Happy Monday!

Our weekend flew by in a flurry of fun, surprises and busyness. We’ve been basking in the last few precious days before my family flies back across the country from us. Blessed by lazy mornings when grandma puts the porridge pot on, quiet moments with children snuggled up on grandpa’s lap, and bedtime stories read by Auntie K. Hubby and I have been spoiled by these last few weeks with extra adults around washing dishes, helping with meals, folding clothes, tucking littles into bed and bringing extra love into these short days of winter. The inevitable return to normalcy (although the idea of normalcy is laughable) is looming. It is nice to get back to a schedule but it is a bittersweet transition. For now I’m enjoying these moments and hoping to avoid the post-holiday letdown.

This weekend was full. We enjoyed sibling harmony (and disharmony), family meals, many cups of tea, indulgent calories (replete with January resolve), and unbelievably kind temperatures. We shared it with family who are friends and friends who are family. There were trains in jammies, stolen moments with books, late nights with boardgames, and a much anticipated series. There was a surprise house showing – with no other result than incredulity that three adults were able to clean the house around six children in two hours (thank you, dear Sis). There was a five month birthday. There was a sweet boy who discovered he loves to share. There were many baby kisses.

It was good.

::

How was you weekend? Are you charging into this week or squeezing in a few more hours of weekend?

My week in knitting and reading has been nearly the same as last week‘s. I’m still working on the Rae (which has grown to mammoth proportions and is starting to look more like a giant triangular blanket…) and the Green Tea. It’s a whole lot of the same but I’m trying to keep on task and finish them (remind me of this resolve when I cast on three new projects by next week).

I’ve been carrying Wildwood around with me and reading a page or two whenever I get the chance. I’ve even been propping it open to read while knitting. No, it’s not a perfect system but it does break up the garter/stockinette monotony. I may need to steal a couple hours to snuggle up and finish it off.

Meanwhile the girls and I been enjoying On The Banks of Plum Creek (oh that Nellie Oleson) and my sister has been charged with reading lots of Tintin.

::

joining Ginny for yarn along

Here we are having just flipped the page to 2012 (figuratively as we still don’t have a new calendar…).

New Year’s has never been a favourite celebration of mine. It’s always just sidled up, riding the coattails of our Christmas festivities. We’ve established certain traditions surrounding it and more again this year but we’re still pretty dull around it. We pause the game, the movie or occasionally the snores to share a New Year’s wish. We feast with family and friends. We get back to a schedule, regular bedtimes, foods outside the umbrella of chocolate. New Year’s is the bookend on our December revelries.

This new year, though, has felt somewhat different. I feel this year, more than previous years, the weight of its promise. A new year, a fresh start, a renewal of hopes and dreams. A reset button of sorts on all those things I didn’t get done last year and a chance to look ahead.

Without consciously deciding it, my mind has filled with plans, goals, hopes and desires for this new year. Some to share, some to ponder, some to challenge and some to release. They’ve been swirling around in there, amongst the unfinished Christmas gifts, laundry and Christmas…er…New Year’s letter I’d like to write. And so I’m beginning to name them…sharing a few with hubby, jotting them down in my journal, let them gather speed.

But rather than holding myself to another  (particularly longer) to-do list I’m naming a word for this coming year, aspire. Rather than resolving or goal-setting, I’m choosing to aspire. Aspire to try new things, have more fun, love deeper, drop anger, smile at strangers, cherish the moments, enjoy the twists and turns of this adventure…and on the more practical end I just may have told Dan I am going to aspire to tackle my yarn stash. Doesn’t aspire have a much more forgiving tone to it?

Yes, I have many aspirations but I know also how little I can foresee the path this journey will take. So I’m holding tight and looking forward to this year of promise.

::

Have you made any resolutions for this new year? Or perhaps, like me, you’d prefer to aspire?

Either way, I’m wishing you many blessings for this new year!