Resolutions? Pass

Now that we've reached 2024, you may wonder if I've made any resolutions or chosen a thematic word for the year or any other practice that starts on January 1st. The answer is no, as I'm pretty much done with all that.

At the moment we have a lot going on. After we finish the kitchen renovation (which I hope will be done by the time this post publishes) we have to start picking out materials for the guest bathroom shower rebuild. Katherine is arriving for a visit in a few weeks, too. I also have to continue to step up my exercise and make more changes to what I eat; I'm trying a low-carb version of the Mediterranean Diet. Both efforts are to help improve some health issues, and I started them back in November, so they have nothing to do with the start of 2024. I would like to spend less this year and save more, but that's always a goal for a frugal person.

Thanks to thrifting last year, I certainly don't need any crochet materials.

Same goes for quilting. In fact, if you guys need any fabric or yarn, let me know. :)

Anyway, this need to make ourselves feel like we have so much to improve at the beginning of every new year has grown tiresome for me. For many legitimate reasons I've felt inadequate most of my life, and no one let me forget how much I didn't measure up to others, either (especially when I turned pro.) While I've been determined, there have been so many obstacles I've never been able to overcome. Yet I found a way around them while I was chasing my dream, and I never gave up on myself. I accomplished everything with hard work and the belief that even someone like me could make their dream come true -- and I did.

Realizing that is why while I no longer feel a need to improve myself in some way. I've accepted that I am good enough exactly as I am (it only took 63 years, right?) Every new year is simply a gift now.

Here's my thought if you're contemplating making a New Year's Resolution: resolve to love yourself for who you are, right now. Accept that you are good enough just as you are. That would be a wonderful thing.

Comments

Maria Zannini said…

I prefer to think that at our age, we've improved enough. Time to glow. :)

PS Love the backsplash!

January 4, 2024 at 3:32 PM

Other Stashes

Along with clearing out the spare bedroom and tidying my office and our guest bedroom, I decided to reorganize some of my stashes. This is all the yarn I have on hand, sorted by color. It looks like a lot, but lately I've been using up a minimum of half a bin every month, so this is approximately a year's supply. All of my solid color cotton perle thread. I go through a lot of this every year, too. I need a container in which I can fit all of it together, but I haven't found the right one yet. I won't show you all of my fabric -- I'm still reorganizing this stash -- but I went through everything and donated two bins of fabric I won't need to the local quilter's guild.

Love Means This

Invested in a couple of hand-dyed bundles from one of my favorite fabric artists. This one said "Make me into something for Valentine's Day." So I went for a quilted and embellished tote. I kept thinking about what love means to me as I worked on it. Here's the finished tote. Although I was tempted to embellish with beads and pins, I got sick and only felt well enough to do a little stitching every night. As I worked I thought about how often love seems disappointing to us, especially when it fails to live up to our expectations. But now that I've experienced love in many forms, I can say that it's made me a better person than I might have been without it. Love is a precious thing, and should be appreciated in all its forms. I am very grateful for the love of my guy, my child and my friends who have stuck with me all these years. That's you two, in case you're wondering. :) Also finally found something to do with a ve...

Store Closing Haul

The mega Books-A-Million store over in Sanford is closing, and offered an extra 20% off on their current stock -- all sales final -- so I went over to do some shopping. Safely but sadly there was no one in the store but me the entire time I was there. The Holly Jackson novel is for Katherine, the Halloween board book is for Oliver, and the copy of Garden Spells is to keep on hand because I give that book to everyone. The rest of the books are for me. I love Anne Cleeves, and the Galbraith novel sounded interesting (the first couple weren't, but I'm willing to take another chance.) The Escape Room is by a new-to-me author, plus it was cheap. The GreenCraft mag is just a guilty pleasure. Hopefully the smaller BAM nearer to me won't close. I don't buy many books from brick-and-mortar stores these days, but that's really the last one within reasonable driving distance.

Valerean

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