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11 Things I Learned in December

Oak Grove Bridge IXX, oil on canvas, SOLD
  1. By the Book is a fun podcast by two women friends who pick a self-help book, read it, follow it for 2 weeks, and report about it in 2 episodes. They either do or do not recommend the book to their listeners. Then they tell what the next book will be. WARNING: They cuss a lot!!
  2. Did you know a crown on a tooth costs $1232. I learned this in December. Ow.
  3. I’ve been wearing contacts for 42 years and just learned that the reason for 2 pair of lenses is to rotate them. I thought the 2nd pair was to be stored in case of loss. 
  4. I pretend that my advanced drawing students have to bully me into teaching oil painting, but in December I realized how very enjoyable these workshops are for everyone, including me.
  5. My website looks out of date. Do I care? Do you? Finding a webdesigner who is responsive, careful, doesn’t want to change platforms, knows how to install and operate a shopping cart, can preserve my almost 10 years of blogging, and who can teach me how to maintain my site is a very daunting task. I’ve had two very wonderful designers, and each one quit for the sake of their children. Here I go again.
  6. Not everyone can listen to and feel music. While being heavily involved in a Christmas musical, this came as a new piece of information to me. I thought anyone could learn music by listening, and just know without being told exactly when to start after hearing the introduction. I learned that this just isn’t so.
  7. After a year without a cell phone, I know now that I truly don’t need a cell phone. 
  8. I read over 100 books this year. I learned that by keeping the list on my GoodReads account that I don’t feel the need to put the best ones on my blog. Does anyone care?
  9. People don’t notice earrings. Many times I deliberately wore a mismatched pair just to test my theory, and no one noticed.
  10. Blue is out of style in home decorating. I bought denim to recover the armchair because there were no other navy-type blue fabrics. None!
  11. Wax-based colored pencils by Blackwing are stronger than the ones made by Prismacolor. Too bad they only come in 12 colors.

Did you learn anything in December? Want to share? Comment or email me. . .

6 Comments

  1. I love your musings and introspection Jana. Happy New Year!! 🙂

    • Happy New Year to you, Kathryn, and thank you for reading, enjoying and commenting on my musings!

  2. I have found that fabrics for home decorating is getting harder to come by. Joanns has greatly decreased their supply, and with the all the “Home Fabrics” shutting down, I am at a loss trying to find fabric to slipcover my chair……The fabric district can be very pricey and I can’t see and feel what’s on the internet. DIY seamstresses must be a dying art.?

    • Gina, I think you are right. It is almost impossible to find fabric to make clothing because it is all about crafts. I was hoping that upholstery would sort of fall under that same category. The upholstery shop had tons of samples, but I can’t bring myself to pay $50-60 a yard. I will look online and see if there is a place that will provide samples. . . we should be able to figure this out with “the google”!

  3. #1 Thanks for the warning. No podcast/video/audio/blog is worth filling my ears with obscene language.
    #2 No, and I hope I never will!
    #5 I feel your pain!
    #8 Very commendable, especially in today’s e-obsessed society!
    #10 Nothing is “out of style” in my life. If it fits (clothing), and/or has sentimental connections (furniture), it stays.

    Happy New Year!

    • Sharon, your feedback is so fun – thank you, and Happy New Year!


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