Happy New Year (one day late)

Happy New Year to all. I hope that everyone was able to celebrate the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010 in some fashion. Ours was a very quiet one, for we are in the middle of another hockey tournament, so we had just come back from Matthew's (younger son) hockey game Thursday late afternoon, had a little dinner, played a little family game, enjoyed our 9pm (celebrated the New Year on the East Coast) and then stared the bed time routine. I think that we all were in bed around 10:30pm.

As the saying goes...

EAT

SLEEP

HOCKEY

And that is about all we have done since December 27th...some days we even repeated that list a second time if there were 2 games or 2 hockey events in one day. But there are worse things in life that we could be doing.

2010 Goals and Projects

I haven't had much of a chance to read many blogs lately, but those I have read have started posting their goals and projects for 2010. One of my main goal (which unfortunately at the rink yesterday I broke) is to cut my sugar consumption down and eventually cut it out all together. What I am referring to is the large amount of candy and sugared gum I consume, especially when I am sitting around at the rink or at work. It is in those kinds of solutions where I am either "bored" or "focus" and just need something for my mouth to do - like chew. Unfortunately sugarless gums contain a faux sweetner called sorbitol, which I seem to be sensitive to and causes a lot of discomfort after I chew several pieces of gum. There have been many studies in health magazines, which say chewing gum can help you think or chewing a piece of gum after a meal as a dessert will help you know the meal is over and you will eat less. The problem with me is I go through a lot of bubble gum in one sitting...so I need to remember "everything in moderation" is ok.

That is one goal as it pertains to eating; another related goal is to work on adding weights, sit ups and push ups to my exercise routine.

And stitching...I would like to or have signed up for:

1. Finish MW by the end of the year

2. 2010 Ornament Exchange/Swap

3. Keep exchange signs up managable - continue with L*K

4. Finish Friendship RR - stitching on the remaining RRs and then as soon as mine gets back, finish it!

5. Continue to model stitch for CindyMae

I think those are nice simple goals to have - I am sure that I will have other projects that come up over the course of the year, but these are the ones that I would like to focus on!

I know that there should be other "life style" goals I should have that would cover family (extended and nuclear), financial goals and marriage. To cover all of those, I think stop procrastinating would definitely help in all facets of life.

In Closing...

I though I would add that above sub-title so those who skimmed the above, knew when I was getting ready to finish this post :) I have been working on MW when I allow myself to sit. I have finished another motif and started on another. I am planning to finish it and then post another photo Sunday as a closing to the week and the holiday break. I have 2 exchanges to get done and send out before the end of the month - one is the 2010 OSE (aka Ornament Swap Exchange) and the other is Round 3 of L*K. I also received a new pattern from CindyMae, which I am looking forward to stitching. It is a counterpart to "Catnap"...so those who are dog people stay tuned!

Have a great Saturday! Take care and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often! Lisa 

Holiday = Stitching and, of course, Hockey

Phew...I am so glad that we took advantage of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! What I mean is, those are the only two days during the boys' holiday break that we didn't have to do anything or go anywhere...those were the two days that we literally stayed in our pjs and hung out at the house. For since Saturday, when DH and Robert (older son) left for Seattle for Robert's hockey tournament, we have been going...going...going. And it looks like we will be on the move for the rest of the break (boys go back to school, and I to work, on Jan. 4th).

A Trip to the LNS...Needle in a Haystack
Last Saturday, I took DH and Robert to the airport in the afternoon, which was great timing to go to my "not so" LNS where I met up with Valerie. Valerie and I are doing a mini SAL with MW. She got there before I did, which was good as she needed to spend sometime looking for some fabric for some projects she is getting ready to start. As soon as the fabric decisions were made, she joined Matthew (younger son; who was playing on the computer...nice to have wireless abilities at NiaH, keeps kid busy). We got an opportunity to "Show and Tell" about each of our MW for we each brought ours to show. It is always fun to see fellow stitchers' projects in person to look at their fabric and colors of threads - while pictures are nice to see, in person gives you a better look at the vividness of the colors. And, according to Matthew, "it is interesting to see how different our projects looked"...even though we are stitching the same pattern, he thought it was "pretty cool" that we could use different colored fabric and thread...doing the same thing; but not. It is fun when my sons pick up on these things and take an interest in my needlework hobby.  Anyway...Valerie and I had a nice time visiting and doing a little stitching.

I will get a photo of my MW posted tomorrow to show you my status.

Hockey...
As I mentioned, Robert's team is in Seattle playing in a tournament there. They finished up the round robin portion yesterday, winning all three games and putting them into first place in their divison. During the second game, played Monday afternoon, Robert scored a goal (2nd of the season) and played so well, the coaches chose him as the MVP of that game. Yahoo! Didn't take long for the proud papa to call me and let me know!

Today they start the elimination rounds, beginning with the sweet sixteen. Robert's team will play at 2pm today. Keep your fingers crossed!

While they are up there in Seattle, Matthew and I are at home...but not vegging out for he is participating in a wonderful clinic. It is called "Hands and Feet" - they work on a lot of puck handling skills and some skating. They start out the day at 8:30am on the ice for an hour and fifteen minutes, followed by 1hour of off-ice training with the trainer (which sounds intense, but due to the number of kids and the age group - 6-11 year olds -  it isn't too difficult...more waiting around between turns then actual activity; oh well it is a clinic during the holidays), and then they have another ice session from 11:30-12:45pm.

What do I do during this time? Well, aside from helping him tie/untie his skate in between each activity - I have access to the rinks fitness room where I can go workout if I didn't get in my workout prior to leaving home and I can stitch! Today I was able to get this ol' body out of bed, so I will probably be doing some sitting and stitching...and visiting with other hockey moms!

New Year's

What are your New Year's plans? Ours...well...DH and Robert get back probably Wednesday night so we all will be together during the last holiday of 2009/first holiday of 2010. However, it is Matthew's turn to participate in a tournament, which luckily is here in town.

However, I remember as a kid one of the best New Year's parties my parents threw. I cannot remember what year it was, but I must have been in high school at the time. My parents had a tradition of celebrating this holiday with 3 other families (just the adults though). Prior to New Year's eve, my mother went out and got each of the families matching flannel pjs (both men & women)...they wore them all night, through appetizers and the potluck dinner. At midnight, after the toast, they had a big midnight breakfast. I remember the fluffy omelette that one of the other father's made. Unfortunately, while I was allowed to stay up until midnight, I didn't feel much like eating so I did end up going to bed right after the ball dropped. But I know that, to this day, that party is still talked about in my parents' circle of friends.

Well, thank you for visiting. I am sorry that I didn't have any photos to show - but I promise to take a photo of my MW and show you the status tomorrow. Take care and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often! Lisa