad I went.  I'm glad I'm home...

Today I am grateful for beauty in the world... in MY world... blue skies, the dark orange and pinks of sunset, the beautiful green of the trees that shade our house, for all the things that inspire what I do and what I love.

Work in Progress

So, after getting back from the Machine Quilter's Getaway in Trinidad, CA, I have been busy...
Playing Evony, sewing, avoiding practicing on the new longarm (more on that later), playing Evony, watching TV, reading, playing Evony.
I did finish my first rag quilt and took a class on One Block Wonder quilts - not quite finished, but the strips are sewn, now just have to sew them all together.
Here's my rag quilt, which I call 'Kitty Corners'.

And my OBW (the strip along the bottom is the original fabric):

This weekend I'm taking a class on Heirloom Machine Quilting from Harriet Hargrave.  So, the rest of the week will be prepping for that class.

Oh, and here's my 'quick star quilt' from Jan Krentz's book.  I made this on a quilting cruise I took last April.

I've been kinda depressed of late, which is why I haven't practiced on my longarm or updated the blog.  I hope to pull out of it and do more soon.  The leak in the upstairs plumbing, gophers on the lawn, broken dryers... sometimes it all seems too much.  Why me?

Today I am grateful for friends.  If I didn't have Debbie and Kathy and Marlyn, and yes, even Joe, I think I'd go out of my mind.

Professional Longarm Quilter?

I swore I was buying this machine for my own personal use only.  I was going to quilt my own quilts... So I agreed to quilt a couple of charity quilts for practice.  I thought it would be good for me to experiment and practice on these quilts, as they don't need to be 'show quality' perfect.  I was quite pleased with my results, being they were the first real quilts I had done on the longarm.  (Up until now, I've just been practicing on waste muslin).  I took those charity quilts to my quilting class, mostly to return them to the classmate who made the tops.  She didn't attend class that day, but I showed them during show & tell time just because, well, I did DO the quilting, after all. 

Well, needless to say, another classmate liked them and asked me to do a quilt for her.  I don't know WHAT I was thinking, but I agreed to do it.  We didn't discuss a price - I figured I'd do this one for the practice too, but I should at least charge her for the thread... maybe $20?  This quilt is for her grandson, not an anonymous charity quilt.

I feel like I've abandoned a personal commitment to myself by agreeing to do this, but I couldn't say no.  It was something of a challenge too.  She had hand-basted the entire quilt with thick polyester batting.  The quilt had places where the blocks weren't even sewn together... and there was no extra backing or batting - they were both cut to the same size as the top.  Still - I managed to load it.  I stared at it for a good hour trying to get up the courage to start quilting.  What to put in the sashing and borders?  How to quilt the blocks?  But finally I started to quilt it... and now it's done!

Whether she actually pays me or we just call it a wash for my practice, I've done a quilt for someone else... I feel like a professional whether money changes hands or not.  I want to dance.. and cry...

I have so many tops of my own that I haven't started on yet.  Will I have the same courage to start those?  Will I care more (to the point of overwhelming fear?)  Or will I feel freer to let loose with creativity on my own quilts?

Today I am grateful for a body that even though it doesn't look the way I'd like, at least still does all the things I demand of it.  There are so many accidents and diseases and conditions that render people unable to control or move their bodies the way they'd like, or in some cases not at all.  The amazing network of interconnected systems that is the human body is a marvel.  I am thankful mine still works.

Road to California

I spent 3 days at Road to California... had a mostly great time.  I went with some girlfriends of mine.  Five of us shared 2 hotel rooms not far from each other in the same hotel.

The show itself was a lot of fun - the quilts were beautiful.  I had a lot of difficulty choosing my favorite.  It didn't seem like quite as MANY quilts as at previous Road shows, but they were all amazing.  A few really stood out though - one was called 'The Quilt Show', a pictorial quilt of viewers at a quilt show, looking at the quilts - which were all little real 'quilt-lets' done in miniature, including a crazy quilt.   Another that really impressed me was 'Medea Escaping' - an amazing pictorial quilt with an beautifully rendered dragon.  'Seasonal Sisters', a cooperative quilt made by three quilters across the world from each other also impressed me a lot.  There was a pictorial quilt of a prowling puma that I loved.

