Merry Christmas 2013
December 2013
It's Christmas morning and snowing lightly. The cats are curled into snoring balls in a chair by the computer. House is quiet as I wait for Susan to come home. She volunteers for a local homeless shelter and today is cooking a hot breakfast for the group. For accuracy, she had an egg casserole in the crock pot overnight to take in with her at 5:30 this morning. She'll be home soon and we'll enjoy a quiet Christmas day together.
Even though I'm starting this missive, Susan will probably finish it. Her memory is much better than mine. In preparation to begin this letter, I just re-read all of the previous Christmas letters that we have on-line. The oldest one is from 1996. It's surprising how much has happened and how little things have changed over the years. Susan and I are older, maybe a little wiser, and content with each other and the life we share.
Sad news, Reitzy Lady is no longer with us. 30 years old with bad knees and other health issues, we decided that it wasn't fair to her to keep her through another winter. She'll be missed but not forgotten. Born on our farm in Olean, she moved with us as we went to Alabama, Pennsylvania, and on to Wisconsin. She brought us a lot of pleasure over the years.
Every one else is happy and healthy, and Dalyte is starting to bond with an older gelding, the only other horse left at the barn.
Work continues to be steady for both of us, PTI and L&S Electric both look to have prospects for growth through 2014 and on. And I'm down to 137 weeks before I can retire. The 2000 Christmas letter showed the count at 817 weeks, so I'm getting closer!!
As a follow up to the lost mitten story from last year, I decided to join a beginners Bible Study group at Bethany Baptist. They meet once a week and read a few verses a session, discussing the meaning of each verse in depth and how they tie together with other parts of the Bible. I enjoy it and plan to continue. Since February, we've read Colossians and Galatians and have just started Romans. And thanks again for your prayers!
… Well, needless to say, I am delighted that we have this time studying the Word together. We have made wonderful new friends through the study. There are four others in the group… our Senior Pastor, who leads the group, and two other gentlemen who are our age and one gentleman who is about 20 years younger. It is a wonderful blend.
I continue to be obsessed with my knitting. Check out the pictures on our web page of the fruits of my labor this past year. My focus was socks and slippers and ugly blankets (for the animal shelters), but managed to get other things done also. My biggest challenge of the year was to duplicate two Christmas stockings. A friend's mother had hand knit socks for the family year's ago, and now that her family was expanding… a new son-in-law and an expected grandchild…she wanted stockings for them. I had to match the yarn… so off to Hobby Lobby with her husband's sock to match color. Got home, did not have hubby's sock!!! Called Hobby Lobby, yes, they found it and would set it aside. But when I got there the next day, no one could find it. Finally, the next day after that they called to let me know it was found. Only took me three trips across town to match yarn and retrieve the lost stocking. Then it only took five tries to match the pattern (there were three difference colors and an intarsia Christmas tree and Santa to put in) and stocking size to the originals. Thank God for my new knitting software that I got earlier this year. It enabled me to put the pattern on the computer and then run a cable between the machine and the computer to guide me row by row. Needless to say, she was happy with the results.
Machines and I were off to camp again twice this past year. My knitting retreats continue to be the high points for me. In the spring, five of us went and in the fall there were four. Not only is it a good time to work on projects that you may need help with or want to work on un-interrupted, but our time of fellowship is wonderful.
God's blessings to you for the coming year.
Susan and Paul Stomieroski
6310 Setter Road
Weston, WI 54476
(715) 355-7769
Susan@Stomieroski.com
Paul@Stomieroski.com
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