<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Sithy Things]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://aggiesprite.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[LC Aggie Sith]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://aggiesprite.wordpress.com/author/aggiesprite/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Well, 2016 Is Off to a Rocky&nbsp;Start&#8230;]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p>It has been rough getting the motivation to write. Lately I have had to catch up on my health, getting yearly check-ups, making sure bones aren&#8217;t dissolving, etc. With the start of a new year, many people are beginning the &#8220;New Year, New You&#8221; routines for better health.</p>
<p>I am not really among them.</p>
<p>But I do plan on improving myself in certain areas. I have been learning to redo and repair furniture (my sister Reno Queen would be proud), purging paperwork that is decades old (found boxes in the garage that I thought were full of books, go figure), learning to patch plaster and drywall, and of course, painting everything in sight. I found a little Florentine table that had lost most of its gilt and decided to paint it in ASCP Emperor&#8217;s Silk, a red that should have been called French Bordello, in my opinion. Wait until I post the &#8220;before and after&#8221; so you can see what I mean.</p>
<p>I also have plans to continue my vocational education, and learn welding. No, I never saw <em>Flashdance</em>. It&#8217;s just something I&#8217;ve always wanted to learn. I figure if I can do well in it I can use it for artistic purposes, because who wouldn&#8217;t want to make their own version of an Alexander Calder mobile, right?? I think learning vo-tech is a good way to stay active in the coming seasoned years, so to speak. Lord knows I am not about to start jogging or doing Zumba. If I didn&#8217;t start when I was younger, it ain&#8217;t happening when I&#8217;m older.</p>
<p>Hopefully my resolution to learn how to use all sorts of power tools will culminate in re-organizing the garage into a working work station. Here&#8217;s looking at maybe six weeks of work. Well, if I start now, that is. After all, there&#8217;s bound to be something that crops up to stall me. Last week, it was friends from out of town. I imagine this week will involve a package of Fig Newtons and a <em>Firefly</em> marathon.</p>
<p>A gal has to have priorities 😉</p>
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