... and then there were the vendors.  Now that I have a longarm, I look at the vendors completely differently.  Booths I passed by with little interest before are now completely riveting.  And I bought two pieces of fabric - one as a gift and one a sepia hand-dye for a special project... that was it!  Usually I come home with a lot of fabric.  This isn't to say I didn't buy things... I spent way too much on thread, and a little on some plastic rulers for the longarm... and a little on jewelry.

I will post pictures soon - my software got corrupted, so I have to find something new to crop and edit them.

Today is Monday and it was POURING rain all day... the kind of rain people call 'driving'... it was coming in hard all day, at strange angles because of the wind.  Lightning wasn't visible but the thunder was evidence it was there.  Suddenly at three or so in the afternoon, the rain stopped, the clouds cleared, the sun came out (leaving a lovely rainbow).  It's 4:30 now, and I hope it stays dry until my DH gets home from work with dinner and Starbucks.  We have forecasts for heavy rain for the rest of the week.  We need it badly to mitigate this drought we are in, but I worry about my loved ones out in the rain.  (Me, I stayed home and played with my longarm all day).

I am grateful today for rain.  Water is in such short supply in southern California right now, and we really need to fill our reservoirs.  Rain makes rainbows and makes our hills green and lush.  Rain fills our arroyos and rivers and leaves the air smelling clean and fresh.  Rain brings life.  Life is good.

Deliverance!

My longarm has been delivered!  It arrived this afternoon.  Tomorrow morning is setup and training time, followed by an afternoon for me to enjoy the machine.  Then more training on Sunday morning.  I'm really looking forward to the whole process... and terrified at the same time.  I hope this isn't all too much for me.

Today, I am grateful for the healing powers of rest.  My DH has been home with the flu all day, poor thing.  But he's feeling better now than he did this morning, so I'm hoping he will be over this soon.  Isn't it a wonder how miraculously our own bodies can heal themselves of so many things. 

Mystery Solved

Okay, I'm slow. It's already the 4th but I'm finally done with the center of the quilt. The first border is cut, but not on yet.  I have to say I love how it came out.  It's very different from most mystery quilts.  Not so traditional "all-over-patterny".  There is a star-like sparkle to it.  I almost wish I'd done it in light colors on a dark background... I think that star-like quality would have been enhanced.  While I love the quilt, I wasn't so thrilled with the process.  This was probably because of my own ennui, but still, I'm not sure I'd want to make a repeat of the quilt.  I sure would be interested in experimenting in EQ with this pattern though.  My husband even likes it, and he's kinda just neutral on most things. This mystery was from Kris Dreissen and more can be seen at Quiltbug.

It's pretty - I like how the colors work together, but I'm not sure the inspiration fabric looks right for the border... maybe I'll use it for the backing and find something else for the front of the quilt. As an inspiration it was awesome - with plums and greens and rosey-pinks and blues and creams - but somehow it just doesn't GO with any of the fabrics it inspired. How does THAT happen?

My longarm should be delivered on Friday - they are shipping fast freight at their expense due to scheduling difficulties with the set-up.

Today I am grateful for naps. We learn to rebel against them early, when we think we've outgrown them and our parents don't agree. I didn't learn the value of naps again til I had a child and I'd nap while he did - some days, this was my only rest. To this day, I still take naps. My cats remind me constantly of the value of naps.

Mysterious Disappointment

HAPPY NEW YEAR to anyone and everyone who stops by and sees this. May 2010 bring you peace, happiness and fulfillment.

That said, I hope you had a great New Year's Eve. I went to two parties, had fun at both. Rang in the new year with some games, some fun, some new acquaintances and very little alcohol (yay! - I'm a very cheap drunk... doesn't take much to get me liquored up. a glass and a half of wine and I was reeling. DH drove home).

I had been looking forward for three weeks to a New Year's Day mystery quilt online. I got all my prep work done in advance... chose fabrics, did the pre-mystery cutting and sewing. I was REALLY excited about doing this - passed up on some other activities just to do this quilt. I don't always like mysteries, but I really liked the one Kris at quiltbug.com did last year, so I was really pumped about this one. It had paper-piecing, which I love to do, and I chose colors from my stash that I like working with - plums and purples.

