On the Twelfth Day of Christmas...

I gave myself this...

It's a set of Thangles and the fabric for the first block in the Buck A Block club from my LQS!  I joined this project since I have the time.  With all our changes and my 45 second commute, I think starting a quilt top is possible.  Those who know me may wonder at the purple.  The color theme is purple, green and off white, which will be perfect for one of our rooms.  So my first bed size quilt goes for a guest room instead of ours or for family but that's what timing does sometimes.

I don't do the whole New Year's Resolution thing.  After reading this post and with all the changes in our life, I decided it's time to look at where I am and define a purpose to what I'm doing. Part of defining my purpose is to focus on things, people, and what I do.  Our move has blatantly shown that we have too many things and keeping up with all of it takes too much time which directly impacts other things we want to do.  So beyond my new quilt project, my first project of purpose is a strategic purge of things for myself and the family.

Goodwill and Salvation Army thrift stores will be seeing frequent trips from me.  Of course I'm certain there will be many rounds of "but I really need/love this & that," so I'll keep you updated on where we end up.

Charging into 2009

I survived the first week of 2009 at the office. Since it was my first full week at work in over a month - thank God it was busy enough to go quickly. That was about the sum total of the good for the week too.

One piece of business to close out 2008. Kathy D. is getting a special package from me for her comments during my 2008 Christmas movie rundown. Now I still have a piece or two to work on, so this should be to you later this month.

I'm enjoying the year in reviews and resolutions for 2009 on so many other blogs. It is amazing to see the volumes and variety of creative work by so many crafters, cooks, and artists. I'm not one to look back at a specific year, I also don't usually make New Year resolutions. For me any day is a chance to start a new project (better would be to finish one, but that is for another day), plan, or renewal so why pick a day when you've been up too late the night before and then regret not keeping it too soon after.

Being able to "keep up" with so many online friends, I've begun to realize that I've neglected keeping in touch with some genuine friends and family. There are some out their, for whom I know more about what has been happening then I do with family only 3 hours away. So this year I'm going to take on a resolution .

Last week's kids club project kicked the idea also. Finding so many cards and so much stationary just keeping space in my office, I decided to start a weekly project to write a friend or family member each week. This will NOT be an email or postcard, but a real handwritten letter on stationary and written in ink. The envelope will be hand addressed and actually use a postage stamp to reach another person. So if you reading this, you may be one of those fortunate family members or friend to whom I will write over the next year. And please forgive the handwriting.

As a child I loved getting mail, and letters from my Nana were especially enjoyed. She typically typed her correspondence due to arthritis which effected her handwriting. Reading her letter brought her voice into my head and left me with a hug to hold in my heart. When I know the person writing, I can hear that person speaking to me. It's not just the words but their tone and inflection that I hear.