You Get What You Pay For

I purchased an inexpensive acrylic stamp set with birthday greetings recently to use in my newfound card making hobby. I cannot get those stamps to leave good impressions no matter how hard I try, not with my stamping platform or using acrylic stamp blocks. I even tried a new ink pad thinking that the old one has dried out too much. No luck. I pretty much wasted my money. I am not happy.

So, being a problem solver, I decided to type up some birthday greetings and sentiments in a Word document and print them out to use on my cards. That is working much better for me. I am more productive and less frustrated with the process. I have a lot of cards to make this year for the birthday club that I belong to and I need things to run smoothly and efficiently. This is going to work for me.

A good reminder that you get what you pay for. Think twice next time and spend your money wiser.

Happy New Year, 2026

As expected, I was fast asleep when midnight rolled around. I did hear some fireworks in the neighbourhood around 10:30 p.m. but nothing after that. If there was any at midnight, I slept through it.

One of the new year ‘traditions’ that I will not be participating in is the Polar Bear Dip into Lake Ontario. It is currently -11 degrees Celsius (12.2 degrees Fahrenheit) and I imagine with the wind chill it feels even colder. What are these people thinking?

My goal for today is to get the bathroom cleaned. Maybe I will sit at the craft table for awhile and make some birthday greeting cards and/or Halloween ATCs. My son, the birthday boy, will come over to see me also. Do you know how difficult it is to find a Happy Birthday/Happy New Year card in the stores? Most years they have none. For every other holiday, you can typically find plenty (Christmas, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, etc.).

Happy New Year everyone!! This year is the beginning of a new chapter in your Book of Life. Dream big and make the most of 2026!

New Year's Eve, 2025

I’ve never been much of a ‘party girl’. New Year’s Eve was most often spent at home, usually in bed and sound asleep long before the clock tolled midnight. Not so 50 years ago on December 31, 1975. Let me take you back to that night.

It was the last game of one of the first big Canada/Russia hockey series. I was lying on the couch in labour, had been since around 2:30 p.m. that afternoon. My husband, the father of the child, was glued to the television. ‘Can you hang on until after the hockey game?’ he asked. ‘I’ll try.’ I said weakly.

I DID in fact hold on until after the game but I could not tell you who won or lost. And frankly I did not care by that point. He called a taxi (we did not have a car) and he bundled me in the vehicle and off we went. We arrived to the hospital by which time I could not even walk.

A perky little nurse appeared with a wheelchair all full of smiles and an excited ‘Happy New Year’! It must have been midnight by then. All I wanted her to do is get close enough to punch that vivacious smile off her face. Luckily for her, she stayed out of my reach. I’d been having contractions for almost ten hours and I was ready for it to be over.

My doctor appeared to check in on me in a tuxedo. He must have come straight from the party he had attended. After verifying that my child was not going to arrive imminently, he left, I assume to get some sleep. Not many girls can say their doctor arrived at the hospital in a tuxedo when they were in labour though, can they?

My son ended up being the first baby boy born in Thunder Bay in 1976. His name was in the paper and we got a bunch of free stuff from local businesses. And 20 years after his birth on December 31, 1995, they replayed that hockey game on television and my son watched it. Obviously Canada won or it would not have been such a big deal.

What is your most memorable New Year’s Eve experience? I would love to hear them.

A Time for Reflection

With the end of the year fast approaching, many of us take time to reflect on the year that was. We think about our wins and losses, what we accomplished and what we did not. We often berate ourselves for the choices we made and decisions that did not serve us as expected.

Honestly, be gentle with yourself. There were likely lessons you needed to learn and, as we all know, some of the ‘best’ lessons are those learned the ‘hard way’. The fact that you made it through, in spite of the trials and tribulations along the way, is to your credit. You can move forward into 2026 better knowing your capabilities and strengths, and use them to guide you forward.

I personally don’t make New Year’s resolutions, as more often than not I fall short of my lofty goals very early in the year. Perhaps I set my expectations too high or over-estimate my abilities. For that reason, I’d rather make a list of things I’d like to work on with no expectation of succeeding, just things I’d like to change or improve upon.

How do you feel about New Year’s resolutions? Do you make them? Have you been able to keep them? I’d like to hear about your experiences too.

Boxing Day, 2025

Christmas is over for another year and time to prepare for the New Year. December was busy for me. I decided to make a lot of the Christmas cards that I sent to family and friends this year. Yes, I am diving into another area of paper crafting. You can see a few examples below…

It is hard to tell from the photo but the pink card has silver accents on the patterned paper and the paper on the left side is silver also. It was a scrap from some packaging I picked up.

I have now started my birthday cards for 2026. I belong to a Birthday Club on Facebook and I want to try to make all the ones I send out. The first two cards are below.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and are looking forward to new adventures in 2026.