Things I Learned In 2011

2011 was a wild, stressful, fabulous, and wonderful year and I'm still trying to figure out how it's over.

• I learned that a crocheted penis is one of the greatest ice breakers you can have with you at a conference for women. I heard "Oh My God, is that what I think it is? Can I take a picture?" more times than you can even imagine this past summer. I wonder if a crocheted boob would have the same impact...somehow I doubt it.
• I learned I can indulge my crafting habit, make some money and embarrass my oldest son all at the same time. Yes, I've made more Beanises since then and people are actually paying me for them.
• I've learned that someone very close to me is suffering from infertility and it makes me angry that I can't just snap my fingers or wiggle my nose and make it all better for her.
• I learned that I have both more patience than I ever imagined and, at the same time, far less patience than I imagined. My dear friend Rys and her family shared our house for about 3 1/2 months after their house was totaled by the Hurricane Irene floods. I love them dearly. I would open my house again to them in a heartbeat if they needed it...but, man oh man am I glad to have my space back. Honestly, I don't know how the Sister Wives make it work so seamlessly over such a long time because it is tough having that many people from two families under the same roof.
• I had it confirmed that my husband is a truly wonderful man. He didn't even blink when I talked to him about Rys and her family coming here and was truly amazing about having them here. I don't know many men who would willingly open their house for that extended period.
• I realized again that my kids rock. Bedroom switches were put on hold, space was given up, and, for the most part, toys and possessions were shared and they welcomed Rys and her family into our house.
• I've found out I absolutely adore my Nook. Yup, the Nook hits the top of my list for coolest pesents this year.
• I've learned that while the process of filing your eBooks onto shelves or organizing them by genre, author, etc isn't that complicated, it becomes infinitely more complex when you load 330+ files/books at once and have to categorize all of them at once. It took me 3 days, use of my Nook and my computer, and I still have 9 books somewhere on my Nook that have avoided being put on a shelf.
• I've learned that many editors do a half-assed no-assed job when it comes to editing books that are put out digitally. When an otherwise good book is interrupted by paragraphs that go from normal width and appearance to a tiny column that is so narrow that only THE or A is short enough to not be hyphenated, someone has NOT done there job.
• I also learned that Calibre is a life saver for anyone who owns an eReader. When you've bought a bunch of books for your Kindle app and then you've received a Nook for Christmas, it allows you to change formats so YOUR books can continue to be used on your new eReader.
• I've also found that Calibre saves you from the previously mentioned half-assed editing. It's a problem when you have a book named The Story of XYZ and some lazy assed so and so has embeded the file with the name Microsoft word File - T. That really becomes a problem when you have multiple files with that fucked up naming issue because that fucked up Microsoft Word name is what shows up when you unknowingly load the poorly named files onto your ereader. Then you have 10+ books that you can't tell the difference between until you run them through reformatting in Calibre.
• I've really learned to love my hair this year and want to know if I should keep it purple when I dye it again or if I should pick another Manic Panic shade.
• I've found out my middle son is turning into a huge football fan and a Steelers  fan at that. He wants a Polmalu jersey...which is kind of appropriate with the hair Joey has.
• I've learned that I still know more about computers than my children and that gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling.
• I've learned that my baby sister is a bit of a hard head and have to thank her for the Christmas miracle her hard-headedness brought about.
• I've learned that I'm not quite as resigned to never having a fourth child as I thought I was. I was hit with a serious case of baby lust and caught up in a bad case of regrets and what ifs when I found out a friend who was pregnant with her youngest daughter when I was briefly pregnant with Eva just gave birth to her third child, a beautiful little boy. Feeling I thought were long behind me reared their ugly head.
• I've learned that once again my husband has fallen on the crappy end of the medical odds and he is already dealing with diabetic neuropathy in his feet. Diabetes fucking SUCKS.
• I've learned (or re-learned) that I am truly blessed to be surrounded by a fabulous family and wonderful friends. We have a roof over our heads, food in our fridge, clothes on our backs, and my husband has a steady job with great benefits. I am blessed.

I hope each and every one of  you who take the time to stop by and read my blog realize just how important you are to me. While I do write for myself, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't pretty damned great to know there are people out there reading my words and caring about me. Y'all are fabulous. And, to my dear friends, the savvy women I treasure, my blogging and crafting sisters, I truly love each and every one of you. I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas (or whichever holiday you recognize) and I hope 2012 brings you happiness and your heart's desire.

My kids really crack me up...

On New Year's eve, we gave Marty and Joey permission to stay up until midnight. Marty made it with no problem but, by about 9, Joey was almost falling over with exhaustion. I sent Joey to bed with the promise that we would wake him up at midnight. Well, I barely got him awake at about 10 til midnight and he pronounced himself too tired and wanted to go back to bed. Vic and I gave Joey a hug and kiss and I think he was asleep before his head hit the pillow. However, the next day, Joey had to call all his friends so he could tell them about staying up until midnight. I really had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing at him. Joey's little phone calls evolved into two 45 minute conversations (what do kids that age have to say that could take that long???), a birthday celebration /after school visit at one friend's house, and another friend coming to visit our house after school on Friday.

After Joey scheduled all his social events, Marty decided he couldn't be left out. He invited a friend over on Saturday and that evolved into a sleepover with the kid going to Sunday school and church with us this morning. This has really been a busy week.

Did you make any New Year's resolutions? Someone posted to a question to Cross Stitch Crazy about stitchy and non-stitchy goals for the new year. I wouldn't call these resolutions but these are my goals for 2007...

STITCHY GOALS:
1.Get all the old RR's (and crochet projects) I have around here in various stages of completion DONE and hopefully framed.
2.Stitch an ornie for each family member.
3.Stitch something for each of my sisters.
4.Complete at least 3 more quilts.

NON-STITCHY GOALS:
1. Get the house really organized.
2. Paint the boys rooms (thats the only thing I really miss about the old house...the wonderful paint jobs in their rooms)
3.Get rid of th fugly wallpaper in the master bathroom and paint it.
4.Clean out the flower beds and plant some new stuff.

Happy New Years Y'all...

I hope the New Year is fill with love, laughter (god knows we all need that), and hope for all of you. May you all find your heart's desires this year.

Good luck and God Bless!