Day 40
Today, my brain hurts from "finishing" ...  But I did it! This was a deadline kind of thing, so my all day obsessive push to get it done was ... necessary; only because I had been putting it off for awhile because it meant downloading a program onto my computer, learning to use the program, and manually entering each note, rest and lyric off a piece of sheet music, to finally do what I needed done - push one little button and have it transposed! I have transposed sheet music (simple pieces, mind you) by hand before and I gotta wonder if it would've been faster; like, maybe only half of the day! But, I now have a pretty good handle on this program.  Hope I can get some use out of it?!! 

Day 39
This morning I picked up a book I set aside last fall about prayer.  I kid you not when I say that the intro left me somewhat speechless - "Willing? Good!  Now, determine before God that you are going to finish what you start. ...determine that you are going to spend [time] sitting at His feet, learning what He means when He says, 'Pray ...' ."  Well, what more is there to say . . . I guess I will be finishing THAT book this year! HA!

Today I also finished "loads" of laundry, some of which has been waiting since before Christmas, and a project I started last summer.  I don't know why some things take me so long, because once I buckle down and do it, it takes hardly any time at all!   I finished replacing all the cushions in our couches, as well as, adding more stuffing to the back cushions.  Boy were they comfy for movie-time with Paul!!

Day 38

I was headed down a road,

But took a second look,

Decided not to further-on,

A new one I undertook!

The first, I guess, is finished,

Though if I change my mind

I can always back up again

The old road I could find.

"The Lord will take delight in you ..." Zeph. 3:17

Day 36
Today I've completed almost 12 years of being someone's Valentine, 45 years and 344 days of being loved by my mom (maybe 9 months more than that), and 17,069 days of delighting my Creator! I'd say that's one mighty fine finish to this day!  Happy Valentines Day!!

"So here's what I think:  The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale.  Your heart's been in the right place all along.  You've got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it":  2 Cor. 8:10 (The Message)

Day 35:  Yeah!!  I have half a dozen craft classes prepped and in bins 75% ready to go; but I never get around to teaching them or I get inspired to do a different craft or I just never finish the things that I start.  I love this journey that I'm on - it is so satisfying!  I think I feel better about finishing something than I do about following an inspiration trail.  This is a dramatically surprising revelation to me.  To stay the course, so to speak, has its own unique rewards that following an inspirational path might not have.  That being said, I know I committed to not starting anything new this year, but I think I HAVE to head over to a friend's house for a mini fabric album one of these nights.  Inspiration, after all, has its satisfying characteristics too and maybe all the more rewarding after finishing something long over due.  Who says I can't have my cake and eat it too!!!!

Today I led a class that I've had in mind for a couple of years.  I gathered supplies and made a demo with a friend last July! My Laird crafting friends completed our first multimedia art mini canvas. This taught us a lot about layering and we will be ready to do a large canvas soon! (I have those half-prepped in the craft closet as well!)  Happy Valentines Day to You!

Day 34
It's a toss up today ... firstly, my store has three storage rooms which, in five years, I have never gotten cleaned up and organized.  Well today I got the mid-sized storage room tidied and mostly organized.  I found all sorts of treasures AND things to finish!!!!  Secondly, I just finished crocheting 60 nails together.  My fingers definitely look done-in ("finished")!!!

Day 33
I will steal another's words to finish this chaotic day - "So thankful for the people God has put in my life."

Day 32
"Go ahead and finish what your ancestors started."  Matthew 23:32 (NLT)

Or in this case, .... finish what your offspring started!  Heather and I took a bachelorette trip before packing up and moving to Canada in 2002!  We rented a condo on Navarre Beach in the panhandle of Florida close to where Heather was born and lived until she was four.  After settling in, she began scrapbooking the trip and I watched in awe!  This was my introduction to scrapbooking as we know it today!  Anyway, I asked her permission to finish the task and here it is!  The first suitcase to be filled with wonderful memories!  Now, to turn my attentions to finishing the other suitcases and getting our Alaska trip memories put into one (I'm thinking that red and white one)!

Day 31
Yippee!! I finished!! And I LOVE it!! -- a mini-suitcase/photo album.  There is a photo album that pulls out the one side; its intended for a travel album someday. Maybe I'll put all the photos from my trip to ______________ in it!! Thank you to the following people:  Dianne for rescuing these antique office organizers from the dumpster for your crafting friend; Marilee for thinking everything I do is beautiful; Sheryl for helping me with courage -- I do feel empowered!!; Sara for always sitting next to me, listening patiently to my ongoing outpouring of frustration mixed with joyous outbursts; and to my Northwind for fixing everything that needs fixing!  Ok - it sounds like I've published a book or something! lol  Been dreaming of this idea for a long time and I have six other boxes to make into suitcases someday, but I'm very happy to have started and finished this one.  I have two trips under my belt already - one with Heather to Florida and another with Paul to Alaska.  So that leaves four more trips - hmmm ....  Norway! Taiwan! Italy! Uganda!  That should do it!  I am a bit of a homebody after all!  Bon Voyage!! (It's a two exclamation-point kind of day don't you think!?!)

