Happy New Year, everyone, and here we all are once again. You might notice that I’ve made some changes to this blog. I’m not yet done. Perhaps I’ll never be done, but I needed a change, and I needed it before the new year started.
As many of you already know, the last six months of 2022 were rather hellish for me and my family. Both of my sisters died unexpectedly as well as two of my cousins. The last (so far) was my oldest sister who died the evening after Thanksgiving, leading me to take the rest of the year off, so to speak. I can’t say I’m “better” since just thinking about my sisters will bring tears to my eyes. But I might be adjusting. Maybe.
I know death is inevitable. I get that. I just thought that everyone had more time. My mother, after all, is 99 and still squeezing some quality out of her life. I am, however, in a perpetual state of alertness now: always anticipating that phone call; always hoping, when I call her and her phone rings and rings and rings, that she’s just in the bathroom.
Well, there was that time recently when her phone rang and rang and rang because she had mistaken her TV remote for her phone. That gave us a good laugh.
When I ask her how she feels and she responds, “With my hands,” I can’t help but feel she’s got a lot more time ahead of her.
Meanwhile.
I have no resolutions for this year. I don’t believe in resolutions anymore. Too much pressure especially since I usually don’t do what I’ll say I’ll do and I often do what I say I won’t do.
I guess you could say I’ve resolved to have no resolutions, but I am lining up a few things to bring myself back to writing and to the social world I’ve been neglecting.
First, I’m cleaning up my blog, much like cleaning my house when I’m expecting guests.
Second, I’ve resubscribed to SmokeLong Fitness to get myself back into the writing groove. Yes, I still have my novel to work on, but it seems like a kind of punishment to focus only on that … at least right now.
Third, I’ve signed up for a Yoga Fundamentals Workshop at my local yoga studio. Four Saturdays where we will do a deep dive into the basics of yoga. I’ve been practicing yoga for over ten years but never really thought much about the science behind the poses. Plus, the instructor is an awesome woman who brings joy and humor to my practice. One can never laugh too much.
Last but never least, I’m also knitting. Knitting grounds me more than anything else I do.
We have a lot going on around our house … literally. Just recently we had a hardscaper install a patio and walkway on the west side of our house. The crew started work before Christmas and finished on December 30. Next, we’ll have a fence put up, making our patio private and our next-door neighbors happy. (Apparently, they don’t like seeing into our yard any more than we like seeing into theirs.) Roughly about the same time, we’ll have work done inside our house: replacement of hallway floorboards damaged by water from a leaky valve, and new tiles in our foyer. After that, we’ll take a breather and give our checkbook a rest.
So good things are still happening. I just have to make them happen. Hence, this post.
Happy New Year!
So tell me, dear Readers, what are your resolutions, if any, for this new year? And what, of all the things you do, grounds you the most? Please share in the comments, and thank you for reading!