I hope you had the
merriest of
Christmases ♥

Over here, in the big orange house,
we ate lots of candy cane peanut butter balls,
opened gifts, teased each other a lot,
played “would you rather”
and a rousing game of scattergories
at my parents
with no discernible winner
but a lot of laughter and yelling…

countless cartoons and
christmas specials
were watched…

many mugs of
hot chocolate were made…
and I got this new grinchy mug from my girl
and a new grinchy soft blanket
from Santa…

someone got a new headband and wore it every chance possible even though
it usually caused a headache…heh.

meat pies were made and eaten…
and someone made a meat pie person
with striking similarities!!

I hope you had a great Christmas…
despite the restrictions and regulations and rules…
hopefully this is our last Christmas
trying to make the best of things…
and next Christmas really IS the best of things…

I am ready for 2022.

I love the idea of new beginnings
and fresh starts and blank slates…
big plans and ideas churning about
over here….

Merry, merry Christmas to your and yours…♥♥♥
happy happy holiday from our house of
chaos and confusion to yours.

I have been choosing a word
to use as my touchstone,
as my focus point,
as my compass
since 2008

Some years, it has worked really
well for me…
other years, I had forgotten what the
word even was by February.

Last year,
my word was ignite.
It was a good word…
just maybe, bad timing.
COVID slowed me down a little
in the sense that it caused
a lot of mental and emotional stress & strain
even if I wasn’t directly negatively affected
in the way that others were.

Adjustments and fear and negativity
and the new normal and vaccines
and all of that strain wears you down
even if you aren’t aware of it at the time…
I found myself more emotional, easily angered,
scared, sad, and tired…soooooo tired.

Anyway. My point is it was not the word that failed
but the circumstances. And I did have some gains
in the areas that I wanted to move forward in
so it was not a total loss.

This year,
I knew I wanted to focus on self care.
I turned 50 this year….if you follow me here
or on other social media,
you will know that I do not always make my own
health a priority. Haha.

In 2021, I want to be truly happy and secure.
I want INTRINSIC happiness, i want it to come from within.
And when I picture that, I picture myself glowing…
so that became 2021’s word.
It just immediately resonated with me.

This means my big picture goals
are going to be related to things like
less screen time (putting my phone away),
meditation, yoga (with definite goals),
healthy eating, vitamins, medical appointments…
that kind of thing.

I am also considering stepping back
creatively in a sense.
Too often, I let myself
get caught up in what
would other people like to see,
what would sell?
Or I agree to create things based on
specifics…
which has been very good for me
as far as pushing me out of my comfort zone
but I am considering
making this year about just
free-styling…
winging it…
follow my gut feelings
and interests and see where they take me.

(this is not to say that I won’t have
any items for sale this year…just that it
won’t be my main focus during the
creative process…)

I’m looking forward to the new year…
all bright and shiny and optimistic and
hope it’s full of laughter, health and happiness for everyone.
♥♥♥