Project 52 Update

Well, glory be, believe it or not, I'm finally getting around to Project 52. Here it is, closing in on March, and this is only the second or third update. Oh well, the year is still young.


For some reason, setting goals seems to be much more difficult blah uninteresting uninspired unimportant ...as you can see, I'm having a difficult time just coming up with the right word. Not sure what it is exactly, maybe it's just all due to moving, and my goal list has been put on the back-burner.


With that being said however, there are a few goals which can be crossed off the list! And, after all, that is the whole point of making a goal, being able to cross it off the list, and being able to look back on the year's accomplishments.


#1. Find my (rough draft) list. It has been found. I thought it might have been  lost forever during the move, but it appeared almost out of nowhere. 


#2. Finish the list - as you can clearly see, this has not been accomplished!


#3. Reach my goal weight. This has been accomplished, for the first time in my life. I finished my second round of the Hcg diet in mid-January, so now the test   will be to keep it off.


#7. Move into a new house. This has been accomplished, although it is far from being completed. We are making progress, and the rooms are actually starting to look like rooms and not a storage warehouse. The washer and dryer are hooked up and running. We have a working toilet and a small sink. And we have access to a shower in the basement. Hubby is diligintly working on plumbing today so we will have water in the utility sink in the basement. (Please God, let this be true!) There aren't too many things that he hates working on more than plumbing. Currently, I don't have water or a sink in the kitchen. Let me correct myself, I do have a sink in the kitchen, but it is not hooked up. Hubby bought me a farmhouse-style sink, but it can't be installed or hooked up until the rest of the lower cupboards have all been installed. Oh, it's all quite a frustrating mess, and we find ourselves going round and round in a vicious cycle, trying to get the top priority things finished first, but there's always something else that needs to be completed before that one thing can be done. And, on top of all that, there is the usual "where the heck is _______? I know I saw it somewhere, but where that is, I do not know!" I hope that I will still have my sanity when all is said and done! If you are wondering why we have moved into this sad state of affairs, the short explanation is that we were forced into it. It was not our plan. 


I will be posting some pictures soon, (or later!), but first I have to locate the camera wires for downloading onto the computer. Actually, I may have already downloaded some pictures. Hold on while I check... 

Living room - Before

Living Room - After

Other end of Living Room. I ended up painting the
bookshelves brown. They look much better.

Dining Room - After
I always have to have a yellow room somewhere!

Our Bedroom - After
Blue and planning to have yellow accents.
My favorite color combination.

Jennee's room

Kitchen - It looks much more put together now.
The cupboards are actually against the walls
and not in the middle of the room!

Shared office space with Hubby.
(Hopefully, he won't regret it!)
My area is in the back by the window. He gave
me all the extra kitchen cupboards for my crap
craft and card making supplies.

When everything is put in its place, I'll give you another update. And, now I must get back to work, and start putting things away! Have a happy Monday.

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Origins Blogfest

Welcome to "Origins" blog hop. Today's post is to be about how we became writers. I have to say, I feel like I'm crashing the party, and someone will be asking me to leave very shortly. I don't consider myself a "Writer" at all, but here's the story of how I got here.


Way back in 1955 I was born, and there was no pencil in my hand. (Don't worry, this won't be a long story!) Fast forward to the 70's and high school English and expository writing classes. Yuck. Pure torture. We would be given a topic and told to start writing. Pencils flying on papers all around me, while I stared at a blank sheet of paper, trying to conjure up one creative thought.


However, I did like to journal, or as we used to call it, write in our diary...Dear Diary, and I was an avid letter writer. People always enjoyed my letters because "you write like you talk". Ohh Kay. But doesn't everybody? My mom tried to encourage me to write, and used to say that I could be the next Erma Bombeck. Blush. Thank you, Mom. But, I always brushed it off saying, there was nothing to write about.


Then, maybe 15 or 20 years ago (my gosh does time fly!!) I started writing  Christmas letters. The recipients always seemed to love them. I almost gave it up because of the bad press of the dreaded Christmas letter. But, I was assured that my letters were "fun".


Now, here I am blogging about this pitiful little journey. My Amazing Daughter sat me down at the computer two years ago (or was it three?) no, I think it was two, and said, "You are going to blog."  
"What's there to blog about? And, why do I want to?"


"Just do it. It's like writing a diary. And, since your memory is so bad, it might help you to remember things that happen." 


So, here I am, just plugging away, attempting to find and share humor in our little hum-drum lives.  An added plus is all the wonderful friends I have made through blogging. Yes, I am talking about YOU! 


Next week, I promise (fingers crossed & if things go according to plan!) to give a Project 52 report. I've been a terrible slacker so far this year, as far as blogging and goals go, but my excuse is that we are getting ready to move.

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Project 52

I've been sitting at the computer for nearly three hours, and I'm just now getting around to blogging. That is so wrong! Of course, blogging should have been the first priority!

Here it is Monday already, and time to give a report on Project 52. I'm sad to say that I have not found my original list. Hard to tell what happened to it. I'm positive I put it in a place I was sure to remember, but, of course, I have forgotten where that place might be. I even did some cleaning, and it never showed up. I suspect it might be hiding out with Papa Smurf.

Papa Smurf showed up as a Christmas present for Sweetie Pie. At first, she wasn't too sure about him, but she later befriended him. I mentioned in an earlier post that I had to play "Go fish" or "goldfish" as Sweetie Pie calls it, with Sweetie Pie and Papa Smurf, and I came in last place. Yes, Papa Smurf beat me at "Go fish"! I don't want to talk about that humiliating experience. It was the following night at bedtime that he went missing. Sweetie Pie was looking for him and he was nowhere to be found. We looked everywhere. The night is not happy when a tired little girl can't find her special new friend. I'm pretty sure that Papa Smurf came to life and ran away, taking my Project 52 notes with him, because neither one has made their presence known.


I have done #5 and #16. I know it may seem like cheating to put those two things on my list, but I like to be able to see that I'm making headway early on. Hubby and I also had our first date night in quite awhile. We went to see the Sherlock Holmes movie, something about "shadows" was in the title. As you can see, I don't get too bogged down with trivial things like titles. Any way, we enjoyed the movie, but the winter weather was rolling in, and so we didn't dilly-dally too much in getting home after the movie.


I'm going to keep looking for that darn list, and in the meantime, try to remember what some of my brilliant goals for 2012 are. 

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Happy New Year and Project 52!

What? I'm a week late? How did that happen? Oh yeah, now I remember, my granddaughter, Sweetie Pie, was here for a visit. She's home now. Our house is quiet, and a total wreck, the Christmas tree is still up, but that should change today! (Or, at least, that's the plan!) The sun is shining, the grass is green, and the sky is blue, which is very unusual for a northeast Ohio January day. I love it!!


We had a great time with the family at Christmas. Sweetie Pie got all kinds of presents, but what did she play with the most? Princess Go Fish cards that cost a dollar! We must have played 500 games of Go Fish! (I might be exaggerating, but it SEEMED like 500 games.) I didn't mind spending the past two weeks playing Go Fish with a 5-year old. I didn't even mind losing to a 5- year old. (Not on purpose, mind you. However, I threw in the towel when I lost to "Papa Smurf"!) We played as soon as we woke up in the morning, and before we went to sleep at night. Game after game after game. "Just one more game, Grammy? Please?" At one point she even said, "I'll let you win." She lied.


On New Years Eve, we spent the evening with some friends. She took her Go Fish and Princess Old Maid cards. (The evil sea witch Ursula was the Old Maid.)
Sweetie Pie does not like the Old Maid, and unbeknownst to us, she had taken out the old maid card and left it at home. We discovered it when the game was over and no one had old maid. She said, "I don't like that card. I took it out."

So, now it's time to be thinking of what I want to accomplish this year. Truthfully, I haven't had much time to think about it. I did start my list for Project 52, but, I'm not exactly sure where it is at the moment! 


But here is what I have so far, completely from memory: (I hope you are impressed - that it's from memory, not my actual list)


1. Find my list
2. Finish my list
3. Take down the Christmas tree
4. Reach my goal weight. (Too many cookies over Christmas!)
5. Still be at my goal weight at the end of the year!
6. Read 12 books (I upped it from 10!)
7. Move into a new house


See how easy it can be to come up with 52 things? Come along with me, and Jennee, and Karen on our journey. It'll be fun!


