Penultimate Day 2011

We are down to the nub of 2011, having burned the metaphorical candle of the year down to almost the end.

Jake, our little black cocker spaniel, died this week, a couple of days after Christmas. He stopped eating and when Thomas came home and found that he has soiled himself and lay in it, unable to get up or away, we knew it was time. I was out of town with the family so he took Jake to the vet and was with him while the shots were given. I hope Jake knew we loved him. We took him in after our last cocker died, he was supposed to be a foster. He was, even then, older and challenged. He was profoundly deaf. He stayed with us such a long time and was such a sweetie that I told the rescue to consider him adopted. He was a funny, chubby little dog, I called him my Fat Baby. He hated going outdoors, and every time we left the house for a walk, he looked back as long as he could see the house. Then when we were in the home stretch and the house was in sight, he walked faster and faster to get home sooner. He used to stand up on his hind legs on the couch, with his paws on the back, looking at nature from indoors. That's as close as he ever wanted to get to "outdoors." He insisted on sleeping in the bed, and even when he couldn't jump up anymore, we always lifted him up to join us. I will miss him.

I am revisiting my 2011 goals one last time. Here they are:

• Finish at least 6 quilting projects
• I think I finished this, as well as making some new quilts. Yay!
• Take part in at least two ATC trades
• Well, I did one. 50% is not bad.
• Attend MAQ in July
• Did it!
• Do at least one volunteer activity for CSAC each month
• I surpassed this. I did at least two adoption shows, went to the volunteer meeting, and did many, many home visits. In face, I have a home visit to set up for next week.
• Read at least one work of non-fiction each month during 2011. I think I did it. I read:
• A Small Furry Prayer - Dog Rescue and the Meaning of Life by Steven Kotler
• Personal History by Katharine Graham
• Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour by David Bianculli
• Staying True by Jenny Sanford
• Howard's End is on the Landing by Susan Hill
• Bad Dog: A Love Story by Martin Kihn
• Lost and Found by Geneen Roth
• Beaten, Seared, and Sauced by Jonathan Dixon
• The Feast Nearby by Robin Mather
• A Secret Gift by Ted Gup
• Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Nina Sankovitch
• My Year with Eleanor by Noelle Hancock
• Tout Sweet by Karen Wheeler  

That's probably more non-fiction than I've read in the last three years. Having some kind of goal for my reading turned out to be a good thing, it make me pick up things and persevere with them when my first impulse was to stop. Several of these books were about books and reading (Susan Hill/Nina Sankovitch), others were about dogs (Kihn/Kotler), and another small group was about food (Dixon/Mather). The rest are a mish-mosh. I am never going to read as much non-fiction as some other people do, I prefer the freedom of fiction. I also know in fiction that things aren't true. One of the thing that bothered me is that when you read non-fiction, you wonder how much truth you are really getting. Did Jenny Sanford tell the truth about her part in the failure of her marriage? Is Karen Wheeler really as shallow and boy-friend obsessed as she makes herself out to be? Also, as I read biographies...since we almost always slant things to make ourselves sound better, isn't biography a sort of fiction? Anyway, I don't know what my focus will be in 2012, but I want to have a plan.

All in all, I'm satisfied with  my performance. I will spend the next couple of days thinking about what I want to accomplish in 2012.

Tonight we went out with our friend George for dinner and a movie. The film was the new Sherlock Holmes movie with Robert Downey, Jr.  It was enjoyable. Predictable, but enjoyable. Hugo, the movie I saw over the holiday was better, but didn't have as much action.