2011 New Year's Resolutions

Well, it is that time again....You know, when you sit down and look over the past year at what you did or didn't achieve and then look forward with hopes and dreams in your heart with a blank slate of possibilities for the coming year. It is that time when you sit down and think about what you hope to accomplish in the coming 365 days; what you resolve to change; what you promise yourself to stay away from. This is your chance to put it out there to the universe....

And, this is me... putting it out there to the universe...... In 2011 I resolve......

1. To reach my goal weight (surprise, surprise)
2. To finish at least the same number of books in 2011 that I read in 2010 and provide my faithful audience with a review
3. To finish half the quilts that are currently in my UFO pile
4. To open an ETSY store and try to actually sell something
5. To create and stick to a budget
6. To implement a REAL filing system and stay organized
7. To buy more shoes (oh no, twist my arm on this one)
8. To cook at home more and actually invite people over, which means I have to keep my house clean
9. To complete all of the exercises in The Artists Way and Writing Down the Bones
10. To watch less television...I still need to come up with a reasonable number of hours a week
11. To get my PMP Certification
12. To come back in 3 months and provide an update on these resolutions
13. To become more involved in my community...or a community....maybe a community of squirrels would like me to join.....
14. To get my passport and in turn do some traveling
15. To open my heart to love (and actually join Match.com and contact the guy that I've been stalking out there)

Whew, I think that is enough for now. As stated, I'll revisit these in 3 months and re-evaluate my progress and goals.

I hope each and every one of you has a wonderful New Year! May we all have joy and be prosperous.

2010 Book 25 1/3 - The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

Yes, the title of this blog is Book 25 1/3 because I only managed to get through a third of this book. The book is Carson McCullers' book The Heart is a Lonely Hunter first published in 1940. The book cover describes it as:

Carson McCullers was all of twenty-three when she published her first novel, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. She became an overnight literary sensation, and soon such authors as Tennessee Williams were calling her "the greatest prose writer that the South [has] produced." Available now for the first time in trade paperback, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter tells an unforgettable tale of moral isolation in a small southern mill town in the 1930s.

Richard Wright was astonished by McCullers's ability "to rise above the pressures of her environment and embrace white and black humanity in one sweep of apprehension and tenderness." Hers is humanity that touches all who come to her work, whether for the first time or, as so many do, time and time again. The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter is Carson McCullers at her most compassionate, most enduring.

I originally picked this book up many, many years ago and it has moved with me back and forth across the country and I finally picked it up and started reading it. Unfortunately, after I started reading it, it just didn't grab me and pull me in. Perhaps I've become jaded in my reading by the more recently published works that are all plot and movement. This is more of a character study and not a lot of action. I know I should read such classics as this, but I've made up my mind that I'm not going to read something just because "I should". I've also decided that I'm not going to continue reading something if it doesn't grab me within the first 100 pages or so AND if when I read the last chapter I don't have the desire to find out how the book got there.

I'm sure this is a great book for somebody, but when I have a gagillion books on my shelf that I want to read, I'm not going to continue spinning my wheels on one that just doesn't grab me.

Christmas Follow-Up

So it is the day after Christmas and what a wonderful Christmas it was. I've been at my folks' house for the past couple of evenings and it has been great to just have the opportunity to relax and be my parents' "little girl" again for a couple of days.

Yesterday, Christmas Day, my sister and her family came over here and we all had great fun collecting the haul that was Christmas presents. The adults in the family exchange names and we have a price limit on how much we will spend and then it is a free-for-all on what the kids will get. This year, I drew my dad's name; which is always a challenge...both he and my brother-in-law are very difficult to shop for. This year, though, I asked my mom what to get for dad and she provided me with a couple of suggestions including some work gloves, a cap with ear flaps, and when all else failed a snuggie....yes, you read that right, a snuggie. I did go for the fancy snuggie from Brookstone, and since they were having a sale (buy two get one free) I went ahead and got one for my mom and for myself and I have to say that I LOVE my snuggie. I had mom and dad unwrap theirs' at the same time and I could not help but just keep laughing because I found it to be completely HI-lareous.... The other gift that I got my dad that cracked me up was a panini maker. The story behind the panini maker is that when I asked my mom what to get dad for his birthday, she said a panini maker, more so because she wanted one... So basically mom made out on gifts almost as well as dad did.

I had provided an Amazon wish-list to my sister and she did a great job of getting stuff for me, including a back-scratcher, which I'm desperate for in the winter time, and great quilt book, and a brownie pad....you know the one where all the brownies have an edge....woo hoo!!

After present-time and dinner-time it was game time. Colin, the nephew, received a couple really fun games that we were all able to participate in and all in all had a great time. I have such a great family and we have a really good time together laughing and joking and eating and playing and just being together.