REFLECTIONS

I have spent a lot of time these past few weeks thinking not only about the year just past but also about my life as a whole. I have birthday next week. This is an anniversary that I consider a real milestone. Many people never live to this age and if they do they are incapacitated in some manner. I think of how lucky I am to have all of my facilities (altho there are times when my family would disagree) and that I am physically able to maintain my own home and take care of my daily living needs. I have divided my life into categories for this blog purpose. There are other categories, I am sure, but these will do for now.

HOOKING -

This has been a very busy year for me. I have completed 2 large rugs and have about one half of a very large pictorial finished. I also managed to make 15 Christmas ornaments as gifts to my hooking friends. I entered 5 pieces in the Maryland State Fair and received 5 first places (blue ribbons) and the Judges special award. All in all a very successful hooking year.

STUDENTS -

I continue to teach. I now have enough students that I have two classes, teaching 4 days a month. In addition to the students I teach on a regualar basis I did 3 workshops last year and 2 are planned so far for the coming year. I also have 3 students that I teach by e-mail. This is a very interesting concept for me and I am enjoying it very much. After all, if we can home school our children via the computer, why not rug hooking and many other arts?

This is Syd going thru a stash in my

hooking room looking for just the right

material.

POGO -

Bridge has been one of the loves of my life. My mother and father were avid players and taught me the game when I was 17. My husband was also an avid player and much better at it then I was. It always has amazed me

how "bridge friends" drop away when you lose your partner. It happened to my father when we lost my mother and it happened to me when I lost my husband.

After the advent of the computer in my life I discovered POGO. What a wonderful thing this has been for me. I can play bridge with partners located in any part of the world. Frequently, in the night, when I can't sleep, I play with a gentleman located in the north of England. It is a small world. I am also amazed at the friends I have made in the bridge world, Shauna, DancingDaisy, BeerClam, to name a few. I love the creative names that people have given themselves who play this game. They say the computer is a thief of time but for those of us living alone it is a God send!

ELOISE -

My darling Eloise continues to be my constant companion giving me unconditional love no matter what I do. She is still very active for an 11 year old girl. This year she has had a cyst removed from her eye, a slight operation on her foot to remove an imbedded toenail in the pad and she is limping off and on. I believe that the limping is a pulled muscle and also some of the signs of old age. A baby aspirin seems to alieviate the problem and lets her get some rest.

She continues to do her funny antics.

She gives me a smile every day and

in return I give her a belly rub!

THE HOUSE -

I admit I have done very little to the house this year. One of the most important things I have done is get Richard to hang pictures and other memorbilia on the stairway to the family room. This is something that I have wanted to do for years but just put it off. Now it is in the beginning stages and I have, just today, gotten many other things out of the closet to add to the wall. As for the rest of it, I continue to enjoy the deck I added last year, and continue to think that I live in the best neighborhood of all. I have the most wonderful, supportive neighbors that anyone could have.

Eloise also enjoys the deck.

We often take our lunch here in the

summer and it is an ideal place to

hook when the weather is warm.

THE FAMILY -

Like all families, this one has had it's ups and downs this year. I continue to receive unconditional support from all of its members. My daughter Joan, has been having severe pain in her shoulder and has been diagnosed with a spinal problem, This is a cause for concern in the new year as we are awaiting a diagnosis from the surgeon. Richard continues to support me in my endeavor to remain independent in my own home. He mows the lawn, plants the flowers, cleans the beds, and generally does all of the "handy man" jobs that are constant in a household. Sheri, his wife continues to be a source of love and support as do their three daughters. Danyel is in the third year of college at Frostburg, Lisa is working and has found a "significant other." Brandi is planning her April wedding to Curtis. Our BIG UP this year, has been Brandi's recovery from her double transplant of Pancreas and Kidney. She is coping with being blind and is doing more things including leaving the house more often.

This is Richard with his best

girlfriend, Roxie. Roxie was

only 4 months when this picture was

taken.

Brandi, enjoying the sun on the deck.

We are so glad that she is still with

us and we are all looking forward

to her nuptials in April.

As I reflect on all of these things, and the many friends that I have made in the hooking world and my many acquaintences in the blog and pogo communities, I think not a bad record for an old broad! It really has been a good year. I do look forward to opening the new year with new experiences, learning new things, making more friends, acomplishing a few things and in general, being a contributing member of society. I hope that each of you, as you reflect on your year, will find yourselves encouraged to look forward to new and rewarding experiences in 2011.

Doris