Taking Stock

Gee, I could be holding a chicken

I love this final week of the year. The Christmas is put away, but ideas for next year are already swirling in my head. For me it is a time of reviewing, reorganizing, recommitting and remembering. It's a slower week, a time to enjoy not having to rush to do anything.

But what a year it has been! We have added to our family with the birth of our first grandchild, a beautiful little girl named Cecilia Madeline.  A full year as a chicken wrangler has come and gone, and I am amazed at what I have learned from those girls. We finished two bathroom remodels ~ something years in the making. I have made wonderful new friends, spent cherished time with old ones and have sadly said good bye to others. My community has expanded. I have learned new skills, and I have learned ways to give back that I never would have imagined.

Hannah Lancaster, unplugged

On the stitching front, my greatest accomplishment was the completion of Hannah Lancaster ~ my All Time Favorite Sampler. This is big stuff for me. I have loved seeing other stitchers' years in review, and I am in unmitigated awe as to what my stitching sisters accomplish. They truly inspire me, and I am busy taking notes as to what I want to do in 2012.

And  while the rest of my family spends New Year's Day  at the Big Lebowski Fest to be held in my living room ~ which thank Heaven has not been turned into a bowling alley ~  I will probably put Hannah in her frame, which has been waiting for her for months. And then I may just decide to abide in my new bathtub, with perhaps a White Russian resting on the little table as just a nod, don't you know. But I do think I need a rug to tie the whole thing together, don't you?

So wherever you may be abiding this weekend, may it be filled with peace, prosperity and friendship. Happy New Year, my friends!