So long 2011, Hello 2012

2011 was a good year, 2011 was a bad year.

Mostly good, as all of my family is healthy, we have a safe, comfortable home and I started my blog!

The bad is that I lost my full time job in September and though I have not found a new one, we are able to still live comfortably and I have enjoyed a bit of a work break after 32+ years of working.
I have looked for work but have not found anything yet.

The following 12 photos are snippets of our lives this past year. Not necessarily the best or worst, but a bit of something from each month.

January

New Years Day, 2011. All around the table for dinner. Bill is not wearing a shirt as he had surgery (shoulder replacement) just 3 days before. 

February

Snow, snow, snow!! It seldom snows here in Occidental, so flakes that last a bit on the table are something to get excited about :)

March

Nothing much going on this month but I did craft this Lucky Day wall hanging from 

my vintage supplies. 

April

My hubby and I went to Petaluma to check out the spring Antique fair and sale. Found  a few treasures, but it is always fun to see the value of things I already own! 

May

Scrapping with some friends on the Russian River. A beautiful spot to craft, chat and relax. 

June

Family reunion time! My hubby's family celebrates with a reunion here on the ranch every year, but my family, not so often. We should though, because we had a great time!

July

We had lots of fun activities going on in July, but I think Henry and I enjoyed a Giants game at AT&T park the most. Especially as the Giants won!

August
August was a quiet month, I worked a lot. But we did take time to help Aunt Joanne celebrate her birthday. Happy Birthday Joanne! 

September

Since my job ended in September and I had been working a lot the last few months I decided I needed a real vacation. So I went up to my sister's in Oregon for a week to shop and play. 

October

I was off work just about three weeks when my old employer called me and asked if I could go to Boulder, CO and help out for a week. A free trip to Colorado, sure!

November

My friend Jenny was expecting a baby and our friend Heather and I hosted a shower for her with all our scrappy, crafty friends sharing in Jenny's joy. Jenny was due on Jan 2nd, but her sweet Isabel could not wait that long and she arrived on December 15th, a healthy bundle of JOY! 

December
December is always a busy month, with all the holiday activities, decorations and baking. One of my favorite things to do is bake goodies to share with friends and family.
One of my favorites is decorating sugar cookies with my boys.

Right now there is less than three hours until 2012. I hope the new year brings
everyone good health and happiness.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

November Daily Thankfulness

I have seen several posting on FB and blogs about finding something to be thankful for everyday of November. 30 days in November, 30 things to be thankful for in my life. 

I am sure I have many more than 30, as do others, but we often get so caught up in the "busyness" of life it is so easy to take so much for granted. 

So this month I will try and post something I am thankful for everyday. And since this is the 2nd of November, I am already behind!

November 1st. 

Sally and me in 1960? Sally is the one with hair :)

I am thankful for my sister Sally. Especially since the 1st is also her birthday! I gave her her gift last week and wished her a happy birthday then. I could wish her one here, but she does not use the computer and internet at all! I wish we could visit and chat more, especially as she is only 60 miles away in San Francisco. Time and work always seem to get in the way. Time to work harder to stay connected!

November 2nd.

The weather has been so good, the roses are still in bloom!

I am thankful today for the lovely weather we are having! I was able to tackle a painting project outside and it was so warm and sunny, the paint almost dried too fast! No signs of the cold and miserable weather they had in the east this week. Something truly to be thankful for. 

Crafty Weekend

I had the opportunity to spend the weekend crafting and since work has been no fun at all lately I decided to take advantage of the chance to play. A wonderful lady who loves to craft and scrap hosts a weekend "retreat" 4 times a year in one of the conference rooms where she works. We can scrap or craft Friday from 5:30 to midnight. Saturday 9am to midnight and Sunday 9am to 5pm. We have use of the tables and chairs and "kitchen", so we can bring in our meals to heat up or go out and grab a bite.
Once we set up Friday, we can leave our stuff "out" until we leave on Sunday. Just go home and sleep in your own bed each night. We can just scrap one day, 2 days or all three. I was on a roll and scrapped all three days this time :)
And did I mention, this is all FREE!