Here's a few photos from Christmas 

She's learned how to read and was looking for her name

Making snowballs to throw at Grammy

There was enough snow for one tiny snowman

It's good to be back in Blog Land!

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Project 52 - Part 2

Last week I gave you some perfectly logical excuses explanations on why I have not crossed out the top 11 items on my list. Today, I'll continue with the last 12. Of course, the only reason that I know I have not reached these goals is because I made a list in the first place. Note to self - rethink this goal making list thing for next year! I'm only kidding Karen and Jennee! I have actually started to mull a few things over and over in this little brain of mine.


Okay! Now, on the the excuses explanations!


19. Invite friends over for dinner once a month. This one is a little embarrassing...it turns out I don't have any friends to invite. I know I could invite you, and you would come, I just didn't think you would want to travel that far for one measly meal. Let's make plans for next year! I do have a somewhat good reason for this one. Hubby did a lot of traveling back and forth, so by the time he got home for the weekends, things were just too hectic and he was too tired, and, it just didn't work out. I did invite one couple, but what worked for us didn't work for them, and vice versa, and we never did get together. But I at least made an effort.


20. Take a cooking class. Once again, I made an effort, if you consider cutting the advertisement out of the paper and looking at it for, say, six months, an effort. There were several classes that looked enticing, but it all came down to scheduling and that peskiest of pests - money. 


22. Exercise 3 times a week. What possessed me to make that a goal? Oh yeah, I made this list out in January, and I wanted to lose 30 pounds. Turns out, I lost the weight without exercise. How sweet is that??  I've been exercising for 40 years. I'm kinda tired of it. 


23. Find 365 "Do Not Fear" verses in the Bible. This is a work in progress, and I hope to have it finished by the year's end. I heard someone say that there were that many verses, and I instantly visualized a little calendar with a verse for every day. I'm clever like that. So, I decided I would see how many I could find. I did the Evelyn Woods speed reading technique of running my finger down each page of the Bible. If I saw the words "do not fear" or something close, I wrote it down. I did not find 365 verses, but I am working on copying the verses down that I did find. And, I will share those in a week or two.


24. Get through an entire P90X workout. Again, I don't know what possessed me to even want to get through an entire workout. (Other than those 30 pounds.) I have a faint memory of doing a few of those workouts, and it seems I came close to getting through at least half of a workout. If you are curious about my effort, reading this may put your mind at ease, or give you a good laugh. (You'll notice I made it all the way to January 17!)


29. Make get-well cards and send them out. I made one get-well for my little Sweetie Pie when she was sick, does that count?


35. Drink more water. We all know what the result of this one is. Run, run as fast as you can, unless running also causes a problem, then just walk as quickly as you can with your legs squeezing together. This is not easy, but it can be done. 


36. Organize atonement notes. I think I'll just save this one for next year.


49. Save money for new clothes in a smaller size. Actually, I have saved a little money for this one. I'm just waiting until I reach my goal before I spend it.


51. Make a decision and buy something I like. This one may never be crossed off. Mainly because I can never make a decision. It is because I am so multi-faceted and like so many different things that I can never decide which particular thing I might like best. Or, that I might like something so much that I would actually buy it. But this is what usually happens - I see something that I really really like, but, it happens to be too expensive. So, I settle for something I kinda like but can afford. Do I want something to be bright or subdued, traditional or eclectic, new and shiny or shabby chic? (Actually, I would go shabby chic, but Hubby thinks all that stuff is junk. He likes new and shiny.) 


52. Print off old blogs. This is another one that is a work in progress. I have quite a ways to go to completion. For some reason, my printer won't print off the pictures in  my blogs. 


So, there's the run-down of how my goal list is failing  coming along. I did get a lot of cleaning and organizing done this past year, and Hubby is very thankful for that! 


I'm already starting my new list. I can think of about 20 things already! Even if you're not a goal oriented type of person,(I'm not!) consider joining me and Jennee and Karen in 2012. It's been fun. And, it has helped me see that, even though I didn't accomplish everything on my list, I have, in fact, accomplished several things which would have been forgotten, if they had not been on my list. 

