Hello, dear friends!  What an interesting week it’s been.  And exhausting given that I had the luxury of roughly two weeks of staycation.  Returning to work after any length of hiatus is never easy.  But, still, my year started off great and I hope yours did too.  To start off, when we went to have New Year’s Day lunch with friends, I got this surprise:

 

 

Yup, this is the little man (the one being held, not the one with the beard) for whom I knitted a little hat and cardigan.  (Sorry it’s not a better picture but the lighting was low.)  There was much oohing and ahhing around as well as gratitude that the day was cold enough for him to be all bundled up.  Although I’ve knitted a fair number of garments for babies and children, I’ve rarely seen them worn in the flesh.  Usually I get photos or perhaps a thank-you note since most of my handmade gifts travel thousands of miles to their recipients.  I can’t imagine a better start to the New Year than this!

Now, I said going back to work is never easy.  You may recall my complaining mentioning that my office mates and I were being moved back to the building from which we came two years before.   I wasn’t particularly happy about this move, especially since it was done over the holidays.  Also, I had a lot of wall decals to remove since I didn’t want to get accused of “interfering with state property.”  So, with this move, I had resolved to spend less time “nesting” in my new digs.  I consider myself a short-timer now so there’s  no need to get too cozy.  Yet, I have my priorities:

 

 

I had managed to salvage these wall decals and although I’m trying to eschew nesting, I’ll take whatever lifts to my mood I can get.  It makes me smile to see the kitties on my door or the silhouette on my window (and I can even see her from the outside at the street level).

I’m happy to say that by the end of this week I feel reconciled to my new office if for no other reason than … well … I’m here ;)

And I’m a roll with the book reviews!  A few days ago I finished Such is Life by Jeri Walker.  Some of you may already know Jeri from her website, Word Bank Writing & Editing.  I actually “met” Jeri through Triberr, yet another social media site that I spent too little time on.  Jeri is a freelance writer and author, with a novel in progress and a few small pieces (short stories and essays) available through Amazon.

I loved the stories in Such is Life and, while reading, frequently compared Jeri’s writing (both form and content) to that of Joyce Carol Oates (totally innocent of the fact that other readers had made the same comparison).  These are dark slices of life told with a sympathy that keeps you reading even when you know the ending won’t be happy.  Go on over to Amazon, read my review, and then pick up a copy of Such is Life.

Finally, I want to direct you to the blog of a friend, a young man I’ve been following for some time and whose weekly updates were often sources of inspiration and validation, as well as some good eye candy.  Phillip McCollum is a wonderful writer but also a dad and husband and full-time employee at a very demanding job.  So, he’s making choices, thinking hard about what direction his life might/should go in.  His musings echo my own.  Writing is something I still care about and want to do, but these days it just feels like it has to take a back seat.  Life is short.  I may be able to carve out a month of crazy writing once a year, but I don’t (yet) have the discipline and focus to put my writing first every day of the year.  And that’s okay.

I have plenty of books and blogs to read, yarn to knit up, places to visit, friends to write letters to.  Writing is always there in some form or other.

Until next time, I’ll be dancing in my chair …