Always something going on around here

OK, there's so many "What the hell?" questions in my mind surrounding this case I don't know where to start.

http://www.nbc10.com/news/10836672/detail.html

Apparently, a college student was pregnant but in denial, had the baby at her mom's house in Upper Darby, and somehow the baby ended up dead and in Mom's car in Grandpa's driveway in Drexel Hill, where I live. The biggest WTF? comes from the fact that the police aren't getting any information from the family.

What a mess!

Doomsday Clock now at 11:55PM

In case you hadn't heard, the Doomsday Clock has been moved two minutes closer to Midnight. The move is in response to a combination of concerns regarding both nuclear weapons and the climate. The last time the minute hand was moved was after 9/11.

The closest we've come to Midnight was in 1953 when the US and USSR tested thermonuclear devices within nine months of each other. In the 1990s, the minute hand was at 14 and 17 minutes before Midnight.

Yes, we've come a long way in the last 10-15 years, haven't we?

Resolutions

I've really been thinking about my goals for the next year. I have my "101 in 1001 Days" list to help guide me a little, and my stitching goals are pretty good. However, I always make my life goals too quickly and I think I set myself up for failure sometimes. So, here are some very realistic goals I've set for myself. They will help me move forward and will take some effort, but not difficult to achieve.

1. Financial -- I don't want to share a lot of my financial stuff here. Suffice it to say that I have created a reasonable spending plan that will allow me to slowly pay off debt while allowing me to save and still buy little luxuries. I've tried depriving myself of basics in order to pay off debt, and it doesn't work for me. All that happens is I fall off the wagon and give up and spend more money than I did before.

2. Health/Weight Lost -- yes, I'm back to this again. I'm in better shape than a year ago, but I've really stalled on this one. My goal is to lose forty pounds by 2008. I think that's pretty realistic; I'm not over-reaching but it will take general effort to make it. I'd like to get back down to where I was when I met Tim almost 8 years ago. I was still overweight at that point, but I wasn't in too bad shape.

3. I will make a living will and regular will. That's on my 101 List, but it's something I've been putting off and really need to just do.

4. I have work goals in my office that I need to refer to every so often so I don't lose track of them. In addition, I will create weekly and monthly goals at work to help keep me focused. I'm going to try to do that at home, too. It's hard for me, as I'm not an organized person by nature and it takes a lot of energy to do it at work. I often come home and don't want to be organized anymore, but I need to apply the same rules here.

5. I will visit Gettysburg in 2007. I'd prefer to be there for a few days, but even if I just go for the day it's something. It's a 2-3 hour drive, so I'd really be happier staying over at least one night.

6. I will attend a Quaker meeting to see if it's for me. I've been toying with this for some time, but haven't done it yet.

Darn it!

Well, last night's game was a great edge-of-your seat game, but I would have liked it better if we'd won. Oh well, I still am proud of the Eagles -- they really overcame a bad season start and bad injuries to get as far as they did. The two things that killed me about the game were:

1. Why did they not go for the touchdown instead of the field goal on that one play? I was surprised when I saw them getting ready to kick. I suppose they felt it was better to get 3 points on the board than none, and that there were over 12 minutes left to get into the endzone again, but that hurt.

2. The fumble retrieval was awesome, but we couldn't make anything out of it. That off-sides penalty on the first down was just too much. I don't blame the guy -- he wasn't a starter and it was impossible to hear with that crowd, but I couldn't believe they got through the whole game without that mistake, then there it was.

I have to say that Saints team was very impressive. That Bush is scary, and McAlister pushing that whole group of people over the goal line was pretty cool. I may have to keep rooting for the Saints and see them win the SuperBowl. After all, it's a *little* easier when you lose to the team that wins the whole thing.

Eagles all the way next year, baby!

Go Eagles!

I'd be rooting for them even if they weren't the underdog, but now I REALLY want to see them win. Why? Because everybody is telling me "There's no way they can beat the Saints," or "They can't win against the Saints," that sort of thing. Nothing against the Saints or their fans, as they've also had a heck of a year, but I can't stand it when people say something like that like there's no possible way it can happen. When I hear that sort of thing, I want nothing more than for the underdog to turn the tables and win, whether or not it's a team I root for. It just drives me crazy.

Granted, we are not favored to win by most "experts," but it ain't over 'til it's over. :)

I'm sure it will be a great game, either way.

First finish for 2007!

I started the new Mirabilia 2006 Christmas Tree right after Christmas and finished it over the weekend. Man, that thing had a lot of beads on it for a relatively small design! I'm really happy with it, though. I think it's a pretty tree. I think it would look great done in all shades of blue on a white tree, too. However, I doubt anyone would want to buy the kit with all the beads included and then have to buy more beads to stitch using the colors you want.

2007 Goals and StRIP list

Took me a while but I finally got my goals list together, as well as an updated StRIP list. I've neglected the StRIP list for a while so brought it back and incorporated the 10 projects from the Wagon challenge.

2007 Finishes

At least 10 ornaments
Liberty Sampler - Hester's Needle
I Shall Wear Purple - Lanarte with color changes
Mermaid of the Pearls - Mirabilia
Why Hoard Gold? - Dragon Dreams
Angel of the New Dawn - Mirabilia
Drawn Thread mini bellpull
Ouroborus - Dracolair
1998 L&L Angel
Skeleton Crew - Cross-Eyed Cricket
2006 Mirabilia Tree
at least half of Sleeping Beauty (no way I'll finish her, but at least this will be progress) - Mirabilia

2007 Starts (Yeah, like starting is really difficult, lol)
First 4 are for Guilt-Free January

Easter Fairy - Mirabilia
Alpine Garden - Drawn Thread
Autumn Angel - Joan Elliott
Oh Christmas Tree - L&L

Celtic Noel - L&L
mini bellpull - Drawn Thread
Cinnamon Bear - JCS Christmas Issue
Couer de Saint Valentine - don't know name of designer off-hand, French
Christmas Cat - from Holiday Cats leaflet


StRIP List
Liberty Sampler + I Shall Wear Purple > Celtic Noel
Mermaid of the Pearls + Why Hoard Gold? > Coeur de Saint Valentin
baby boy design (Amy's Cross Stitch Corner) + same for girl > same for either girl or boy
Angel of the New Dawn + Ouroborus > Christmas Cat
Sleeping Beauty + Skeleton Crew > Christmas Elf Fairy
DT mini bellpull + 1998 L&L angel > Cinnamon Bear
Easter Fairy + Alpine Garden > L&L County Fair
Autumn Angel + Oh Christmas Tree > Halloween Fairy
Garden Verses + Rose Celebration > Valentine Fairy
Fairie Treasure + Angel of the Sea > Moon Fairy Spirit
Earth Dragon + TW English Garden Welcome > Titanic
Spring Queen + Sweet Dreams Santa > Blossom Harvest
Misty Morning Vineyard > Egyptian Garden

2006 Finishes

I did this last year and I'm glad I did, so here's a list and pictures of what I finished this year. I didn't make all my goals, but I think I accomplished quite a bit for a full-time worker. They are in no particular order.

Crescent Dreams - Mirabilia


Various ornaments -- stitching is my own design, tucks from Amy's Cross Stitch Corner. Didn't get a picture of all of them as I gave some away before I remember to take pictures.




Angel of Love - L&L


Lady of the Flag - Mirabilia


Deepest Love - Mirabilia


Stars of Merlin - Simply Old-Fashioned


Guardian Angel - L&L (Nevermind the weird wrinkle in the fabric that makes the circle look lopsided, lol)


Christmas Flourishes - Mirabilia

Guilt-Free January is here!

I still need to finalize my 2006 finishes list and 2007 goals, and go back to my StRIP list and see how far off I am and get back on track. However, I wanted to at least get the all-important Guilt-Free January list in writing! After all, this is the easiest of all the goals I set for myself.

1. Easter Fairy (Mirabilia)
2. Alpine Garden (Drawn Thread)
3. Autumn Angel (Joan Elliott)
4. Oh Christmas Tree (L&L)

I was going to place the 2006 Mirabilia Tree on this list, butI started it last week and am almost done so instead it will be my first 2007 finish!

As for the actual list, the Easter Fairy will be for me. I may give Alpine Garden to my dad, as he's a plant guy and I think he'll like it. I'll have to see how feminine it looks when I'm done with it to make my final decision. Autumn Angel is a long overdue gift for my SIL. I have stitched one of these angels for the women in my family (Angel of Love for mom, Christmas Angel for sis, and Angel of Night for Grandma) and haven't stitched this one for SIL yet. Eventually, I'll stitch one of the extras for myself. Oh Christmas Tree will be a gift for my best friend, who has a boy and a girl. I think she'd really like this one. It would be great if I could finish it and get it framed for her for next Christmas.

Now I gotta get serious and figure out my goals for the year, and figure out what I actually finished in 2006. I think I had a pretty good year.