Last Day of the Year

So, another year gone by and now we've got another one coming at us, ready or not! I woke up this morning thinking about writing this post--and it's hard to think when there are two ferocious catboys trying to get my attention because, yanno, they haven't eaten for hours and hours and they are just starving... yeah. With two feedersful of dry kibble (two different kinds, who's a spoiled darling?) they still want their morning treat of a shared can of wet stuff and as soon as the light begins to change, they think it's time to get it. Then they do what Simon's doing over there ---> and I'm left to get up and start my day.

I've already done my year-end post over on the other blog, which is my sadly-neglected "photo blog" but which I'm hoping to utilize more in the coming year. We'll see how it goes. This past year has certainly not gone the way I thought it would, but as I look back at it, I'm finding that there are some good things that have come out of it. I really need to focus on the positives instead of the negatives--cliched though that sounds. So my health isn't the greatest--at least I'm on "the right side of the dirt." I've been blessed with a loving and supportive family, who really pulled together to get me through the worst parts of this past year. Now to look forward, instead of backward.

There are some plans afoot for the new year. I signed on to a couple of challenges and I'm hoping to use this blog to document them. One is Take a Stitch Tuesday, a stitching challenge, so with any luck on Tuesdays I'll be posting a photo of some kind of stitchery. This is a corollary to my other challenge, the Crazy Quilt one. (There are links to both on the sidebar over there. I just can't see them to link them here right now.)

That one is really the crazy one! The basic idea is to do one crazy quilt block a month, with the end result being 12 blocks by the end of the year--enough to make a nice sized wall hanging. I thought this would tie in nicely to one of my ambitions, which is to make a crazy quilt out of Bob's old ties. One for each of the "kids." So yeah, seven quilts for seven people. Seven blocks a month. I'm already prepping the ties, and tonight I'll probably cut the backing squares for the project. I'm thinking I'll cut the squares either 8.5" or 9" to finish at around 8" each--so 12 squares would make it 24" x 32" before any kind of borders or sashings. I've got a "few" kinds of threads for embroidery, both hand and machine; I'm not going to limit myself to one or the other. My Bernina 1230 has some "fancy" stitches that should work nicely, and I think I can manage some hand work as well. Plus I have lots of bits and bobs of lace, ribbons, buttons, beads... You get the idea. We'll see how it goes in practice, but this is something I've been wanting to do, and the time is right!

The house is beginning to come together--note I said "beginning." The bittersweet part of this is that I'm really needing to get the house ready to sell, and to make some hard decisions about where I want to move to and what kind of life I want to live. You can look forward to some musings on that topic as I explore alternatives this year.

Physical improvement is also on my agenda. I was doing really well after the surgery in April--managed to lose 10 lbs. It's easy enough to do when someone else is going to the market: give them a list, make sure it's all the good stuff and then just eat the good stuff. Of course, once I could start doing a little more of my own marketing, that went right down the tubes. Those 10 lbs have found me again and plopped themselves right where I least want them! But, they need to leave, along with a few dozen more of their friends. Dr. B keeps telling me that there's nothing more to be done for my left knee, other than replacing it. Well, I'm not going into a knee replacement at this weight. (I don't want to do it at all, but that's another story.) I'm sure the neuropathy in my feet would also be helped by not having to lug around all this extra avoirdupoids. And, I'm trying to exercise a little more too. I got a Fitbit and have been wearing it and I think, starting tomorrow, I'll try logging my food as well as letting it record my steps.

This post is long enough, and if you've stuck to it this far, I'm sure you're ready for me to wish you a happy new year and all the best as it comes roaring around the corner at us. Should be an interesting one, at least!