The Purple Heart

Happy 2009. Until Monday (when it's time for back to work after a much needed break) it will still feel like the old year. Soon we'll have to start dating things and we'll scratch out 2008 or '08 and write 2009. Then it will feel like a New Year is here. Colleagues will say Happy New Year and ask about the holidays. Yes, the New Year is really still a couple of days away. 

So before 2009 really gets underway let's agree that 2008 held surprises for all of us. I am hard pressed to think of someone who didn't have a challenging year in some fashion. I suspect that most of us are looking forward to turning the page on 2008. I congratulate all of us on having navigated to 2009. The best is ahead. 

I had the informal goal of increased crafting in 2009 and with this blog, sharing that experience. Needle felting was on my list of "learn to dos" and I'm happy to report that I have completed my first item. Needle felting takes patience, the needles are finicky, fragile and you poke yourself a lot. The woman at the Knit Cafe told me it hurt but I laughed in my head at my incredible pain tolerance. It turns out she was more right than me.  Karyn from the Workroom told me I was going to need patience and she was right but it's a therapeutic craft and I totally get why people are into it. I left my last 2 needles at my girlfriend Ginger's house (we broke the rest in sophomoric abandon) and I've been regretting it all night.I wanted to get back at it. What I did make was without any intention of a real sense of where I was going.  The end result happens to be a purple heart.  The Purple Heart is an award given to those killed or wounded in battle. For anyone who feels a little beaten up by 2008, this Purple Heart is for you. A reward for your courage and a symbol of your ability to overcome. Happy New Year to us all.