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This is the view from my kitchen window. As you can see, we had a snow storm yesterday. The first of the year. I don’t think people were expecting it to be as bad as it was, so although schools were closed, most offices were open at the regular hour. I called my work’s snow line in the hopes that the office would open at least a couple hours later, only to hear “good morning, it’s January 14th and the office will be opening at the regular hour.” BUMMER. I left my house at 7:15am, to get to the train station. I expected to be at work at about 8:45am. I got to work at 12:15pm!!!!! Let me explain what happened: First, the roads in my village had not been plowed yet so our little Civic was having a hard time making it up those hills with all that snow. Needless to say, I missed the train. I took the next one, an hour later, only to go three stops before we encountered a tree trunk laying across the tracks. Three rail workers went out to try to move the trunk, but it was way too heavy. The train then had to go in reverse, back into the previous station to let us off so we could wait for the next train, which was an hour later. By this point it was 10am. I thought about having my husband come pick me up and just calling in to work, but I had an important meeting I didn’t want to miss later that afternoon. We waited for the next train and when it got there, it used a different set of tracks, which were clear of the trunk. (We saw the tree trunk as we passed by and men with chainsaws breaking it up into manageable pieces) The train, which usually takes about an hour to get to my work, took two yesterday because of the icy conditions and I didn’t get to work until 12:15pm. That’s 5 hours of traveling! Incredible. Could’ve flown to California in that amount of time! I get to work, check my email, and the meeting I was so determined to make had been canceled. Some days it’s just not worth getting out of bed.
But look at how beautiful the trees look all heavy with snow!
So much happened since July of 2007 that I went from writing a blog post everyday to writing not one. In the interim, however, I did move from Haverhill, Massachusetts, to Gloucester, where we bought a house. We did a bit of decorating, mainly removed the carpet by hand (ouch), had the floors refinished, had the house cleaned of all the dust, unpacked, had friends over for our first weekend in the house, had family over for Thanksgiving, went to Wisconsin for Christmas, and had friends over for New Years. Phew! I get tired just thinking of it!
But here we are. 2008. And to be frank, it's not starting out so hot. There are challenges I wasn't expecting, which have proved to be quite...trying. Nevertheless, I’ve got lots planned for 2008. I have a long list of projects I want to do for our new house (curtains, floor cushions, rugs) and some exciting plans for the website and shop (new books, textiles, totes and bags). I’m very excited to get started, although finding the time with a full time job, a part time job, and an hour and a half commute each way is…difficult, to say the least!
For Christmas, I got some great books from my family. I got the new Amy Butler book from my parents-in-law and it’s beautiful! There are a few instructions for how to make some of the projects, but not as many as I’d hoped. I guess I assumed it would include more project instructions than it actually does. But that’s okay. It’s still beautiful to look at and very inspiring. My brother-in-law and his lovely girlfriend, Heather, got me the Amy Butler sew it kit which is nothing but instructions! It’s WONDERFUL and totally makes up for the lack of instructions in the other one. I will probably use them both together, one for inspiration and the other for project instructions. My family also exchanges names every year and we all have to make that person a handmade gift. I drew my sister-in-law’s name last year and I made her a felt envelope clutch. It’s turquoise felt inside and brown felt outside with a pearly white button that has a black bird on it. Around the button, I felted three hot pink dots that add a burst of color to the bag. I of course forgot to take a picture of it before giving it to her, but hopefully my sister-in-law will take one and send it to me so you can see it.
I promise to keep in touch now that we're settled in to our house. Happy New Year!
This is the view from my kitchen window. As you can see, we had a snow storm yesterday. The first of the year. I don’t think people were expecting it to be as bad as it was, so although schools were closed, most offices were open at the regular hour. I called my work’s snow line in the hopes that the office would open at least a couple hours later, only to hear “good morning, it’s January 14th and the office will be opening at the regular hour.” BUMMER. I left my house at 7:15am, to get to the train station. I expected to be at work at about 8:45am. I got to work at 12:15pm!!!!! Let me explain what happened: First, the roads in my village had not been plowed yet so our little Civic was having a hard time making it up those hills with all that snow. Needless to say, I missed the train. I took the next one, an hour later, only to go three stops before we encountered a tree trunk laying across the tracks. Three rail workers went out to try to move the trunk, but it was way too heavy. The train then had to go in reverse, back into the previous station to let us off so we could wait for the next train, which was an hour later. By this point it was 10am. I thought about having my husband come pick me up and just calling in to work, but I had an important meeting I didn’t want to miss later that afternoon. We waited for the next train and when it got there, it used a different set of tracks, which were clear of the trunk. (We saw the tree trunk as we passed by and men with chainsaws breaking it up into manageable pieces) The train, which usually takes about an hour to get to my work, took two yesterday because of the icy conditions and I didn’t get to work until 12:15pm. That’s 5 hours of traveling! Incredible. Could’ve flown to California in that amount of time! I get to work, check my email, and the meeting I was so determined to make had been canceled. 
