All the Pretty Things

This holiday season was one of the worst on record for me. I was sick, the first time, during the Christmas holiday with a cold. The second time was during the New Year's holiday when I had a nasty stomach virus. The good news? I got some time off work, and as such, was able to finish my "Pedigree of Honey" cross stitch sampler by the New Year (See pictures below). I have not decided what to make next, I am taking a bit of time of right now and toying with the idea of picking back up my knitting needles. Now, if your like me, you have tried knitting before with some variation of success. Mostly making wonky scarves that are too fat on the ends and too skinny through the middle, or have massive holes throughout where stitches were dropped. Still, I thought it would be nice to just stitch along the needles with no real project in mind. Like making a sampler of knitting stitches I guess. I'll keep you posted as to what I decide to do next.

The finished product.

Some trouble areas I had include the side of the bee hive stand. The markings on the pattern were not clear enough for me, and I ended up trying to make it look as much like the picture as possible instead of using accurate stitches.

Another issues I had was with the bottom alphabet portion. Basically, I was one stitch too far to the right which lead the final letters of each line to be squashed against the border. Still, it is not very noticeable from a distance.

Because of the mis-counted bottom half of the piece, I had to do a creative interpretation of the hive hexagons portrayed on the left hand side of the picture. I think, however, if I didn't mention this it would look intentional.

My signature.

The finished piece. I guess I will have it framed, but with the mistakes in it, I would hate to spend a fortune on the framing. I'll post pictures once it is in its final form.

Most every New Year I vehemently reject the idea of "resolutions", but this year, I thought I would give it another go. Will I be perfect all year? Highly unlikely. Will I stick to any of my "goals"? It remains to be seen. My resolutions are as follows:
     1. Try to get more exercise in my daily life without joining the dread gym
     2. Don't keep the TV on for background noise
     3. One weekend a month plan on getting out of the house
     4. Do the best with what I have
I think if we really thought of everything we wanted to change about ourselves, the list could easily be a mile long. This year, I decided to focus on more "frame of mind" topics than physical objectives, so maybe that will be easier in the long run…or harder.

One thing I have been better about is the exercise. Today I walked to the neighborhood grocery store from home and back again. I found it so pleasant. I stopped and talked to several neighbors, whose names I did not know, but who were friendly nonetheless, and enjoyed the warm sunshine and the sounds of the world around me. Meddled with the passing cars was the soft hum of a Northern breeze and little birds chatting to one another. I'm sure part of this activity was due to the fact that it has been unseasonably warm here. I was really hoping for some cold weather after one of the hottest summers ever. And yet, I cannot say I am upset with our current situation. 70 degrees, light north wind, blue skys…who could argue with that. The only thing I will say is that we all look quite silly now with our Christmas trees still sitting in the window. At least when it is cold outside, you can turn a blind eye to this oversight.

Mostly though, I hope I can learn to be satisfied with where I am in life now, knowing that all I dislike now is only temporary and a means to an end. Graduate school will be over soon enough, my career will soon begin, and the next chapter is already waiting for me. I just have to not be so anxious to turn the page that I worry, become frustrated, and ultimately angry about the fact that I am still on page one.

"Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings."