Good-bye 2013

Looking Forward to 2014 and Wishing You All a Healthy, Happy and Prosperous New Year!

The clock is winding down

Here on a cold and rainy day, everyone curled up in their respective nests, the hours pass quietly. There is so much to read, maintain, resolve and create in the midst of the boundless content provided by the web. Observing as we all succumb to our digital devices of cable television, laptop, and smartphone make me appreciate that we reside in a very different world than the one in which I grew up. Still I wrangled everyone to assemble for brunch and my husband and kids made dinner. The routine of meals maintains the comfort of predictability and keeps us moored as we orbit separately.

(Restoring order in my office and reducing the clutter- I am uncovering a lot of images as I work and seeing things anew. Hope you enjoy the vintage moment pictured above.)

The wise and unwise in us all

I'm doing something radical it seems, an effort which warrants words of "You are so brave!" from friends of uncertain standing. You see, I stopped coloring my hair. I decided I was tired of pretense. I found myself envying the men I know a little too much who seemed to take the actual color of their hair in stride. For the most part, they don't appear to subscribe to what someone else thinks it should be- it can be what it actually is. What a concept. Unlike many of my female peers who need to relentlessly engage in hiding the obvious.  No, we women must engineer to hide our physical flaws, we have to struggle in to spanx (something I thankfully don't need....yet) and find our co-conspirators, our hair colorist, or buy the box religiously at the drugstore and then surrender to the mess of covering what really is, in hopes of being what will be admired.

And my d.h., when I asked him if he was getting use to my silvery hair gave me the reply you would never seek in your worst hour, "What does it matter what I think?" Yes, a dark marital moment for sure.

Chilldom

Now that it is the day after the day after Christmas, we are settling into the vacation groove. The days begin slowly and then a wave of socializing begins. Someone heads out with the car, or someone needs a lift-often there is a kid over who eyes me with a smile and a little wariness "Is your mom going to talk to us or leave right away?" and then the chatter resumes as I make my exit.

So, it's mostly quiet. A chance to clear my desk, with time enough to make waffles as a way to move the day along, and the chance to think about life after holidays. Until they go back to school it will likely be this unfurling of lazy days, a few outings, and sufficient food to keep the various members of my household at bay.

Holiday Relief

Christmas turned out to be much more fun than I anticipated. (My son lasted through dinner and then disappeared before dessert to head over to a friend's- a better presence than last year....) The movie we chose was too crowded so we bailed and came home to prepare even more for the company coming to dinner. I didn't spend all day in the kitchen (thanks Nora!) and my offspring actually seemed somewhat pleased with their gifts. There were no extravagances- the nutty shopping sprees for "stuff" are firmly in the past.

What was lovely-
That we were together. That everyone smiled. That bickering was kept to a minimum and I felt a welcomed sense of calm knowing that all was okay in my world.