Almost Isn't Good Enough

Can you believe it is ALMOST 2014! That is just wrong. The old question that pops up every year is where did the time go?

My time was fairly constructive this year. Some of the things that happened in our family:

1.  I began scrapbooking, (thank you Mary Helen!) well making cards and mixed media art pieces is more like it. I did start a scrapbook of sorts and gave it to Dane. It was a Steampunk Halloween Album filled with pictures from his party. Working on a Christmas album and will be creating a Valentines album in January. Getting my sister into this art form, too.

2.  With the above mentioned hobby, I now own a die cutting machine and an embossing machine.

3.  I have been playing with watercolors more by using watercolor crayons, pencils, and pens. Watercolors still kicks my behind however my teacher said it kicks everybody's behind. At least I am in great company.

4.  Baby sitting.  I assist my mom with her great grandchildren (my great niece and nephew) Trinity and Shane about 3 -4 times a month while their mom works. Trinity loves to visit my home and heads straight for the studio so we can work. The next budding artist in the family. Shane prefers music and will one day be a great musician. He has a favorite song "Oh Glorious Day" by Casting Crowns. He can almost sing it and for being two  months shy of 2, he does pretty good!

5.  Our youngest, Dane, moved out in February and in June took his dog, Buddy, to live with him. I miss Buddy, well, I miss Dane, too. I do not miss the dog hair everywhere. We still had Arrow until he died in August. We buried him next to his lifelong girlfriend, Namee. Arrow was 16 years old and had some health problems. He is missed and thought of often. I still expect to see him waiting for me to drop something on the floor so he can run over and eat it before I can pick it up. No more pets for us.

6.  I am still working on my Zentangles. I took the plunge and will become certified next October. I will be traveling to Rhode Island! The CC Art Center wants me to start teaching now so I will put something together and see how it goes. I am proud to say that I have introduced this art form to several friends who are now tangling and doing a mighty fine job. My sister does pretty good, too.

7.  Reorganized my studio to make it more user friendly. Put a whole wall of shelves in (I love IKEA!) and can actually find things for a change. This inspired Mary Helen to redo her studio, too. Can't wait to see how it turns out. And Marty is almost ready to update her space.

8.  I let my husband purchase a new truck. I am so nice to him. This is something we have discussed and one day he found the deal so he jumped on it. Now we are looking at travel trailers. Planning for his retirement in 3 years and hope to hit the road and see America!

9.  We had family home for Thanksgiving. Trevor and Angela stayed with us for almost 2 weeks. My mother in law was here for about 4 days so that was a nice visit. We had a big traditional meal, everyone brought just 1 dish and it was perfect. Not tons of leftovers to sit around until they were tossed in the trash.

10.  Christmas day was rather quiet this year. My sister and husband, my niece and husband and 2 kids, Dane, my mom, Ray and me. Ray grilled everyone's steak to perfection and mom's chicken was tender and juicy. Kids were able to play outside and get some fresh air. The only thing I didn't do was take pictures. Oh well...the memory lives on. My nephew, his wife and son are visiting right now. They are expecting a baby boy in March. Keep them in your prayers please.

That's about all my brain can think of now. This sounds more like the Christmas letter so I guess that is what it is.

I hope you all had a great year and have a wonderful 2014.

Terri
Waiting for the glue to dry.