Unfinished Business

Sneakers and I hope you had a wonderful holiday.

I’ve taken a bit of a “blog holiday”, but I’m back now.  Lots has been happening around here, but I won’t bore you with all the details.  Here are the “Cliff Notes” version.  (Do Cliff Notes still exist?)

*  I cooked, and cooked, and cooked some more before, during, and after Christmas.  I’m still cooking.  I photographed none of it, but I’ll be re-making the best dishes so I’ll have another chance to showcase it here.

*  I’m happy to have Son2 home from University for a couple of weeks (2 short weeks.)

*  I started running again this week after a forced mini-break.  I did something to my foot during the Decker Challenge and didn’t realize it until my post-race run a few days later.  I decided to do the smart thing and avoid impact on the foot (it’s not the plantar fasciitis, it’s my other foot and a different problem.)  I don’t want to go into details about it — too boring.   I was thrilled to run a pain-free 7 miles this past Monday and another long 10-mile run on Wednesday (not completely pain free, but manageable.)

* I think I found a good place for Sneakers and I to do some pet therapy visits.  More on that later.

* I’ve seen more movies (at the theater) this past week than I have all year.  Sherlock Holmes is my favorite one, so far.

* I’ve been busy making some decor changes to the family room and kitchen.

Now, about that “Unfinished Business”.  My DIL and were talking about my personal goals for 2012.  I’m not big on making New Year’s Resolutions, but I do enjoy taking on a specific challenge/goal each year.  I usually start my yearly challenge around Christmas -  so as not to confuse them with New Year’s resolutions. I wasn’t sure what challenge to tackle this year and my DIL suggested getting back to crafting.  Great idea!  I’m challenging myself to complete 12 craft projects, one a month, in 2012.  I have many unfinished projects, it’s embarrassing, so first order of business is to finish the craft projects I’ve already started.

Project #1:  Needlepoint pillow

About 2 years ago I stitched a needlepoint canvas that reminded me of Sneakers at the beach.  I even made the dog in the picture look like of Sneakers (sort of).  When I finished it, I purchased the companion piece with the intention of having two coordinating pillows!  The finished canvas remained a canvas, not a pillow, and I never even started the second one.  Project #1 is to stitch the second canvas AND make both canvases into pillows.

Here ‘s a photo of the first canvas — stitching complete.

Here’s a photo of the second canvas, only partially stitched.  The dog is going to look like the dog in the first canvas (like Sneakers) when I’m done.

Wish me luck!