Friends, there's always that first week of a new year when I'm thinking, OK -- What do I want to get done in YEAR X. Then the urge to plan wears off and it's back to day-to-day blog writing, dog walking, and intermittent vacuuming.
I'm not much of a planner. The way I look at it, you never know what life may throw your way so it's always wiser to stay nimble and go with the flow. Wasn't it Robert Burns who said, "The best laid schemes of mice and men / Go oft awry."? Or was that George Burns?
I didn't start 2009 with any intention to learn how to sew, nor 2010 with any plan to blog. So what would be the point of saying, In 2011 I'm going to ________?
You're probably thinking, well, everybody has a plan of some sort and Peter is just not revealing his to us. But I swear, I don't. Actually, if you have plan -- for yourself or for me -- maybe you can share it with us here.
It's inevitable, since we do divide up time and live according to regular cycles, that we're going to reflect a bit this time of year and think about what's next.
I know there are a few things I would like not to do in 2011. Maybe expressing them publicly will steel my resolve. Or not. Anyway, for what it's worth....
1. No new sewing machines. Or old sewing machines. I was very good with the sewing machines last year. Besides a serger, which I did need and use constantly, I purchased only four sewing machines (my Singer 15-91, 15-90, and 66 treadle, and my Pfaff 30) in 2010. I received a fifth as a gift and found the sixth in the street. But I sold eight (including the last two). So I'm definitely moving in the right direction.
2. No more luggage. Somehow I have ended up with three (still) smelly pieces of American Tourister luggage and two Samsonite vanity cases and I'm not even particularly vain. I got carried away, which is what somebody should do with these.
3. No more piles. I am pretty good about cleaning up after each project -- I have to be since I sew in the living room -- but things still tend to accumulate in corners. I just put away a stack of self-drafted patterns I'd created in (eek) May, and only because we discarded the table it had been sitting on. Maybe furniture disposal is the secret.
I also really need to edit Cathy's shoe and hat collection. Half the shoes don't fit and she rarely wears a pair more than once anyway. Once those shoots are over, she's back to her Dr. Scholl's exercise sandals.
Readers, have I forgotten anything?
There are still a bunch of things I want to sell on Craigslist -- dishes, phones, a bike, a lamp -- but these can also go to a thrift store in the worst case. Michael hates that bike, which I haven't ridden in four years.
Sometimes the Craigslist thing can be more trouble than it's worth, though, and you really just want the stuff out.
What do you do with an old coin collection? I haven't collected coins since the Seventies but I don't know how to get rid of countless rolls of uncirculated pennies, proof sets, et al. that are sitting in a big plastic Rubbermaid box at the bottom of my closet. (I hope that's not an invitation to burglary -- they're not particularly valuable -- though that might solve the problem.)
Meanwhile I am still toying with shirt ideas. I was originally going to make a Western style shirt with my plaid flannel but am now leaning toward something more traditional, or maybe a princess seam version, we'll see. Plaid is already busy enough without all those bias yokes and button plackets.
I made this the October before last and it gives me a headache.
Resolute readers, in closing, do you have goals for the new year? Anything you're determined to accomplish come hell or high water? How about an I will not --list? What are you determined not to do in 2011?
Tell us all and perhaps we can not do it together.
Jump in!
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