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Project 52

Well, here it is, another Monday, and a rainy Monday at that. It is time, once again to report on my goal failure or success. While scanning my list, it seemed I was doing pretty good because I have a lot of things crossed off. So, while patting myself on the back, I wrote down the few things that I haven't accomplished, to get a better look at them. You probably didn't know that I was talented enough to pull something like that off. Oh ye of little faith!


Well, surprise, surprise, I've barely accomplished a little over half of my goals! This is not good. Not good at all! 


So, if it doesn't bore you out of your gourd (that word has been on my mind lately, thank you Mrsurpole and Theme Thursday!), I will give you a list of my excuses logical explanations on why there are still so many uncrossed items.


1. Lose 30 pounds (we will ignore the "by March" part!) Technically, I'm very close, but I haven't been on the scales since before Thanksgiving...that's all I have to say about that! Comprende?

3. Manage my time better - So, I have been sitting at the computer for almost two hours this morning, and I'm just now getting around to blogging. Sigh. Stupid Spider Solitaire. 'Nuff said about that.


4. Improve my blog - This is a hard one. I'm hoping my content has improved :) but there are also some things I wanted to do to my blog, but for some unexplained reason (spider solitaire) I never seem to get around to getting it done.


6. Start card ministry - I guess it's not too late to get that started, but I haven't even made Christmas cards yet!


8. Finish NC photo scrapbook - It would be very helpful if I actually printed off the photos I want to use.


9. Finish my Vacation Out West scrapbook - (Same reason for #8 - and I should have said START my Vacation Out West scrapbook - not saying that I did start it.)


12. Be better at leaving comments - Actually, I think I have done better on this one, so I'm going to cross this one off. Hold on while I do the crossy-off line.


14. Be more compassionate toward others - This is a hard one to measure. Can you ever reach a point when you say "I am compassionate enough" ?


15. Read the Bible daily - Why is this one such a hard one to do? If I don't start out first thing in the morning, it never usually doesn't get done. I always go in spurts. Sometimes every day for a while, then, I get busy, and.... sigh. 


16. Become more informed on politics - I think I've improved on being informed.(Luckily, I didn't say "Remember".) However, I felt a little stupid when someone asked the question,"Name a country that starts with the letter "u"? Hmmm, what country starts with "u"? Thinking, thinking. Uganda! Oh, let's try, United States of America! USA! USA! (DUH! On second thought, I felt A LOT stupid! Fist to the forehead.) So, that alone, disqualifies #16 from being crossed out. 


17. Learn more about the history of our country - The country called "United States of America"! I have ordered a book called "Being George Washington" which I can't wait to read.


18. Get Passport - I did get the application for my passport, but I haven't filled it out, because I'm not even sure where it is at the moment.


Well, this concludes the excuses logical reasons I have failed to cross these off my list. Stay tuned for next week's edition as I conclude my list!

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Project 52 Week - Whatever

I don't know what week we're on, but I do know that the year is quickly coming to a close. 

It is time to give the list a good lookie-see and hope and pray that I have something to cross off.


Oh yay! I can do the strike through three things.

#2 - Read 10 books. (Technically, I'm two chapters away from finishing book #10, but I promise to finish it today! 
Book #8 - Mini Skirts and Laughter Lines was written by my good friend Carol Wyer. I highly recommend this book. It's a hoot and a half, and I promise that you will love it.

The next one I get to cross of is #28 - Travel somewhere new. Now, don't assume that this means I went anywhere exotic. This has been my "only if I don't go anywhere exotic" option. A month or so ago, Hubby and I traveled up north to a little town with the quaint name of Geneva-On-The-Lake. The purpose was to do a quick painting job for Hubby's brother, before they moved into their new house. It seems everytime we paint for someone, we have about 2 days to do something that should take a week if done correctly. Anyway, after a hard day of painting, we decided to drive to the lake and eat our supper. As we drove, we enjoyed the fall colors on the trees that lined the road. We arrived at the lake just as the sun was starting to set. We congratulated ourselves on our great idea to have a picnic by the lake.  We spotted a couple, sitting on the beach, enjoying the sunset. We grabbed our food, set it on the picnic table, and were immediately attacked by about a million mosquitoes. Those stupid things were everywhere! We flailed our arms all around, trying to eat just one bite in peace. It was not possible. It was a complete and total disaster. We ate a bite. Swatted mosquitoes. Ate another bite. Cursed and swatted. No romantic supper. No romantic sunset. 