One of my crafty projects started out with this little foam pig I found here for just .50 cents.

After decoupaging the "P" section of an old dictionary to the little pig I ended up with this.

And there are some very appropriate placements of certain words.

Since we bring in our own food or go out to eat I stopped at the deli counter on Friday night for my dinner. I added this container of Pringles to my purchase and enjoyed the chips on Sat as a snack. I did not toss the container right away so it sat on my table for a day. On Sunday afternoon I had a strip of pattern paper I had cut, but did not use on a scrapbook page, that was just the height of the Pringles can.

I could not just pass the opportunity up so I cleaned out the can, grabbed my adhesive and altered the can that would have been garbage, into a container for storage, or treats or however you could find a use for it!

I had scrapped about 5 layouts also and was going through all my "kits" and page plans I have been carrying around from crop to crop and decided to finish this little mini album I started almost two years ago!

And I am so glad I did as I really like how it turned out.

I don't know why it took me so long to get it made? I guess the "mojo" just wasn't there and waited all this time to show up until this past Saturday?

I also completed about 5 layouts this weekend and will post those later this week.

A very successful crafty weekend! And a fun time to share ideas and laughter with some of my scrapping cohorts!

Thanks for looking!

Berta

An end and a new beginning....

The last two months at work have been crazy busy! And I have not had much crafting time, and I am getting grumpy about that! But there is a light at the end of my tunnel. On Sept 9th, I will no longer be employed. My company is consolidating and the area where I work is being transferred to other sites. And since I won't and can't relocate to San Jose or Boulder or New Hampshire, I am out of a job.

Though the thought of being unemployed is scary, I do have a good severance pkg. and unemployment,
so my family and I will get by for awhile.

But it will be strange not to get up and go to work everyday. I have worked almost 14 years at my present job and almost 19 at the job before. And almost 5 the job before that. I only had 4 days off between the last two jobs. I have never had time off that I did not know the day I would be returning to work.

Many people ask what me will I do?? My answer? I don't know? I hope to take a little time off and just play and craft and do what ever I want.
Then look to see what can I do? What do I want to do? And can I make it work?

I know I will not get bored. There are too many projects floating around in my head. It will seem luxurious
 to be able to craft, scrap, play with paper or fabric or paint any time I want.

I did get to play with a little fabric and paper this week.
My friend Jenny had a birthday on the 17th. I wanted to make her something and decided a scrap tote would be fun and handy. I found a beautiful aqua blue fabric and this fun dot pattern and sewed a tote that will hold a 12x12 plastic scrapping bin, plus a little more.

It has an extra long handle to slip over your shoulder. Usually if you are going to a crop, your hands are full with all your other scrap totes, so I thought a shoulder bag would be the handiest!

I also added an easy snap closure across the top to hold the contents in the bag. And a big flower just for the cuteness factor!

And no handmade gift is complete wtih out a hand made card.

Now that I am finished with Jenny's gift and it is delivered, I am ready to finish my previous sewing project I started before lots of overtime at work got in the way! A sneak peek is below.

I do not know what the future holds. It is a little bit scary, a little bit sad, as I will miss many of my co-workers. But also a little bit exciting. Something new is around the corner for me. What it is, I don't know.

I am thinking positive that it will be good!!

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Some words of wisdom...

Wonderful words to live by.....

seen here by way of FB

 And.....more....

Special request to all you kids returning to school. If you see someone who is struggling to make friends, or being bullied because he/she doesn't have many friends, or because they are shy, or not as pretty, or not dressed in the most "in" clothes, PLEASE step up. Say hi or at least smile at them in the hallway. You never know what that person might be facing outside of school. Your kindness might just make a BIG difference or even save someone's life!!

A post someone shared on Facebook. I don't know where it originated, but since school starts this week I re-posted it on FB also.

I remember school so well. I was not one of the "popular kids". I didn't have the best clothes, and I spent many evenings alone in my room watching TV. I did have a few friends I could count on...but never made that life long friend connection.

I had to change schools between 11th & 12th grade

I know how hard it was to "fit in".

Here' s hoping every kid has a great school year and makes many new friends.