It's been interesting learning about the traditions different people have for New Years Day on all the various blogs I read. There are some things that I would like to take in to the new year. A friend of mine who blogs at
cabin one two five chooses a word for the year. I've been toying with that idea and the one word that keeps coming up for me is
mindfulness. Good word right? Some days I feel like I am just racing through life, doing what needs to be done, but not paying attention to the small things in a way that allows me to really cherish the moments. So that's my word for this year.
Others talk about doing the things you want to do for the year on New Years Day. For me those things are: quilting, knitting, music and spending time with family and friends. So today I had the opportunity to talk to a good friend in the UK, spent New Years Eve at a friend's house in Napa and had a lovely breakfast this morning and lots of fun time playing with her adorable baby girl, I video chatted with one daughter and texted with another, spent time quilting and hopefully will be able to do some knitting as I watch a movie after I finish this post. Hopefully this will give me a good start for the new year.
I thought I'd post a few photos that tell a bit about 2012.
One of the first things that happened is that this little guy joined the family. His name is Gus and he is a rescue pup who is such a cuddle bug with me. He's not so good with other people, but he did warm up to Angie, Matt and Kaitlynn, so I know he can do it, but he takes some special handling.
March brought a trip to DC to visit Meg. We had a great time wandering around, eating great food and just spending time together.
In April Kaiser's National Quality Conference was held at Disneyland in Anaheim. The administrative and operations staff assisted with webex and audio production for sessions. We were able to spend some time at Disneyland and yes, there was fabric shopping involved (where there's a will there's a way)
On my birthday I had the pleasure of attending a Memorial Day event on a ship in Alameda. I got a tour through the ship by a friend who is retired military and I was awed by the size of the ship and the courage of the planes that landed on them. The program for the day was also very touching and when flowers were thrown over the side and taps was played it gave me chills.
June brought my big trip to Ireland for the first International Quilt Festival in Ireland. Due to airline scheduling Janelle and I flew in the night before our group left from New York and Janelle planned an excursion to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. It was exciting to take the subway quite a long way (a change of train and then a change back was involved), but we got there and it was well worth it. Such great views of the city from the Promenade!! It was a nice extra for what would turn out to be a memorable trip.
Just a few of the photos. The quilt show was held at University of Ireland Galway, which was an interesting venue, but all in all it was well done and for a first show, the organizers did a great job. I took a class on creating quilts from designs in the book of Kells (see photo above) and was able to see the actual book at Trinity College in Dublin. Our tour leaders was Luana Rubin from EQuilter and she was a wonderful host and always looked out for us so that things went well. We met some nice folks from all over the country. I would love to go back and tour Northern Ireland at some time in the future.
In July I made my annual trip to Sister's Oregon for the Sister's Outdoor Quilt Show. So much fun, as always to spend time with my friends from Medford. Good women, one and all!!
In August Meg surprised me with a trip to Carmel. We stayed at the Lamplighter Inn, sat on the beach to watch the sunset, took a long walk on the beach and enjoyed a little shopping.
In October Mary and I went to The Bishop's Ranch in Healdsburg for St Paul's Women's Retreat.
October is also the month of the Pacific International Quilt Show
In November, Angela had her open heart surgery to give her a pulmonary valve (for the first time in her life). She received great care both at Stanford and at Kaiser and she is home recuperating.
December brought another quick trip with Meg this time to Capitola. Short trip, but a real adventure (especially the drive home in pouring rain)!
So that's my year in photos. I'll post tomorrow with some quilting things.
