Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all of you and I hope this year brings you good health and prosperity in all aspects of your life.

For me I give you a lose guide to the future, a look backward and my personal scorecard for 2008.

If you are a new reader then you can see where this is coming from.

1. I planned to return to school but my plans were thwarted. I'm looking at this as temporary setback. If my plans stay on course I'll go back mid term Spring or Summer semester at the latest.
   Score - 1 of 5
   
   
2. Vacation plans... I think we're settling on a few places that were already on the short list. This was not slated until 2009 anyway so things are good.
   Score - 3 of 5
   
   
3. The yarn diet... It was not intended to be a diet, but a change in lifestyle. We have changed our buying habits and are purchasing for projects or at least the general idea of what's in our queues. Since I started spinning my fiber buying is taking over the bulk of my interest. Fifty pounds of assorted fiber and four fleeces already planned for many handspun projects. This has gone very well this year.
   Score - 4 of 5
   
   
4. Take steps to personalize my fiber... I think this has gone further than I had expected. Our dying has grown and developed so I can obtain what we had envisioned at least with a few tries. My spinning is almost acceptable to the point I generate my own yarn in the configuration or our choice. I know this may sound confusing to most of you but I'm hard on myself and when I want a certain weight in a certain ply configuration for a project, nothing else will do.
   Score - 4 of 5
   
   
5. Improve my body... I did forgo the soda for almost 3 months. The wagon swerved a few times, I fell off and it almost ran me over but I'm back in control now. Most of my liquid consumption is still iced tea with an occasional soda as a treat instead of the norm. The biggest change came from the home cooked meals and the reduction of fast foods. I'm lighter by a few pounds and the BP is lower. There are many more things I want to do and hopefully I will this year.
   Score - 3 of 5
   
   
6. Return to my guitar... I've really failed here. I sold two of the three to reduce the life clutter, Natalie Wood is gone, Woody is gone. Betty Paige is the only one left in the family but she was the only real keeper in the herd. the biggest disappointment is that I haven't had the time or drive to play. A few days ago I pulled out our boom box to listen to a book on tape and found the cassette of my first teacher and the beginning lessens that brought back so many memories. I have located and downloaded some back up tracks of my favorite songs that I can play along with. They've removed the lead or rhythm guitar parts so you can accompany the band. A few new web sites have started this year that dissect the guitar parts note by note some in split screen to show both hands in close up. I'm not playing but still absorbing in small ways.
   Score - 1 of 5
   
   
7. Read For Pleasure... This used to be limited to lunch time reading but we started using the public library and the world of books seemed to open up. You probably read my list fiasco a few months back and I'm using various book list as a guide to give this the structure I seem to crave. Thirteen books may not be a lot to some of you marathon readers but it's the most I've ever read in one year. I've queued some books and began reading a couple that actually had some preparation. My wife thinks it's crazy to do so much research and prep to read a book but I felt it necessary in my case. I've never seen a field study for a novel before but it's interesting because it's like the author is explaining the subtle nuances that I would not fully understand otherwise. Some of our friends know our love for the Gilmore Girls and the book was referenced multiple times in the show. This just fueled my interest to learn about the author and even read his biography. My goal this year is to read at least first two of the seven books in "Remembrance of Things Past" by Marcel Proust. Along with this is the march through some of the "classics" written by Falkner, Mann, and so many others listed on my sidebar. The goal of my general reading is to double my last years total to 26 books.
   Score - 5 of 5
   
   My cumulative score as far as meeting my last years goals is 21 out of 35 or 60%. That's failing in most grading scales. Last year was far from a failure but I know their is a lot of room for improvement. I'm hardest on myself because I know I should do better and it really eats at me for not living up to my own expectations.
   

Some reflection;
My knitting has improved from last year. The fear of lace is gone and I'm much more selective in the whole scope of projects. I try to look at how can I make this my own, what can I do to add my spin on the project. Either handspun, hand dyed or modification of the pattern to fit my vision. The two main projects should be off the needles in the next month and a half or so.

My spinning is a constant learning process that I hope to take to higher levels in the near future. I joined a group on Ravelry that is short term spin to knit.
Not my favorite color combo but it's a group thing. The pattern as I mentioned in the last post is the Morning surf scarf. I'll be doing some creative drum carding the roving on Sunday to add just a little of myself to the process.The batts will have the coloring layered in one batt and positioned vertically in the other. I'll take pics and some video to document the process for my own future reference. I'm not positive that it will create the effect I have in my mind but I think so.

I want to offer a few words to all of the friends who read and occasionally comment on this blog. You know who you are. Many of you are listed on the sidebar and some are blogless but just as important to me. Each one of you adds a little something very special to my life. A smile when I need it, encouragement to push myself harder, honesty, pointed words and a kick in the pants when others are worried about being diplomatic. Thank you to each and everyone of you. I learned a long time ago to enjoy the best in people and the ones who are full of spite and anger also have a glimpse of brightness if you look for it. My Pollyannaish optimism would even make Eleanor Porter smile but I see it as my balance in life.

One parting thought that I found inside a Dove Promise chocolate. "Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die tomorrow"

I hope I can live so fully.

Life is Good