Silly me...here I thought the weather was frightful a couple of weeks ago.  Lo and behold....another arctic vortex has swung down our way and not only are the temperatures near that of Alaska but we have 2" of snow!  Who would have thought!!!! Here we are in the heart of the south!

We went to lunch today just as the flurries started to drift down.  I was so excited and trying very hard to catch the drifting flakes with the camera on my cell phone....all to no avail.  Well, I had one of those marathon 3 hour dental appointments after lunch.  As I sat in the dental chair I watched the flurries become big flakes and all of a sudden they were sticking and there was a white wonderland outside.  I had no problem getting pictures after that.

It's hard to believe that this is Georgia.  Of course, it's hard to believe how this storm brought Atlanta to it's knees.  The roads were a mess!  People had to sleep in their cars because the traffic jams prevented them from getting home.  Even the next day the snow became ice...a mess....cars abandoned the day before were blocking the roads, trucks that slid in the ice were blocking the roads...a royal mess.  But, it was beautiful in our yard.

And, the beauty of being retired is that we didn't have to go anywhere!

The weather is truly frightful!  We have had, just as most of the nation has, below normal temperatures,  freezing rain, winds that cut through all my winter wear and a puppy that just wants his normal routine of walks back.  If the past 2 weeks is any indicator of what the winter is going to be like we are all in trouble!

I have been setting up the pages for each of my projects.  It is my only resolution this year that I keep up with my progress on each project on those pages.  I'm not sure if I want to do this as a means of self inspiration or for a formal record of each quilt.  Maybe a bit of both.

Oh....a new year and new...well, not resolutions.  How about new plans (not promises) to keep up with this blog.  Time is spinning away and I would like to document how my hours are spent.  The days of writing in diaries and keeping a journal seem to have gone the way of hand penned 'Thank You' notes and lovely letters written on gently colored onion skin paper that was delicately scented.  But, I hope the things I do and the thoughts that I think would be worthwhile to my children and grandchildren at a later date.

And on that note....I will start with a brief overview of Christmas and what projects are in the que. 

Christmas....it changes with the years.  Those early years with young children were full of such excitement!  The anticipation!  The planning, purchasing, hiding and then midnight wrapping of gifts so that Santa Claus could arrive with all that magic.  And, the number of gifts that could be wrapped because a Slinky that cost just $1 was a treasure.  

And then....the girls grew older, Santa was exposed, the gifts grew more expensive and so there were fewer of them and the girls really wanted to help shop for most of theirs!  But, there were great family celebrations now with cousins and grandchildren, brothers and my mom.  

Somehow, when my mother died it all changed.  I didn't realize that providing a wonderful holiday for her was the glue that bound us all together.  Once she was gone one or more of my brothers had other commitments, my daughters had other people to share the holiday with and we moved out of state which made it more difficult to have everyone gathering in one place.  

But, this year, we had my daughter Kelly and our granddaughter Amanda with us as well as two of my nieces.  It was a quiet holiday but a nice one.  I missed my other grandchildren and I hope they know how missed they were.  

Projects!!! Well, I think I will try and keep myself motivated by posting my progress.  My on-going projects from last year are the Judy Niemeyer Bali Wedding Ring Quilt and from years ago the Piecemakers Trees quilt.  Tomorrow I will post photos of the projects and start to track the work on them.