Highlights and Lowlights of 2008
Maybe in 2009 I’ll start posting on some sort of regular basis again?
What? It could happen!
First, the lowlights:
I lost two family members this year.
My grandfather passed away at the end of August after a long illness. He was 91. He was a shy, gentle man with a big heart and an amazing affinity for all things mechanical. He could fix anything from toasters to cars. He was fascinated with the way things worked and how things fit together and he had a real intuitive sense of how to fix, well, anything. He also had a great ear for music and taught himself to play the piano, just by picking the notes out by ear. His perfect life would have been to live on a lot of land so he could have horses, with a shed/workshop out back where he could tinker to his heart’s content, with music playing and a dog curled up at his feet. That would have been bliss for him, and I hope he has it now on the Other Side.
I lost my darling boy kitty in November. He was fifteen. I’m planning on doing a separate memorial post for him sometime soon. He was such a sweet natured boy. I used to joke that all he really wanted in life was food and his mommy, because he wanted to be held all the time (when he wasn’t eating his sisters’ food as well as his own), and every time I picked him up, he would look up at me with these big adoring eyes and purr like crazy. I keep expecting him to walk in here and meow to be picked up. I miss him a lot.
The highlights:
OMG knitting. I relearned how to crochet in the beginning of March and enjoyed it very much. And then I took a knitting class at Michael’s. It was haaaaaard. My fingers got all confused using two sticks instead of one. And then I got it. And I completely fell in love with knitting.
I discovered a yarn store near my house and took a few classes, and I started going to their monthly stitch ‘n’ bitch sessions. It’s a very lovely and welcoming place, and I’ve met some really wonderful women there. In October, a bunch of us chartered a bus and went up to Rhinebeck, which was amazing and a little overwhelming. And, uh, I bought a lot of yarn. No, really, a lot of yarn.
My knitted finished objects include: socks (3 pair, with several more in various stages of completion), a hat, a baby blanket for my very pregnant co-worker, and a whole mess of dishcloths. There are several other projects that I started and then put aside when I got distracted by some new and shiny technique or yarn. I’ll get back to those later… Currently on the needles: the beginning of a cabled afghan (done in 14” squares to be stitched together at the end), a green and gold lace-weight garter stitch shawl, another hat, a pair of socks in a lovely blend of autumn colors, another dishcloth, and a cabled scarf. And I’m taking a class at the end of January to learn to make gloves. And I might take a class to learn Fair Isle knitting, because it intimidates the crap out of me but the results are incredible.
I also learned to spin my own yarn on a drop spindle, which was a lot of fun. I’d like to do more spinning eventually, but right now my limited craft time is devoted to knitting.
Fandom
I didn’t have a serious fannish love in 2008, at least not with the kind of intensity I had in my early days of due South or The Sentinel (and yes, dS and TS, along with Buffy, are still my main fandoms). But… there is Psych, a.k.a. “Shawn & Gus Love Each Other A Whole Lot.” It’s right on the cusp of becoming my Big Fannish Love for 2009. What I really need to do is learn to schedule my time better so I can watch the damn DVDs and catch up on all the episodes I haven’t seen yet. There’s also Merlin, which I haven’t watched yet, but have a bunch of eps just waiting for me to find the time to watch them.
I've only read about three Yuletide stories so far, and I still have a long list of stories I want to read (there are a bunch of Shawn/Gus Psych stories! Yay!), and I haven't even started to read any of the due South Seekrit Santa stories yet, so I'm going to go make myself a cup of tea and go settle in with some new reading.
May we all have a happy and healthy 2009! Have a very happy New Year everyone! *smooches flist*
What? It could happen!
First, the lowlights:
I lost two family members this year.
My grandfather passed away at the end of August after a long illness. He was 91. He was a shy, gentle man with a big heart and an amazing affinity for all things mechanical. He could fix anything from toasters to cars. He was fascinated with the way things worked and how things fit together and he had a real intuitive sense of how to fix, well, anything. He also had a great ear for music and taught himself to play the piano, just by picking the notes out by ear. His perfect life would have been to live on a lot of land so he could have horses, with a shed/workshop out back where he could tinker to his heart’s content, with music playing and a dog curled up at his feet. That would have been bliss for him, and I hope he has it now on the Other Side.
I lost my darling boy kitty in November. He was fifteen. I’m planning on doing a separate memorial post for him sometime soon. He was such a sweet natured boy. I used to joke that all he really wanted in life was food and his mommy, because he wanted to be held all the time (when he wasn’t eating his sisters’ food as well as his own), and every time I picked him up, he would look up at me with these big adoring eyes and purr like crazy. I keep expecting him to walk in here and meow to be picked up. I miss him a lot.
The highlights:
OMG knitting. I relearned how to crochet in the beginning of March and enjoyed it very much. And then I took a knitting class at Michael’s. It was haaaaaard. My fingers got all confused using two sticks instead of one. And then I got it. And I completely fell in love with knitting.
I discovered a yarn store near my house and took a few classes, and I started going to their monthly stitch ‘n’ bitch sessions. It’s a very lovely and welcoming place, and I’ve met some really wonderful women there. In October, a bunch of us chartered a bus and went up to Rhinebeck, which was amazing and a little overwhelming. And, uh, I bought a lot of yarn. No, really, a lot of yarn.
My knitted finished objects include: socks (3 pair, with several more in various stages of completion), a hat, a baby blanket for my very pregnant co-worker, and a whole mess of dishcloths. There are several other projects that I started and then put aside when I got distracted by some new and shiny technique or yarn. I’ll get back to those later… Currently on the needles: the beginning of a cabled afghan (done in 14” squares to be stitched together at the end), a green and gold lace-weight garter stitch shawl, another hat, a pair of socks in a lovely blend of autumn colors, another dishcloth, and a cabled scarf. And I’m taking a class at the end of January to learn to make gloves. And I might take a class to learn Fair Isle knitting, because it intimidates the crap out of me but the results are incredible.
I also learned to spin my own yarn on a drop spindle, which was a lot of fun. I’d like to do more spinning eventually, but right now my limited craft time is devoted to knitting.
Fandom
I didn’t have a serious fannish love in 2008, at least not with the kind of intensity I had in my early days of due South or The Sentinel (and yes, dS and TS, along with Buffy, are still my main fandoms). But… there is Psych, a.k.a. “Shawn & Gus Love Each Other A Whole Lot.” It’s right on the cusp of becoming my Big Fannish Love for 2009. What I really need to do is learn to schedule my time better so I can watch the damn DVDs and catch up on all the episodes I haven’t seen yet. There’s also Merlin, which I haven’t watched yet, but have a bunch of eps just waiting for me to find the time to watch them.
I've only read about three Yuletide stories so far, and I still have a long list of stories I want to read (there are a bunch of Shawn/Gus Psych stories! Yay!), and I haven't even started to read any of the due South Seekrit Santa stories yet, so I'm going to go make myself a cup of tea and go settle in with some new reading.
May we all have a happy and healthy 2009! Have a very happy New Year everyone! *smooches flist*