Fun Things

This year more than ever I am loving the New Year.  2017 was pretty bad right? It still feels insane to me that we have an insane president.  It's still been a hard adjustment, moving. The daily drudgery of raising children still surprises me.  As they grow so do their problems.  It's hard, great too.
This year it feels like we may finally have our ducks in a row.  This could be the year folks.

For me it starts with getting my shit together.  Cleaning out cabinets and drawers, decluttering and focusing on needs only.  It's so freeing to walk into Target and only get the coffee filters and bathroom paper cups that you went in there for because you simply know that's all you need.  Ahh bliss.

The new year for me is also about rejuvenating what we already have.  Looking back at old cook books, diving into stories I still haven't read with the kids, going through fabric and making plans for single skeins of yarn.  With so much abundance given and received in these last weeks it feels so good to just settle in.

Currently Enjoying...

I just started reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane with Ainsley.  She's enthralled.  I remember reading it as a young 20 something and being floored once again by the brilliance of Kate DiCamillo.  Brillance.
Lousie is diving into Letters to Anyone and Everyone, a favorite of Ian's and mine for a while.  SO fun that she's old enough to re-read it on her own.  She's also been enjoying Calvin and Hobbes comics, this Disney Princess comic I got her for her birthday, The Zita the Spacegirl series and a new series I found for Christmas.  Love having a little reader in the house.
Felix is LOVING his new pop gun we got him. I'm thrilled I finally found a benign solution to his "I want a shooting gun" phase. We're still plugging away at his reading book and even though I've been sporadic at best with doing it with him he's keeping up and reading like a champ.

I just finished the Heart's Invisible Furies.  It's definitely not for the faint (or prude!) or heart but goodness was it divine.  I haven't read such beautiful character writing in a while. Sad it's done.

Just today I re-delved into some old cookbooks.  I'm officially over making sandwiches for the kids for school lunches and this book never disappoints.  Just tonight I made a veggie and cheese rice with chicken sausages to put in thermoses for them.  Next on the docket is an avocado bacon and corn pasta.  Yum. I'm also really enjoying Keepers, Molly on the Range, and The Family Cooks. While blogs and online recipes are super convenient I don't think anything can ever replace and well done cookbook.  Right?

Now that Christmas knitting is over I am so pumped for the freedom to get greedy and make myself some things.  My dad got me skeins upon skeins of a beautiful red natural wool yarn for my birthday last year that I am FINALLY going to make into a sweater/coat.  Been eying this pattern for over a year and Ian got it for me for Christmas! Time to cast on.
I do have a tiny spring sweater to make for my 4 month old niece.  Nothing like pulling apart a perfectly good newborn sweater because you never got around to finishing it in time to give it to her before she grew out of it!
I also need a new hat. I have a head that hates hats.  I just can't find one I like.  So I figure I'll knit a few simple ones and make do.  This one looks promising, and I love the slouchy beret look (hoping it won't flatten my curls!)

For me this new year feels like it needs to be about getting back to who I am when I like myself the best.  I'm starting simple.
Drinking big glasses of water in the morning and taking my probiotic BEFORE I even take a sip of coffee.  Making sure I find time in the day to do exercise.  I pulled out my 30 day shred which I love when I want a quick sweat, and my favorite Pilates and yoga videos when I just need some movement.  We just purchased an inexpensive exercise bike which I'm looking forward to using to get some much needed cardio in when this weather doesn't allow my lungs to breathe well outside and the dang gym parking lot is so full all the time.

I also need to find time in the day to make something.  Those simple knitting projects are helping but I want to accomplish some of the things that have been on my list for a while.  Finally finishing that quilt for Ian and I. Also finally trying my hand at a fabric art wall hanging.  There is one blank wall in particular that's driving me wild in our house and needs some art.  Finishing the paint by number my mom got me last year. 
For some reason these bigger projects have been daunting.  Most likely because of the puppy.  It's hard to lay out a quilt with her around!  Winter hibernation seems the perfect time to figure out how to so these bigger projects can happen again.

This past year has been such a struggle.  Today I feel hopeful that this new year (my 34th) will bring some wisdom and ease.  Hoping for that for us all.