Great Day

Today was the first day back after almost two weeks off from work. I did absolutely no work for my job over the break so I knew today would be busy since I had to turn in my budget requests today and it is the first time I am doing it. As it turns out it was not as complicated as I had feared and I got it done in an hour. I then spent the rest of the morning updating and prioritizing the capital requests for my department which are not due until April. I had done all the research prior to our break and wanted to get the work done while my notes still made sense.

The sun was also out today and always improves my spirits but it also meant the day was cold. So thoughts of spring were in my head so I looked for a picture that signifies spring to me:

I hope this brightens your day too.

Golf History

My husband is an avid golfer. A couple of nights ago he asked me which women golfers I thought had won the grand slam. I made a couple of guesses but decided tonight to look it up. First of all I didn't even know what defined a grand slam so I started there. It turns out that the depending on the year it is winning two to four major tournaments in a given year. It turns out that no woman has ever won four majors in a given year but two women have won the grand slam by the rules of the year they won it in. The one I started reading about is Babe Didrikson Zaharias. She was accomplished in just about every sport - basketball, track, golf, baseball, tennis, swimming, diving, boxing, volleyball, handball, bowling, billiards, skating and cycling. She was an Olympic gold medalist in track and field and became best known for her remarkable golf career.

Today we are wowed by Tiger Woods but if Babe were alive today she would dominate the sport. She was perhaps the greatest athlete of all times and most people have never heard of her. What a great role model she could be for the young women of the world. If she had been a man would we still be talking about her?

TIme...

I woke up this morning thinking about time. My thoughts revolved around making the best use of my time and being able to fit all the things I want to accomplish into the time I have. None of us know how much time is allotted to us in life. What we can control is making the most of the time that has been given to us. So each day I must plan wisely. I need to go back to my list of 101 Tasks in 1001 Days and evaluate the content as well as the accomplishments. I need to prioritize, I need to stay connected to family and friends and I have to make sure I have fun along the journey. In 2009 I will spend more time with my family ( immediate and extended) , work on my fitness, work on my house, take on new challenges at work, explore my spirituality, and stitch as much as I can. With that it is time for me to get going.

May you all find the time you need to do the things you love.

Where My Cross Stitch is Going in 2009

My cross stitch stats for 2008 are as follows:

• Number of WIPs at the start of 2008: 8
• New Projects Started: 12
• WIPs completed: 13
  
• Remaining WIPs @YE: 7

My stitching goals for 2009 are:

1. To StRIP 10 projects from my WIPs or stash
2. Finish my current 10 project challenge.
   
3. Finish 12 completed projects.
   
4. Be a SOS except for two exception: JCS Ornie magazine and supplies needed to complete projects in my stash
   
5. Send out at least one RAK out of my stash.

My Starting WIPs for 2009 are:

1. Papillon's How Does Your Garden Grow: Stitched 65% in 2008
   
2. Dragon Virtues Afghan - 38% - Stitched 25 % in 2007, none in 2008
3. Mira RR Deco Spirits - on Mira RR - 20% - Stitched 5 % in 2007, none in 2008
4. Dragon Ride- 12% - Stitched 4 % in 2007, none in 2008
5. Peace Ornament: Stitched 10%in 2008
   
6. TW Wedding Sampler 10% - Stitched 5% in 2007; 5% in 2008
7. StoryTeller - 5% - I did not stitch on this one in 2007 or 2008

New 2009 Starts:
- TW's 2nd Day of Christmas
- Chatelaine's Mini Mandela I.3

Other Possible Starts:
- other small travel projects as needed
- Taj Mahal
- The Kiss

My Plan is:
I will stitch at least 1 hour per day. I am a One At A Time (OAAT) stitcher for my major pieces.
- I will stitch Christmas ornaments and other small projects as travel projects. The Peace Ornament occupies that spot right now.
- The 2nd Day Of Christmas will be stitched on TW Mondays.
- My OAAT project is currently How Does Your Garden Grow. I will then stitch the Mini Mandala.

I look forward to an exciting and fun stitching year. So what abut you? What are you looking forward to accomplishing this year?

Reflection 2009

I reread my post of January 1, 2008 and I will repeat some of it here in order to remind myself of the importance of reflection in my life. As this is the first day of the year what better time to recommit myself to the practice of internal reflection than today. Many of us spend a great deal of time looking at our external reflection so we can evaluate our physical appearance. But how much more important it is to look inside yourself and reflect on what you have done with your life so far; to decide whether you are happy with what you have done or need to do some things differently. Today is a good day to look at your actions and accomplishments for the past year and determine what you would have done differently and then make your plans for the new year.

Although I reflect often on my life I am not good at recording my reflections or the events of my life. Therefore it is sometimes difficult to evaluate my growth and progress. So here I am at the beginning of another year pledging once again to use this blog on a regular basis. Hard-copy journals don't work for me but I would love to leave my children something of my inner self for their future reading. Also my husband thinks I am a mystery because he doesn't often understand my motivations. I think they are perfectly clear and my children understand better than DH because each of them is like me in some way. DH and I are opposite in personality but we share the same family and moral values. We love each other deeply and I believe we balance each other giving us a rich and happy marriage but my reflections here might help my DH to understand me better.

During 2009 I will work on my fitness so I can stay healthy and therefore continue to live life to the fullest; enjoying my family, my work, and my hobbies.


Happy New Year to all my online friends and may 2009 bring you peace, health, happiness and prosperity.