Day 30
Sometimes on this journey of finishing, I find myself confessing things I don't really want to confess;  or, at least, not to the whole world.  But it is what it is, so here goes.  I don't really like doing dishes.  The ones that get loaded into the dishwasher no problem.  Its those big or oddball buggers that need hand washing.  It is one area that I struggle with starting, don't even mention finishing! 

Every Christmas, my family has always made rosettes, and I have continued the tradition faithfully.  It is the only guaranteed "goodies" we might see around here.  Every day after the making of the rosettes there sit the rosette irons waiting to be washed.  They don't even need to be washed, per say, merely, wiped off.  But they get moved around the counter for days ..... some years, weeks ...... I hate to admit it, but some years, MONTHS!!  We have actually seen the summer come upon us and those silly rosette irons are still on the counter shoved back into the corner!  Today, while I had a million other things to do getting ready for a houseful of scrapbookers, today I decided it was time to take care of those irons! - Rinsed off the sugar, wiped them down, dipped them in oil and put them into baggies - done! Easy-breezy puddin' n' pie!!!  God Bless Me, I am a silly woman!

Day 29
I may have helped Paul finish one of his projects but no worries, as I WILL be helping enjoy the "fruits" of our labor!!!  We spent a majority of the day bottling Paul's Sauvignon Blanc. It aged in the carboy for a year and a half and it was time!  I washed 32 bottles, not 1x, not 2x, but ... 4x! Got to put on a few labels too! Wait a minute, I thought this was his hobby?  Well, I'll be glad to help "finish" this stuff! ;)  I have to say it tasted mighty fine! Besides, helping him, helped me to finish my tea, coffee and wine station in the Pensacola Room!! -- Just in time to share with my scrapping friends this weekend!

Day 28
 Finished the Pensacola Room! .... well, maybe more like finished getting it READY!!!!  Hosting my first Scrap-N-Nap!  Four ladies are scrapbooking all weekend! Steps 1 & 2, completed on previous days, took me a bit long than anticipated. I gathering all the bedding supplies from mattress pads to pretty orange bows; then, washed, dried, and folded everything.  Today, Step 3, I finished making up the two beds and putting the other two bedding kits together.  Ready or not, here they come!!!

Day 27

Stayed up too late playing with shells ....

     

    ... pau!

Day 26 - my computer is online . . . for the moment anyway.  I've been having to fb on my iPhone which is not my favorite way of typing.  All thumbs so to speak.  I probably have some catching up to do with my posts but I won't worry about that; I will just post for today. 

I did not expect to post a finish that is all about loss, but that is exactly how this one "played" out.  After working hard all season, with wins to show for it, my Denver Broncos finished big - lost big.  It happens to the best of us and there is an overwhelming response that tries to take over .... disbelief, sadness, blame, self pity, even hopelessness.  I can't help but think about my past week and the inability to finish big - that is finish big defined a certain way.  Peyton might say "yeah, like winning".  My situation is more like - a nice tidy little package to take a pic of, pat myself on the back, and post a successful end to.  But what if it doesn't go like that?  Does it mean all my hard work up to this point is worthless?  Does it mean all the work to come is pointless? No - I believe the losses have great value.  The losses are part of the hard work.  The struggle is needed to be refined. Refined implies something pretty, something special, something "fine".  Without telling you in detail of my week, I can promise you that I did not finish pretty.  I did not behave pretty.  I did not even respond to all of it "pretty". But I am surely being refined! My heart goes out to Mr. Manning. His finish was not pretty.  I want to encourage him and myself to persevere, to realize that running the race means so much more than today's outcome!  LOOK at the last year!  Persevering, running the race means living life to the fullest, working hard, valuing the losses for it is those that make the wins have so much more value! To finish implies the end of something, but I say that the verb finish is a trickster.  With or without the -ing on it, it is in the present tense, an ongoing existence. In my world to finish is a process that comes with sanding, breaking, cutting, rebuilding, loving, obeying, worshiping, creating, developing, serving, gluing, and so much more. The crafting world loves the quote "It's the journey, not the destination!"  I say its both! Wow Manning!!! - What a season!  What a career in football!  What a future you must have in store!  Keep it up! Run hard! Finish the race! I will too.

"You've all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race.  Everyone runs; one wins.  Run to win.  All good athletes train hard.  They do it for a gold medal ... one that's gold eternally.  I don't know about you, but I'm running hard for the finish line.  I'm giving it everything I've got. No sloppy living for me! I'm staying alert and in top condition.  I'm not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself." 1 Corinthians 9: 24-27; MSG