Happy Hogmanay and Happy New Year!
Still the horrible blogger, but I'm working on changing some things...in the form of something I never do, New Year's resolutions. I've decided that 2025 will be the year of 55 (yeah, it makes sense in my head, so let's just go with it, eh?).
As some of you may know, I HATE New Year's resolutions. I have typically thought that they tend to jinx the year and make everything worse. But for the past several years, everything has been worse anyway, so why not try a more strict regiment of plans? It couldn't hurt right?
Why 55? Well, firstly, I will turn 55 years old in September of 2025, so that's where my skewed logic comes in. I just don't think 25 things are enough of a chore. I wanted to ramp up the stakes. Every resolution I make will have 55 stipulations, like, for example, read 55 of the books I already own and 55 new books (which means that I can only buy 55 new books this year...might be the hardest resolution to keep, I tend to buy WAY more than I read).
Another resolution? Put in 55 new stitches on every single WIP I have, even the ones I hate and haven't touched in years. I haven't stitched since like May? I started out strong with my ORT's, but this is how it ended up since I've been a slacker:
There isn't even use in showing you my progress for the year. I still haven't gotten photography editing software, so I haven't edited any of them (or vacation pics from the last several years). But that particular task goes under "55 chores to do around the house" (although I'n not sure why it will fall into that category, but I think that's where it should go).
Other ideas? Try 55 new meals, do 55 things that make me extremely uncomfortable, watch 55 movies I've never seen (which means more French and old black and whites probably), lose 55 lbs so that I can go to Universal for my birthday to see Harry Potter world, visit 55 new towns or places, pay off $5500 in debt (although I hope to pay off WAY more than that), throw away 55 things that will make a dent in my house, listen to (and like) 55 new songs (and that might be one of the hardest as well considering how I feel about new music, although, because of The Summer I Turned Pretty, I started listening to a lot of artists I wouldn't give the time of day to before, so maybe not as hard as it used to be, but I've also been getting more into Classical music, so there is always areas of "sort of" newness there, at least new to me), save $5500 for a new vehicle (it's past time), and I may think of others, but that's the bulk of the list for now.
Oh, and I made it through both my fall trips with flying colors! Boulder was amazing and I can't wait to go back someday, although the major highlight was the trip home through Mount Rushmore the Badlands. Just a way home that turned into an amazing experience! Allentown and the concert, well, let's just say I think I now prefer to go to concerts alone (or at least Duran Duran)! I also stopped by my cousin's house in Holliston on my way to Gloucester (since the coast of MA is only a few hours away from Allentown) and, although I loved it there, my time was too short and I had to cut it even shorter because of a dead headlight. I ended up spending about 5 hours in Lawrence, MA to get it fixed (ironic, since I love going to Lawrence, KS so much), but it was well worth it, as was the drive home through upstate New York. Such beautiful country!
Right now though, I need to finish my Scottish steak pie so that I can dish up the Crananach I've made for Hogmanay. I hated digging into my last bottle of Sassanach, but I didn't want to go to the liquor store (it's not 2025 yet, so no need to make myself uncomfortable just now). Thanks to our crappy governor, I can no longer order alcohol online, so I may never be able to get another bottle of Sassanach or El Tequileno (and I never got to try Sam Heughan's gin), but oh well. Maybe one of my uncomfortable things can be to find a store that specializes in just Scotch.
And there is another crappy blog post for this year, only my 15th of the year. I started as a strong stitcher with a floss tube addiction, and I'm ending as a voracious reader with a Passionflix addition...a great new romance TV channel that literally takes romance novels and turns them into movies or shows! It's not Skin-a-Max by any means, but it's WAY better than the Hallmark Channel because at least there is something more than chaste kissing! I've bought every book to everything on the channel, and have almost finished reading them all, and it is literally, verbatium from book to screen. It's fab! I've watched the same stuff for months on end, but I still haven't gotten sick of it.
I'm going to take Stephen Fry's advice on the state of America because there is basically nothing we can do about it now, so just see how it all pans out and hope it doesn't kill us all. He said some other things (I think apoplexy was mentioned in regards to a certain someone), but Stephen Fry is a god, so he can say whatever he wants. Me, on the other hand, before I jinx myself already, I hope every one has a great holiday to end out this year, no matter if your year was good or bad, I hope that everyone has an amazing 2025!