I don't really know what happened, but I just lost all my initiative about halfway through the early morning. Step two of the mystery was just cutting background fabric and I barely got that done. Step three was some more paper-piecing - but it was strip piecing, so not very complex. I cut the strips, and it took me HOURS to get just the first two strips sewn. That started about 9 am this morning. It's now after midnight on the 2nd and I JUST finished that step... There are 5 more steps I haven't even started on.

I still want to make this quilt... I haven't lost my desire... but I feel so SLOW... what happened to all my excitement and resolve and ambition? I dunno... I even went out for a walk and a Starbucks at 8 am and still couldn't get any energy going. I just want to cry...

It certainly wasn't the fault of the quilt designer.. This looks like it's going to make a really pretty quilt... It's totally an internal thing. I don't know what's wrong...

Maybe, despite my desire to make this quilt, I'm feeling angsty about traditional piecing. There's this part of me that loves piecing (esp. paper-piecing). I love the precision of making NYBs and lone stars and even log cabins. There's another piece of me that longs to make more art quilts... just paint fabric and applique and make landscapes and be more evocative with color and mood. I don't get much chance to indulge that part of myself as often as I'd like, but lately I've been feeling very neglectful of that need to express the inner me a bit more.

None of this of course even brings up the heavy weight of looming deadlines, quilty and otherwise. I'm sure those have been nibbling away at my enjoyment of and initiative for new projects.

Ah well - I WILL finish it... finishing things is one of my resolves for the year. Doesn't mean I'll finish EVERYTHING, but I will finish this quilt top at least.

Restated, my Resolutions for this year are:

1. Finish the requirements to get my adult school credential
2. Catalog all my WIPs, PIGs and WHIMMs
3. Prioritize all my WIPs, PIGs and WHIMMs
4. Be on time for appointments and classes.
5. Finish AT LEAST one project for every new one I start.
6. Take at least one trip every 2 months with my DH, even if it's just for a weekend getaway.

Now... what I'm grateful for: creaky knees, painful hips, sore muscles... all of which are much preferable to the alternative... no knees, broken hips, MS or worse ... I may be getting older and showing all the signs, but at least I have all the parts, they all work, and are, despite their age, relatively healthy.

Bob Bob Bobbin Along...

Sometimes I hate making bobbins. They always run out at the most inopportune times and I don't have one of those machines that warns me when my bobbin is getting low. I do most of my piecing with grey thread, and when I make a bobbin, I tend to make 3 or 4, but I still have to stop to change them.... sigh. Sometimes it's not a big deal. Unfortunately a lot of my work is chain piecing and I can sew 40 or 50 items without bobbin thread before I realize I've run out. That's a pain in the ass at the best of times... but when you're paper piecing, it's a LOT worse... your paper is already perforated and sometimes a second time through actually separates the sections.

So... what brought this up was that I'm preparing for the New Year's Day Mystery at Quiltbug. This is a paper-pieced mystery and, yeah, I did about half of the pieces without bobbin thread. Sigh.

My mood wasn't enhanced by the fact that we'd just gotten back from about 16 hours of driving in 2 days. (Up to see my DMIL and DFIL for the holiday). It was a lovely visit but OH, that drive! We usually stay a few days when we go, but this time we drove up on the 24th and back on the 25th... bleah!

On an up note, we are looking forward to seeing Avatar at the IMAX tonight. That should be good.

We've been invited to a couple of NYE parties... one is gonna be a drunken brawl, the other is a Wii Party. I think we'll make a short appearance at the brawl and then go play Wii. Games are more our style than TML (too much liquor). I guess I won't be doing any NYE mysteries... just NYD.

It's going to be a busy few months after that... I've got so many quilty commitments: The new longarm, Road to California in January, Machine Quilter's Conference in February, Glendale Quilt Show in March... and potentially a retreat in April. In addition, I'm hosting my minigroup in January and hosting a mini-sew-in for them in February in my home. I have to finish two quilts for an upcoming show... one of which is partially done... the other isn't even started yet. HELP! The more I think about how much I've gotta do, the more that little nagging sense of panic starts to set in. But sometimes it's that panic that motivates too...

I hope I don't motivate myself into an asylum...

Today I am grateful for owning a reliable car (and a husband who helps me keep it that way - mostly by nagging a bit, but it works), for CalTrans, for the I5, for good friends and good health, and especially for a new year with all the new hope and new possibilities that it could bring.

