Are You there God? It's me, Margaret.
I pulled this
Judy Blume book off the shelves at the library in Oak Hill Elementary, my third grade year. I remember reading it over and over, during the course of my two-week check out. The contents, which were so gripping to me fifty-plus years ago, have long been forgotten, but the title grabs me in different circumstances ALL the time, to this day.
Are you there fellow bloggers? It's me, Denise. :)
My niece, Megan, who is owner and founder of
Two Tales Editing, sent out a clever gif on her IG account, asking pertinent New Year questions. Here's how I completed mine . . .
Blogging is right up there at the top, baby! So I figured two days in, I'd better go ahead and get busy and not let the days, weeks, months slide by like I did last year! (Note: I may still go ahead and back-fill some entries from last year. It helps me in my dotage to remember when I did what. <grin>)
First things first . . . if you know me, you know "resolutions" per se, are not my thing. But a word of the year is very much in keeping with who I am. I really struggled this year. No joke ... I tossed words around in my head for two months. As one of my sweet affirmation sisters said, I finally pivoted and landed on the perfect word for me and mine this year: CARE.
Whether it's what I 'care' about, or the 'care' I give to others or myself, it was definitely the right word for 2023. I know that because just typing this paragraph makes me cry. So there's that. There were some pretty heavy reasons behind the picking, but that's a tale for another post. :)
Of course, there's also my Bible reading plan for the year. That didn't take as much thought as it has in the past. I knew exactly what my plan would be this year . . .
And so I did! I've long admire Kandi Gallaty's faith and teaching. And I've walked several "mentees" through Gallaty's book,
Disciple Her. When this year-long Bible study and reading plan came out last year, it was a no-brainer for me to work through it in 2023. :)
As for stitching, I elected to join our Stitcher's ETC. UFO challenge again, for the third time running! Look at that. I have consistency somewhere in my life! And would you believe, I've met each month's challenge for the past twelve months??
This month my challenge was to finish the herringbone embroidery stitching around my "Gathered Blessings" piece, and hand quilt the top half. I have that well in hand. Which is good, because I'd also like to start and finish a QAYG quilt for Todd . . .
His own Crimson Tide quilt. I love this layout. It's simple, but also fun. The Alabama print will make it even more fun. It's a 72" square quilt. Which is why I'm using the QAYG method, so I can (easily) be the one to quilt it.
There's some wrap up from 2022 . . . a couple of crafty things I got in before the year ended:
I adore this pom pom Christmas tree pillow, inspired by the
On Sutton Place blog. Glad I had my pom pom maker ready!
And these darling little page markers. I made a set for each of the local grandgirls.
Speaking of the locals grands, we enjoyed a lovely Christmas, including spending our Christmas Eve with them, as per tradition!
They've all grown so much over the past year! But especially that Ezra Paul, who's not just a big boy, but big on personality, too!
He's cheesing it up for the camera. I wish you could have seen the transformation of his face when he saw I was getting ready to take a pic!
Finally, on the 2022 recap . . .
This brings me full circle from my opening with a book title, right?? :P I finished 113 books in 2022. Not my best, but better than my goal of 100! I set this year's goal for 125. I hope that wasn't too lofty! Do you use
Goodreads? I love it to help me track what/how much I've read. If you're there ...
look me up!
I think that (kinda) catches me up and sets the path for moving forward. Todd and I celebrated the New Year at one of our favorite restaurants . . .
We looked good celebrating 2023! (If I do say so myself.)
One year I'm going to resolve to limit my use of exclamation points to their grammatically correct status. But it is not this year!!! Happy New Year!
:)
