Endings and beginnings...

A new year and a decade draw to a close, and new ones are about to begin.

Looking back over the 2000's, things have changed quite a bit! DH and I became Catholic, DD has grown from an infant into a tween, my stepkids have both moved out and established households of their own, and we now have a grandson. I've changed jobs twice, started a pseudo-career as a cross-stitch designer, and started taking voice lessons. We've travelled overseas 5 times as a family, not counting the trip we were on at the turn of the millenium (we were in London 10 years ago tonight, in a large crowd on the banks of the Thames, drinking too much good champagne and waiting for fireworks). I've lost touch with some friends, but made new ones. I've done a lot of needlework, read a lot of books, spent some time on the computer.

All in all, it was quite eventful. The new decade will bring some expected changes (DD growing up and going to college, for example), but doubtless there will be unexpected ones as well, as there was this past decade.

Narrowing the focus a bit, I met some of my 2009 goals, and fell short of others. Let's review, shall we?
2009 Goals

Read 4500 pages - I blew this one out of the water, reading almost 8500 pages!

Do 20 101List items - This one...not so much. Only 9 actually saw completion.

Rivendell to Lorien - I made, sadly, virtually no progress on this.
So...
2010 Goals

Read 5000 pages - I know that I'm streaky with both reading and stitching, but since I did so well in '09 I am going to up the ante a bit.

Do 20 101List items

Rivendell to Lorien - Since I've quit WoW, and my in-laws gave us a Wii Fit Plus for Christmas that is already getting a fair bit of use, there may actually be progress on this.

I'll wrap up the year with a couple of finishes!
The Poinsettia Afghan, finished yesterday:

(Click for larger picture)

Colorway two of Tor Rhuann's 2009 Snowflake:

This was done in Caron Waterlilies "Blue Lavender" with Rainbow Gallery PB27 "Ice Pastels" on opalescent white Lugana (the pic is kind of dark). It's now hanging on my parents' tree.

Happy New Year, everyone!