I really do still exist

I don't have Facebook, I don't have MySpace, and obviously I rarely, so very rarely, update this blog.

This year I did not send out Christmas cards, I did make up a poemabout my life and I left my tree in the attic even though I heard it crying out. Priorities do that to you, ya know. At least that's what has happened to me.

I have priorites. For the first time in my life I have decided to literally not sweat the small stuff. I have dust bunnies under my couch and a car with dirty tires (this is not the way I used to be!)
I have sacrificed very little in my opinion for something much better.

I will be a senior when I return to college after my break in January. I have completed 6 fast paced, brain wrenching and incredibly exciting quarters and have only 4 to go. I am in a self-absorbed little insulated world and I am not ashamed.

Next year, I say to myself, when I am a teacher I will get back to doing the things that used to matter to me. But, deep down I wonder if I really will. Maybe instead I let my dust bunnies multiply. Would that be so bad?

So, here's to 2010. It will be wonderful and scary and exhausting. It will be full of moments to cherish and moments I wish I wouldn't have to miss because of my priorities.

It will not be a year of regrets. Priorties kinda do that to ya, they take away any negativity you may feel. Priorites help you realize that there is a point to it all, a purpose to embrace and an ending . On that day you can look at yourself and say... you did it girl!

So, here's to all your priorites, may they shine and lead your way in 2010.

The first 5 people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice.
This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It’ll be done this year. (might be a little while)
4- You have no clue what it’s going to be.It may be a story. It may be a joke book, autographed picture of myself, handmade bag, or a little invention of my own! I may create you a blog header or paint something for you with my food. (That would be scary). I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows?
5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. Believe me… it may blow your mind!

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog.
The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!
Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!
Sounds like fun, right?
So, let’s play!

My Friends Book Club

Entering 2009 means my book club is beginning its third year too. It started out as a joke, literally. I was quite embarrassed by the lack of classic literature I had read in my thirty something years and wanted to change that. I told my friend Ruth who also agreed and so the "Two Friends" book club began. It was really an excuse to have a night once a month to gab and snack, but something pretty great happened...we wanted to talk about these amazing books. Another friend joined and we became the "Three Friends" book club , but then her friend wanted to join and well, you can see where this is headed. So, we are now the "My Friends" book club. I make a new flyer every year, so I wanted to share it with anyone that was wanting to start a book club of their own. Each month someone takes charge and has questions readyto move the discussion along. They also research the author and we get a to know what makes them tick. This part has turned into a really great part of the night, some very interesting authors! Here are some of the books we have tackled:

Gone With the Wind Margaret Mitchell
Count of Monte Cristo Alexander Dumas
Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger
Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy
Mystery of Edwin Drood Charles Dickens
The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck
A Good Man is Hard to Find Flannery O'Connor
Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll
The Sound & the Fury William Faulkner
Pride & Prejudice Jane Austin
Tom Sawyer Mark Twain
Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë
Crime & Punishment Dostoyevsky
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson
King Lear William Shakespeare
Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë
Ulysses James Joyce
Uncle Tom’s Cabin Harriet Beecher Stowe
Brave New World Aldous Huxley
A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens