Goodbye to 2017...

As I get ready to leave 2017 behind, I have to admit I'm ready to move into the New Year. This one has been a bit rough, though there have been many blessings along the way. I didn't accomplish all of my goals, but I did spend more time with my family, which is a great trade off.

I'm not making a list of resolutions, instead I resolve to continue pushing toward my long term goals, pursuing dreams, and allowing myself setbacks without guilt. A favorite saying in our home this year was, "It is what it is..." For me, this means accepting what comes my way, refusing to let life frustrate me when things don't happen as I'd wanted, and moving forward with hope.

Wishing you a brilliant and blessed 2018! Happy New Year!

Sail on...

What a Month...

Between me messing up my knee, one son having health issues and injury, our other son and husband working long hours, it's been one heck of a month. This is the first year we did not have a Christmas tree, sent very few cards, and I only bought a couple gifts and went in on another. I have a little shelf above my fireplace where I hung four hand crafted ornaments I bought from a cousin. I set out one Santa and one snowman. I strung red ribbon in the entryway to hang the Christmas cards we received, which were many, because my husband is a letter carrier who is well loved by the people on his route. We did have a few outside lights, but my dozens of ornaments and knickknacks never even got out of their boxes.

These are the ornaments! Aren't they wonderful?

By all accounts, Christmas could have been called a huge fail. The funny thing is, we enjoyed it as much, or even more than, many past Christmases. It was simple, quiet, and relaxing. We enjoyed each other's company. There were games, a few favorite movies, reading, and conversation. It was a lovely Christmas.

Stories, Dreams, and Memories...

I'm reading a book by the late Anne Carol George called This One and Magic Life. It's described as a novel of a southern family. It's a definite departure from her Southern Sisters Mysteries. It's much more serious but is infused with the kind of humor which comes from being part of a large, complicated family. About midway through, this paragraph stood out to me:

"Lord knows, there are enough memories.

 Live this long and they run out of your ears, disappear. 

And the ones still in your head you can't trust... 

Well, it's all dreams anyway. And dreams don't make a grain of sense. 

And sometimes I don't know if I'm beginning or ending. 

Or if any of us are. And that's all right."  

~ Naomi Cates, This One and Magic Life by Anne Carroll George

Memories. Fleeting and mysterious and sometimes disturbing, but integral for a story teller. Figuring out how to draw them in and place them in a perfectly wrapped package so people can see the picture you are trying to show them, that is the trick. It's a skill which requires intuition or training. Usually both. It's what I want to figure out how to do. It's exactly what Anne Carol George was able to do with her story, drawing me into the world of this family, compelling me to follow their journey to the end of the book.