A new year, with lots of hopes

 I am not generally one for near year's resolutions (mostly because I'd rarely get them done!) so I gave that up years ago.  I did read something yesterday written by Annie Lamott, whose writing I adore, which did motivate me to think about striving for one or two things I feel are important.  I'm not yet sure which things I'm going to focus on for the year.  What about you?  Do you make resolutions?

I'm really hoping that 2021 will bring about big changes from 2020, which proved to be such a difficult period for so many people for so many reasons.  I had to deal with my own mom's Covid 19 illness and my family's serious efforts to NOT get sick.  My husband and I (and our middle daughter) have been living in our home in Central Oregon since March 16.  I'm usually pretty vague on exact dates but that date is stuck in my mind!

As I look back on the year, I can say there have been some "pearls"--things that proved to be gifts, in my opinion.  One of course was that we got to have our daughter live with us.  Another was that I developed friendships with others in ways that we hadn't related before.  Living in our cabin in Central Oregon has been a real gift as well.  I walked so many miles that I wore out my tennis shoes!

On the down side, our dog Max died in early November. Since that time, we've gone round and round about whether to get a new dog.

Long story short, meet Zeke!  He is a 2 month old Golden Doodle.

He's supposed to be about 40 lbs but he's already larger than we expected.  So the breeder may have been a little off on her estimate.

The one exciting aspect of having this puppy is that he'll need to be with me in my sewing room (in a "playpen") during the day so my daughter can work remotely in our living room.  So, maybe I'll even get some sewing done!

I wish you all a wonderful 2021.  I hope everyone can leave the bad memories behind and that the vaccine will enable us to have some semblance of our old lives back.  I hope you can remain healthy and not overwhelmed or depressed.  Try to come out of the fog.  Try to look forward.  Be positive.

I also want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support, comments, ideas, help, love over this past year.  Blogging has proved to be one of those pearls this year.  I'd likely not feel as positive as I do without having had you in my life.

Much love to you.

ps:  I promise there will be a quilt posting any day!!  my December mini is due!