I did manage to get a couple of photos in spite of the mosquito attack.

If you look really hard, you can see the lighthouse

Too much zoom makes for a fuzzy photo

The moon was awesome that night

I'm going to go ahead and cross off #33 - Start cooking through the hundreds of recipes I have saved and never made. Technically, I did start cooking. I didn't get very far, but I did indeed, start.


Well, there you have it. That's my quick run-down on my goals. How are you doing on your goals?


Check out Jennee and Karen and see how they are doing.

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Project 52 - Week 25

One of my Project 52 projects is to educate myself, especially in politics and history. These subjects never seemed that important when I was younger, but now that we have an administration that seems hell-bent on turning us into a socialist country, those subjects now seem vitally important.


The only way we can prevent history from repeating itself is to be educated in these areas. 


Freedom! (I always picture Mel Gibson in "Braveheart" when I say "freeeeee-dom"!) I love this speech, and if I did this correctly, you can listen and be inspired also.



Slight digression, there. 


Truth and knowledge set us free. We owe it to ourselves and future generations to be as educated as possible.


We can educate ourselves in many ways. Formal education is an option. However, the cost of a college education is astounding, and the percentage of liberal professors is even more astounding. The cost of a college education is up over 900% since 1978.  Self education is another option, but not if you plan on getting a degree. The answer may lie in the third option, which is taking online college courses such as this one.


We all have busy lives, and one of the great things about online schooling, is the flexibility it offers. I'm not working on a degree, but online courses like this one  provide valuable resources that are attainable and affordable.



Are you keeping focused on your goals? Join in the blog hop at Cheap Therapy or A Peek at Karen's World.

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Project 52 - Week 21

Well, I've had a very busy week. It hasn't been a fun week, but I have gotten a lot of stuff done. Mostly cleaning. So, now you know how un-fun my week has been.  I've been trying to get by cleaning with a "lick and a promise" for quite a long time, and that system eventually catches up with you.


This has been a week of washing and ironing curtains, mopping floors, cleaning carpets. Since the weather has been raining, cold and generally yucky, might as well be spending the time doing generally yucky stuff.  


I still don't have my computer back from the "hospital".  It caught a virus, but, thankfully, I didn't lose any valuable or invaluable information. We only lost some icons, and all the short cuts.  Apparently, this is something that rarely happens.  Usually, all or nothing is lost.  


"We've never seen this happen before."  I really wish that I would have started  keeping track of the number of times I have heard this phrase, and the events that brought them on.  These words have been said in relation to vehicles, appliances, health issues, and now computers.  It makes me feel like we are some kind of freaks of nature that so many "we have never seen this before" statements have been said.  And, of course it takes twice as long to fix/find the problem than usual.  Or, it usually requires some uncommon piece of equipment or tool to fix it properly.  


I've been using Amazing Daughter's laptop, so I'm able to stay connected. I'm trying to get used to blogging "mouse free", and to be honest, I miss that little mouse! 


I've also managed to do a little reading. My reading time has diminished quite a lot because I'm no longer babysitting. (My little babysit-ee always took about a 2 hour nap. I miss that job!) During the A-Z Blogging Challenge in April, I won an e-book by fellow blogger Anne K. Albert, "Frank, Incense, and Muriel".  It's a humorous mystery novel, and I throughly enjoyed it.


I hope you are accomplishing your goals, whether they are on a list, or not!

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Project 52 - Week 19

I feel like I'm riddled with ADD today. I have so many projects that I have started and not finished, as well as, projects that must be done today. If you walked through my house, you could easily see where I have been, and where I should be going. 

