Planning and More Planning

OK, first I can't post all the pictures I took but these three were taken Thursday night, August 16th while the LSI First Quarterly, August 2007 Committee had dinner at Joe's Crab Shack in Old Sacramento. The first picture is our very photogenic friend, the current Secretary for State LSI, Brooke Atherton. She is responsible for rekindling my interest in knitting.

In the picture with two ladies, the lovely lady on the left is my dear friend Julie Edsill. The distinguished lady she is hugging is Doris Arbuckle.

And of course, my dear friend Kathy Nelson who doesn't really like having her picture taken, is the other picture. Conference was busy, fun, successful, tiring. And so now it's on to other plans.

I am taking 2 weeks off and going to New Hampshire to spend my birthday with my brother and time with mom. Ally and Matt, I hope, will be joining us for 4 or 5 days. Anyway, I fly out on Saturday the 6th and return Saturday the 20th. That's one set of planning I am doing.

Another set is to plan out handmade gifts to give friends for Christmas. That's all I'm sayin'. :)

I am planning a weekend away, sometime, with my adopted brother David who is taking me to Reno to teach me how to play blackjack. I'm not really sure I want to learn but he's insisting that it'll be fun for me to learn and get away. He's probably right.

I think perhaps my biggest wish plan is to turn my second bedroom into a craft workroom. That will entail getting rid of a lot of stuff including an exercise bike I really don't like and won't use. It also means to be a perfect room for me, it needs to have a tv with the satellite hooked up to it. I thought about switching bedrooms but then realized I really still want a tv in my bedroom since I watch a lot of tv in the winter from under the down comforter. Besides, I am thinking if I can get Dish in my own name and get Jo off the hook, I might be able to have all 3 rooms hooked up and then I can use the vcr/dvd unit that is doing nothing and hook it up on that and then those rare times when I want to record 3 different things on 3 different stations, I can. I don't want to go the tivo route or any of that. So I will think about that before I move ahead with anything else.

This will involved lots of purchases. Shelving or bookcases or something so I can have my yarn out and sorted and I need to find a way to sort through the gazillion printed patterns I have. I've got a little 2 drawer unit that is overflowing and it's hard to find patterns I want to use. I need to have someone sort through them with me. Put them in categories then sort by skill level and interest. This in itself could be a job that would take months. And the truth of the matter is, if I can get someone to help me sort them into categories, I can probably take it from there. I have asked Amy to help me with some of the decorating part because she is really good at that and I may ask Jo to help me with the plotting out of the room because she's really good at that and then David can help me with the electronics. Moving the furniture might be a problem because I won't ask David (he needs back surgery) and so perhaps if it ever gets totally ready I will see if I can borrow some friends for a Saturday. This will mean putting the futon upright into a sofa and I have no idea if I'll ever be able to get it out but will have to leave room in case it needs to be. I have had 2 people come for an overnight visit - Ally was here 2 nights before she got married and Den was here for 4 nights last year.

Jo, if you're reading this you should be laughing about this part... the biggest reason I don't want to switch rooms and use the bigger one which is my bedroom now as a craft room is that I still have nightmares about moving that futon. And I am not sure Don and Dad wouldn't be justified in whacking me over the head if they had to bail me out again. :) Besides, The furniture in the bedroom is too heavy to move and I like being there.

I already know I will need to buy a comfy chair with ottoman (unless Amy will hold off selling the one in her loft - that would be perfect in there!) and I am going to need a desk or something flat, too. And lots of shelves and some bookcases and/or drawers. In a way it's exciting planning and it's a wish. I may lack the focus, time, money and energy to do it. It is going to require a lot of help. Knew I should have bought a copy of that room designing software that I used to drool over when I had the house in Marina. Oh well, past is past. Maybe there's something free on the net. :)

Anyway, I find that having little plans helps me dream about the big ones. Right now I want to make it to see Matt and his parents, my two weeks off in October and cooler weather. I want to be able to knit with wool again, even if it's only briefly. I am planning a list of what to make first. I am planning what pattern to make next for a dishcloth. I am planning on when to water the grass and knowing I will start in the morning.

And amidst all the plans I look around and am mostly at peace with things. I miss being around my family but my friends have become my family. I have been blessed with some wonderful friends. I have a beautiful, fabulous duplex to live in. I have a job that I like (most days) doing something I love (every day). I have accomplished a lot for a 2 week premie twin who grew up on a farm in little ol' Berwick, Maine and who went to a college known for its drinking. I have done a lot in my 50 years. I am still embarassed about some of it. I am still proud of some of it.

Every day I wake up glad to just be alive. I'm really very lucky. And blessed. And able to plan ahead because I still believe there's a future out there for me, that I'm not done.

Yup, you'll have to drag me kicking and screaming out of here. Nobody gets out alive. But we sure can make the best of everything whlie we're here. And I fully intend to do that. It's a plan.