TRYING NEW THINGS
As a rule I don't like to make New Year's resolutions. Too much pressure–I already have enough of that with deadlines, and too much sense of failure if I don't follow through, and who needs that? But I did promise myself that in 2011 I'd try new things, and I'm proud to report that I've already done so!
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I did it!
First new thing I tried is country line dancing, and I have my mom to thank! Mom lives in a retirement community in Florida and inherited the line dancing program when the former line dance leader decided she didn't want to do it any longer. So when my parents visited us for the holidays, I had access to the Palm Bay Line Dance Leader and I took full advantage. Seriously, you should see my mom do the Boot Scootin' Boogie! She's eighty-six years young and is really amazing. She also taught me Elvira, Love Potion #9, Achy Breaky Heart, and Black Velvet. She not only taught me, she taught my DH as well (he does a mean Achy Breaky Heart, folks!). We had so much fun, we've arranged to host a class in our neighborhood's clubhouse to teach our neighbors. Yee-haw, y'all!
The other new thing I FINALLY tried (I've wanted to for years) was to sew something a person could wear. I've made curtains in the past—but no one wears curtains, so that didn't count. Since my only previous attempt to sew clothing was way back in 8th grade (and it didn't go very well), I decided to start out with something really easy. I choose a pattern for pajama pants. And that's when I discovered that just because the pattern's name is Simplicity doesn't mean it's simple! The instructions SUCKED! Thank goodness my mom was there to help me decipher the steps because they were NOT well explained at all. Clearly those people at Simplicity patterns don't actually think that anyone with NO sewing experience will ever buy their product. It took some doing, but I am proud to announce that my husband is now the owner of a pair of pajama pants bearing the University of Georgia logo.
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Not as simple as Simplicity would lead you to believe!
They fit him quite well. Of course, he could gain fifty pounds and grow a foot and a half and they'd STILL fit him quite well. (Hey—I made the extra-large size to be on the safe side, 'cause who likes tight pj bottoms, right??). He says he loves them and I love him for saying so. I'm hoping they'll shrink in the wash, especially since I was apparently supposed to pre-wash the material (who knew?).
Next up on my list of new things to try is to prepare some recipes I've never attempted before—ones with fancy words I can't pronounce in them. How about you? Have you tried anything new lately? Is there something you'd like to try if you had the time/money/opportunity? Do you have a tried and true something that you'd never consider changing it because it's just absolutely perfect for you?
