Happy New Year

I've been seeing a lot of FB  posts lately, with some famous person making a face, and the caption reads something like " almost time for that 'new me, new year' bullshit,"  which prompted me to go back and read some of my own New Year's resolutions.

When I did, I found that I was, for the most part, pretty realistic.  And that some of the things I resolved to do, I have actually done.
OK, I have done them under duress, and because the state of my head led me down that path.
But still, I have taken the steps.
At last, I do have ONE house, where I live and work.
I do take an occasional nap, or at least I take a BREAK, and knit or read in the middle of the day, alas, alack,  something I have never, ever done.
I do take whole, entire days off, without feeling very guilty at all.
I do make an serious effort to spend time with friends, even looking up old ones that I haven't seen
for years, but who always come to mind.
I have stopped the crazy roller coaster ride I was on, and I seldom do custom orders, or anything else in my weaving studio that does not make me happy.

Getting older?  Or have I learned an incredible lesson?  Or both, hitched together at the hip.

Whatever it is, I find myself spending an hour in the morning, cleaning the kitchen, with not another thought in my head.  No worrying that I should be doing something else.
Just doing what I am doing, being in the moment, and it's ok.
Snap.   I am becoming my newer self.  Intriguing for sure.

The days surprise me, I never know how they will turn out:  and somehow that's ok, too.  It totally feels right to me.

Yesterday, doing dishes, I stuck my hand in a glass and twisted, unaware that the top edge on one side had broken off.
I think I let out a yelp, and there was a lot of blood.  Pretty sure I needed stitches, but having worked in an ER for many years, I knew that sometimes stitches were more trauma than they were worth.  So I cleaned and wrapped, and spent the day babying my hand so it would stop bleeding.  I couldn't weave, but I could still read, and oh, glory, I could still knit.
I have become adept at adapting.   I love that.

I am so enamored of this book, I may have to read it again right away.

I borrowed it from the library, and 50 pages into it, I went and bought one for my daughter who loves hawks.

The other book on my coffee table is this one.....and while it's a bit on the dense side, it is full of so much incredible information, it makes my head spin.

I'm going to give it my best shot.

My daughter came a couple weeks ago, with her labradoodle 4 month old puppy.   Roy was a prince, as usual.  I swear that there is not a mean bone in his body.

This is how he looked at the end of the day when Walter had to go home.

Christmas is over for another year.....my grand baby seems to be saying something very serious here. There was a lot of stimulation going on with our whole family together.   It was the only thing I wanted, just being with them.

I'm not going to make any resolutions this year......I am just going to keep on doing what I am doing, making the best of every single day, working at what I love, staying close to family and friends, because that is where my heart is happiest.

Every day is a gift, of which I am well aware.  I have finally learned how to stop and listen: to the sound of the earth, the beating of my heart, the rhythm of my life.

It's all good.

Happy New Year to all my blogger friends.