The weather is beautiful - FINALLY - and I have a ton of plants that need planted. The garden is in, so I can cross that off my list. However, I worked for a few hours at Putt n Stuff (putt-putt golf, go-carts, etc. owned by my brother). As luck would have it, they were busily working on landscaping, dividing hostas, and other plants. I came home with four boxes of plants that need to go in the ground today. I have bags of peet moss, potting soil, opened and scattered. Flower pots all over the place needing filled. A few plants needing to find their home in the vegetable garden. Trust me, it's mess. The car also needs cleaned, desperately. 


This morning when I woke up, I had a sudden urge to clean out my dresser, and start going through old, ugly clothes that have served their purpose (#27).  Unfortuantely, as usually happens, I've gotten distracted before the job was completed. So, clothes are still scattered hither and yon through out the room.


But, that 's not all. Hubby left early this morning, and he wanted to take some of our homemade strawberry wine for his brother to try. But, for some reason, he wanted to put it in a different bottle. Unfortunately, when he opened it, wine spewed everywhere in the kitchen. Apparently, blueberries are not the only fruit to explode! And, now, #41 needs to be done today also! 


So, I probably should cut this post short, and get to work. I have a lot of loose ends to catch up on today. Wish me luck! 


I hope you are getting a lot of your goals accomplished this week.

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O is for Optimistic

The A-Z Blogging Challenge is now more than half over. It has gone a little better than I expected. There was only an occasional dry spell. However, Q is only days away, and I have no clue as of this moment what that topic will be. But, in spite of that, I am becoming more optimistic that this challenge will end successfully.


Since today is Monday, that means it is also Project 52 report day. I'm optimistic that my goals will eventually be crossed off, but today, nothing gets crossed off the list.


Here in Ohio, we have finally had a few days of spring weather. I've been doing some yard work, but haven't made it out to the garden yet. That will be next weeks project, weather permitting. Some seeds have been started, and their little green head have popped out of the dirt. Hopefully, they will still be alive when it's time to get them in the ground.


This week, my project has been to make raspberry picking easier this year. There is a small wooded area on this property, and in the woods there are multiple wild black raspberry bushes.  Two years ago, Hubby and I discovered the bushes accidently. (Wouldn't you like to know what we were doing in the woods?????)


There was so much brush around the bushes, that picking the berries was very difficult. I tried to remedy the problem last year, but, with little success. This year, I took the tree pruners with me, and forged a path to each bush. It has been a two day process. I figure if I take a monthly trek into the woods, dragging by trusty tree pruner with me, I should have a much easier time picking raspberries.


I hope you are optimistic about obtaining your goals, no matter what they are.

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D is for Donuts, Dictionary, and Do Not Fear

Yep. I had a lot of ideas for the letter "D". I had planned to share a recipe for donuts, but since I'm trying to diet, I decided the delete the temptation!


Have you ever grabbed a dictionary and just started to read it? It sounds rather geeky and lame, but I have done this once in a while. 


I'll start by looking up a word to find the spelling -- actually, I'll start by searching the house for my reading glasses, then an hour later, if I can still remember the word, I'll look it up. Yeah, yeah, I know that can be done on the computer, but I can look it up so much faster the old fashioned way.


The next thing I know, another word will catch my eye, and before I know it, I will have read the entire page. That's how I stumbled on this word:
pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. (My spell check is saying this is misspelled! Ha! Actually, I did misspell it- don't have my glasses on. Mistook an "l" for an "i".)


Here, I'll break it up for you: pneu-mo-no-ul-tra-mi-cro-scop-ic-sil-i-co-vol-ca-no-co-ni-o-sis. It's 45 letters, in case you're wondering. Here's the definition: a pneumoconiosis caused by the inhalation of very fine silicate or quartz dust. 


I don't know if there is any word longer than this one, but this is the longest word I've ever seen. I keep it marked in my dictionary, so I'll always know where it is. You just never know when you'll need to reference a word that is 45 letters long. (It is definitely too long for Scrabble!)


Also, one of my Project 52 projects has been finding "Do not fear" verses. So far, I've found 76. 


Here are 10. If you want to read 10 more, go here.


11. Deuteronomy 31:6 - Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.

12.  Deuteronomy 31:7 - Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their forefathers to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance.


