Plans for the new year…

I have mostly given up making new year’s resolutions. Instead, I make weekly resolutions (usually at church) to be a better person—to listen more, speak less, show gratitude at all times, to be thankful for all that I have been blessed with. I do this weekly because, well, no one is perfect.

I used to be a faithful writer of to-do lists. Over time, I’ve moved my lists to an electronic format and, you know what? Electronic lists are easier to ignore which is not a good thing. So, on December 31, I made a list with all of my upcoming deadlines. It was necessary, but it also took my breath away.

I realized that I have come very close to over-committing. Every day, from now through the end of May, is crowded with deadlines. I think I can get it all done. I am feeling a little nervous; I am trying not to dither; and I am definitely looking forward to June.

Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis

Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis

But I know that there are people who don’t commit because of the fear of failure. If that’s you, I would encourage you to make a commitment—just one. Choose something that you think you have a fair shot at finishing on time—and do it. Maybe it’s a baby quilt, or a Quilt of Valor, or something not quilt-related at all. Choose a project and finish it. You will love the feeling that comes from checking it off your list. Personally, I can’t wait to cross off the entries on my list.

The you you rarely see…

I like to images of people, taken from behind. Often the poses are unguarded and, if you know the person, you can recognize them without seeing their faces.

I have lots of photos of Steve from behind. He always looks like himself.

Steve on the Alakai Swamp trail, on Kauai.

This picture  of Judy, Jack, and Chris with their feet in the Atlantic makes me happy. I think that even if you don’t know them, the composition is nice.

AtTheOcean-01 copy

I don’t have many shots of me from behind. In the ones I have, sometimes I recognize myself, and sometimes I do not. Jeff took the photo of me, below, last week at a lovely spot at the Dallas Arboretum. My first thought was that with my hair so short, I could be mistaken for a boy (with a purse) from behind.

FromBehind

I like my short hair and am not likely to grow it out, but still… it would be nice to be a little more girly from behind :-).

Monty the penguin…

I ran across a link to this advertisement by John Lewis (click here if it doesn’t open below).

Here’s the thing… I watched it not know who the heck John Lewis is. Turns out that it is a department store in the UK—one that apparently makes really wonderful, emotional, ads. We in the US are missing out! I would happily shop for Monty the Penguin things… surely they ship to the US!

The spirit of the season remains…

But the tree is down!

We only broke one ornament. It was pretty, but not special…

2014-12-28 09.25.46

We have a great place to store the Christmas ornaments in an area that used to be a built-in desk but now houses our rolling entertainment center…

And the space where the tree was is back to normal!

2014-12-28 09.59.29 copy

I’ve been de-cluttering—so much so that I need to find something to put on the table next the sofa. I’m going to look around to see what I already own. I really need to stop shopping :-).

A gift from TQS…

TQS (aka The Quilt Show, by Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson) is making their 8 TQS Legend episodes accessible for free through the end of the year—with Mary Mashuta and Roberta Horton’s being featured in the newest episode.

If you’ve never had a chance to see any of these, I hope you will be able to sit back and and enjoy each one. I have seen all but the newest, with Mary and Roberta, and I am really looking forward watching it. Roberta and Mary are wonderful and interesting women, and each has had an influence on my own quiltmaking life.

2007 – Virginia Avery
2008 – Jinny Beyer
2009 – Libby Lehman
2010 – Yvonne Porcella 
2011 – Eleanor Burns
2012 – Meredith Schroeder
2013 – Michael James
2014 – Mary Mashuta and Roberta Horton

Because they’re cute…

Many thanks to NatureVideo for posting so many great videos! My favorite in this list of top 10 cute animals for 2014 is the Dumbo octopus.

You might wonder why I am posting this. It’s because I’m trying to reduce some of the stress in my life. I, and most everyone I know, has too much to do, not nearly enough time to do it in, and is not really ready for Christmas (or the new year for that matter). 5 minutes of cute animals did, in fact, make me smile and slow down just a bit. I hope the video works the same way for you :-).

Click here to see the video on youtube if it doesn’t open in this post.

And don’t forget about the fabric sale