Finishing Touches

Today I finished another quilt top... Which adds yet one more item to my UFO pile. It's getting bigger... and bigger... I have no idea how many I have now, but it's far too many... Some of them are PIGs, some are WHIMMs, most are simply basic UFOs...

I have had no ambition to actually QUILT anything lately. I feel guilty about it, like I'm letting someone down, but really when I think about it, I'm not. So they sit awhile. And I AM expecting my longarm to be delivered in January. I will probably have more inspiration to quilt when it arrives. I'd better, or my husband may kill me or divorce me. I bought it, I damn well better USE it.

I am afraid I'll be too intimidated by it. I think he thinks so too. I guess I've gotta prove him wrong.

I am excited about it, but I'm a little scared of the whole thing the closer to delivery date this gets... What if it's all too much for me? What if I'm not good at it? What if... what if... what if?

I've always been terrified of the 'what ifs' in life. I'm surprised I ever got married, or had a child or bought a house... those are all big ones...

Well... I've come this far... too late to back out now. Onward and Upward... Excelsior!

Today I am grateful for weather. Does that sound stupid? Maybe to folks from outside socal, it does... but we rarely have weather here... we have climate. It's hot, warm or cool, but rarely do we have 'weather'... real, changeable, day to day changes. Clouds & precipitation aren't the norm here... we get clear skies or overcast, that's about it. Tomorrow we are supposed to have clouds, with maybe some rain, high winds and really cold temps. Finally - more sweater weather! I love wearing sweaters! I think I'll light a fire, sew, and pray for rain.

The Coming Year

I think that, while I will never be a perfect housekeeper... in fact I'll never be much of one at all... the massive clutter problem is under control at last. I've managed to keep the house relatively clutter free since the organizers finished over a month ago. We are keeping things from piling up, dealing with stuff when it comes in the house, generally keeping clutter under control. We have places for things and things go in their places. Finally, I have a home that we can enjoy, and visitors can enjoy as well. My mother would be proud of me, at last.

As for the coming year, I've already started planning ahead... There are a lot of things I'd like to do this year. I never place much stock in New Years Resolutions - they are usually quickly forgotten and rarely kept. Still, I have plans for the New Year. Here are my plans, so far. (No doubt they will be added to/modified as time goes on).

1. Finish the requirements to get my adult school credential
2. Catalog all my WIPs, PIGs and WHIMMs
3. Prioritize all my WIPs, PIGs and WHIMMs
4. Be on time for appointments and classes.
5. Finish AT LEAST one project for every new one I start.
6. Take at least one trip every 2 months with my DH, even if it's just for a weekend getaway.

I still intend to keep up with my 'gratitude' posts. Is it true that being grateful changes your outlook? I dunno... I'm still practicing it. Sometimes it's hard to think of something I'm grateful for that doesn't seem petty and self-serving or trite. It's supposed to get easier, the more you do it. So far, not so much... still.. here goes:

Today I am grateful for a husband who cooks. He not only enjoys it, he's good at it too. I'm very lucky.

...and more rain...

It's still raining steadily and is supposed to continue through tomorrow. I hope it does... I am just LOVING all this rain.

Tonight I get to drive into Santa Monica to visit a dear friend, go out to dinner, and hopefully see a movie.

Finished my settings for the Saturday Sampler and now working on borders, so something accomplished at least. I hope I can have at least the inner border done by the time I leave for SM this afternoon.

I participated in my first quilted post card exchange this season. I sent out two postcards and have received one of the two I'm expecting. It's beautiful - machine embroidered with a fantastic scalloped stitched edge. I hope they like the ones I sent out. Only mailed them on Thursday, so not sure when they will arrive at their destinations. I can't wait to see my second one. Maybe next exchange, I'll do more than one group. I love getting mail!

Today I am grateful for good health. So many people are sick this time of year. It doesn't matter if it's H1N1, seasonal flu, cold, or something more serious, any sickness just drains you. My best friend has a cold in the middle of the tumult of the first stages of divorce. She is laid up at home while her husband is in the process of moving out. I cannot imagine dealing with such a thing while feeling so low already. My heart just aches for her. The news is full of horrible health threats this time of year... so many young folks falling ill or even dying of H1N1 respiratory effects. While I am not without the aches and pains of aging, I am in relative good health and I cannot be thankful enough for it. I think too many of us, in the turmoil of our busy day to day lives, forget what a blessing it is to have our health.