what i did on my winter vacation

i have a bit of a crochet problem... i'm a big girl, i can admit it.

i find that every available moment for the last year or so, i've been crocheting.  i've made blankets and scarves and hats and gloves and mittens and dishtowels and ... well, you get the picture.
i've made opera sleeves and rugs that double as wall art.
it's now january 3rd, and i'm back to it again.
on new year's day, i made a bookmark case for my son who collects bookmarks. on the second day of the new year, i started a set of fingerless gloves for my eldest son.
my mother has requested a bedspread and i have a baby blanket for a friend, and i'm determined to make a fancy, intricate scarf for myself.

i've procrastinated today and not done much with the gloves, simply because i'm pooped.  Courtney and I just finished a Julia Child's roast chicken dish and put it in the oven. 2 hours of prep + 2 hours of cooking time should equal a great dinner, only now i don't want to do anything but sit, veg and watch the kids play the Wii.

during my vacation (which was exquisite, btw), i had great plans for things i wanted to get done for my creative side.  work of late, has worn me out to the point of wanting to do absolutely nothing when i get home but cook dinner, take care of household necessities, crochet and go to bed.  it's been a little depressing in that aspect.

i did accomplish a lot of cleaning, cleaning out and organizing.  my house feels so much better and pulled together.  (when i get too busy with work, or just feeling lazy, housework is the first thing to be sacrificed.  not that my home is ever dirty in a pig pen sort of way, mind you.  but i do succumb to the librarian type stacks of books and organized chaos stacks of paper and such).  i cleaned out closets and bedrooms and bathrooms.  i decluttered my craft supplies, and organized my yarn stash. the only thing, organizational speaking i didn't do was a clean up on my crochet patterns. ha! i even worked on two computers that were in need of repair and got them both up and running.

the kids and i spent a lot of time playing Wii and coloring.  the girls and i made stained glass windows and colored mandalas.  we cooked good food, stayed up late and slept in.  there was luscious coffee in the morning, savory food and laughter in the evening. we debated mythbusters and had ethan itching to show us things that would and would not work. we went to the movies several times and had the checkout lady at the market trying to wrangle an invitation to our house for new year's eve.

the major thing i didn't do, that i wanted to do, was devote some much needed time to my creative side.  i began writing again, something i'd not done in a while, and i spent a half day working on my inspiration journal.  affixing all of those loose odds and ends that i've stuck in it over the last few months.

there is a very real feeling of gearing up now, of getting ready for the year ahead which holds so much possibility.  i have two major decisions facing me, in my craft work. i don't have time to do both major projects, so i have to do some intense risk analysis on which would be the better bet (yes, this is my day job sneaking it's way into my real life).

i have a book that is niggling in the background of my thought that i owe some time too.  my Muse, when ignored, is a bitch.  if i don't start paying some real attention to her, the next big thing i write is gonna hurt.

for now, life is a good.  i feel renewed and refreshed from my vacation.  as i sit here watching my cat sleep on my printer, i'm dreading ever so much the return to the rat race. but for now that return is inevitable.

as the soft light of the winter day dances its way across my kitchen floor, i smell the roast chicken that Courtney and Julia and I made, i hear the laughter of the children and my husband from the living room.

i welcome the burgeoning gifts of the new year with open arms.

shouldn't you?

 this song, time after time, by Margaret Whiting, completely captures my mood now...