Bucket List 2012

My daughter and I were chatting about the coming new year and things we wanted to accomplish.  This is my list.

1. Get my blood sugar under good control.  I am so bad about this and I really need to make it my number one priority.  I do well for a while and then backslide.
2. Going along with 1., lose 25 pounds.  Not only would this help my blood sugar, but my knees.
3. Get to bed by 11 every night, she writes at 12:36 p.m.  Again, sleep affects blood sugar and I'd just be so much more alert at work.
4. Finish up my mother's house.  There are still a lot of steps involved with this:  lawyer, accountant, bank, loan, stuff to send to auction, stuff to try to sell to dealers, stuff to sell at yet another garage sale, stuff to throw out, cleaning, painting, floors, moving washer and dryer, finishing off unfinished part of house, and ultimately selling it.  But I need to have progress every week no matter what.
5. Be actively working through a devotional and my Bible every day.  God so often gets neglected and then I wonder why things fall apart.
6. Sew up all the flannel yardage in the house.  Nightgowns, baby quilts, burp cloths, pajama bottoms - it doesn't matter what as long as it all goes.
7. Sew a french fashion doll dress from materials from my mother's stash.  She never achieved actually making something from all the stuff she collected.  I want to make at least one outfit a year, but would rather it be two.
8. Get some of my counted cross-stitch pieces framed.  I have these nice samplers folded in a drawer.  They need to come out and on the walls.
9. Redo the guest bedroom.  I've had new wallpaper for it for 10 years and it still has Elsie's bunny wallpaper on a couple walls from when it was her nursery.  Enough.
10. Organize the upstairs landing and the family room.  Both are full of junk.
11. Have a garden this year and use it.  Except for the past couple years, I've always had a garden, however, I don't always use what I grow which is a waste.
12. Get serious again about freezer meals.  Dinner time around here lately has been appalling.

I'm trying not to plan too much.  I'd also like to have more date nights with my husband and invite some friends over more often.  We have a couple we're friends with that have moved to a different church and the husband is my husband's best friend.  We need to actively stay in touch, but I am so bad about having people over.  If I did this, it might even count as a date night, since it would make my husband very happy. 

If I can just manage these 12 things, I think it will make a huge difference in my life.  I guess we'll see.

~Jane

Christmas 2011

We had a pretty good Christmas this year.  We started it out with an inter-family potluck get-together and gift exchange with my brother's kids and his in-laws on the 23rd.  Nice people and lots of fun.  The little guy found a friend and had a blast.  Unfortunately my daughter had to work, but my son-in-law and husband were there and we had a good time.

Saturday, my daughter and I babysat for one service at church and attended the next.  We have a new pastor this year, so everything was a little different and there was no candlelight service.  But it was still a good service.  We followed it up with driving around town to look at the lights on the houses with all five of us in one car and ended up at Wendy's for dinner and Frosty's.  If I had known we were going to do the lights first, we could have skipped Wendy's and just come back here to eat, since we were coming here anyways to open presents.  Is it just me, or has Wendy's menu selection shrunk.  I remember being able to get baked potatoes and chili.  What happened?

On Sunday we had a sit-down dinner here for 11.  We barely fit at the table.  Any more and the card table extension is going to have to come out.  We rarely have that many any more though, so it was fun.  Everything tasted wonderful, including my sister-in-law's contribution, a Chocolate Christmas Dreamcake all the way from Junior's Fabulous Cheesecakes in New York.  What a fun thing to do and she kept the anticipation going for a couple of weeks before Christmas, hinting at dessert.  The little guy was so cute.  I can hardly wait for next year, as I remember from my own daughter that the anticipation of Christmas when she was three was almost more than she could handle.

I received wonderful gifts.  My husband scored a home run in the gift department with geneology software, an organizer for all my circular knitting needles, and a Kindle.  I have to confess I've been playing with the Kindle since Thanksgiving and he made me give it back to wrap for Christmas.  I got books and gift cards and money from the rest of the family.  I loved it all.  I've already downloaded about 60 free books onto the Kindle and love reading it in bed.  There is no weight to it at all!

Can you believe that with all the excitement, I didn't take any pictures?  Oh, well, I have the memories stashed away in my mind and heart.

~Jane

Christmas Present

I have been having a difficult time getting in the Christmas spirit this year.  Part of it is because the Legislature went into special session right after Thanksgiving and we couldn't take any time off.  Mostly though, I think, it is the fact that my mother isn't here to celebrate and, for some reason, that makes all the difference.  It is harder to get my brothers to commit to holidays without my mother as the draw.  It is hard for all of us, I know, because our kids are grown and have in-laws homes to visit at also, and we can't claim all their time.  But something has been missing this year. 

I am trying to make an effort because, as my daughter told me, "You don't want your grandson to think Grandma's a humbug."  Knowing I wasn't going to be able to take time off, I made sure that most of my gifts were purchased before Thanksgiving, I've been working on a rather involved project for my grandson and I knit him some mittens, and I've purchased everything else, including the stocking stuffers.  But my tree is sitting undecorated in the dining room and the only decorations I have up are an advent calendar and the wreath on the front door.

I guess this is going to be the week I decorate and bake.  I'll probably leave everything up for a while into the new year, since it all went up so late.  And this is going to be the year I make everyone play games with me.  We haven't had any good games going since my dad passed away.  He always played games with everyone and anyone all afternoon.  I miss that.

~Jane - with the finally decorated tree, although the garland wouldn't behave this year.

Sweater Finished

I've been knitting on a sweater for the Little Guy and finally got it finished last week.  I managed to get a few pictures of it on him.  It's a little big, but that's good because he can wear it all winter.  I'm thinking of making him another one.  It's from a washable wool and should keep him really warm.  He likes the hood.  :)

~Jane

Meet Me on Monday

From Java on Never Growing Old - Her 60th Meet Me on Monday.

The Questions:

1. Monday's are ______?  Hard!  It's hard to get up to go to work after a a busy weekend, usually when you didn't get everything you wanted to accomplish done.

2. What is your favorite kind of milkshake?  Chocolate!

3. What monthly bill do you most dislike paying?  I don't pay the monthly bills, but paying my mother's estate bills = dislike.  I'll be glad when I'm done.

4. How many email addresses do you use on a regular basis?  Two, my private one and my work one.

5. What color lights are on your Christmas Tree?  Multi colored. 

~Jane

So Thankful!

My daughter, her husband and my little guy.  I'm so glad I have them!

~Jane