13. Deuteronomy 31:8 - The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you, he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.


14. Deuteronomy 31:23 - The Lord gave this command to Joshua son of Nun: "Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you."


15. Joshua 1:6 - Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them.


16. Joshua 1:7 - Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.


17. Joshua 1:9 - Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.


18. Joshua 1:18 - Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey your words, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!


19. Joshua 10:8 - The Lord said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to with stand you."


20. Joshua 10:25 - Joshua said to them, "Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the Lord will do to all the enemies you are going to fight."

(This post has been pre-scheduled. I am currently spending time with my granddaughter, and spoiling her as much as I can. If I am slow in responding to your kind comments, that is why!)

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C- Continuing the Challenge!

Since I'm participating in Project 52 and the A-Z blog hop challenge, I thought I'd combine them and "kill two birds with one stone", so to speak. (It's just an expression. I wouldn't kill a bird unless I was starving to death.)

Both of these projects have their own challenges. Project 52 gives me a year to complete, and the A-Z challenge will go through April. At this point, I'm not sure which will be more challenging. 


Blogging EVERY DAY is a challenge in itself--especially since if I manage to blog three times a week, I think I'm doing great. The ABC part is trickier than I thought. I'm still drawing a blank for "j", "k", and "x". It is funny how for some letters I have multiple ideas, and for others (see above) there's nuthin'! So, if you have any suggestions for those three letters, feel free to share!


For Project 52, there are several projects that I have been putting off for years, and they will have a definite ending when finally completed--and I will complete them!


Others things will never be crossed off, because they can never be completed.


#16 and #17 - Being more informed in politics, and learning more about our history - the learning never stops. And sometimes, the learning can be downright scary.


#14 - being more compassionate - I'll never reach a point when I can say that I am compassionate enough. But,I hope I can say that I am more compassionate than I was 10 years ago.  


#4 and #5 - Improve my blog and have 200 followers - I hope my content is improving, but I guess you will be the judge of that. I'm trying to catch up with  Jennee, my Amazing Daughter. We have a friendly little competition going. When I say "competition", I mean that I am competing with her. She feels pretty safe that I will not catch up with her. I had been running exactly 100 followers behind her. When I had 50, she had 150. When I had 89, she had 189. But, she started gaining ground after she hit 200 - now I think she is about 130 ahead of me. 


I'm not saying this just to get followers - I would never do that! I'm just sayin'.


Anyway, I hope you are continuing in your challenges or competitions, and when you've completed them, we can all say "Congratulations!"

(This post has been pre-scheduled. I am currently spending time with my granddaughter and spoiling her as much as I can. If I'm slow in responding to your comments, that is why!)

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Project 52 - Week 13

This will be a short post today, because I am going to work on #13 - repaint the bathroom. I have the primer on, and am waiting for it to dry! That was exciting new, wasn't it?


I can finally cross off  #9 -finishing my jeans quilt! I will post pictures one more time, and this will be the final time. I put a flannel backing on it, and it is much warmer. Here's a little story about the flannel. I know you're waiting with baited breath....


On my first trip to JoAnn's Fabric, the designed flannel was $6.99/yd. The plain flannel was $2.97/yd. My "Little Saver Ego" kicked in, and told me that the plain would work just as well as the prettier flannel. But, since I did not have the official finished size, I left the store. Last week, when I went to purchase the plain flannel, I discovered that the price for it was $6.99/yd. and the prettier flannel was now $2.97/yd. That made me happy. The design is very subtle, and may in fact, look plain. But, here it is, for the final time:

Ta Da! It's finished!!

In case you wanted to look at it one more time!

Seams are properly fringed. (Easiest way to make a blanket.)

I used dark blue yarn in the darkest squares for the knots.

#43 is completed. My vacuum sweeper is all fixed and ready to go. The problem was easier and cheaper to fix than I expected, thanks to the fact that my sweeper repair man is a good friend!

And, finally, #21 and #32 - hair and make up are completed. But, I'm saving that story for April's letter H. So stay tuned.

I'm now off to finish painting the bathroom. Pictures will be posted, of course!!

I hope you are sticking with your projects, and getting to cross things off your list!

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