Beginning again

I knew I had been away from my blog for a bit, but it's been way too long...'tis the season for other things, I suppose. Not the least which has been Christmas-ing & Santa and year-end/new year changes with work. Like everyone else, there are obligations, deadlines, commitments and also some fun sprinkled in amongst it all!

Onward ho to a new year!

My friend Ann included me in a tradition that she has with a KC friend, and that is to have a theme for each new year. The theme can change during the year, if need be. This is an attempt at visualizing/verbalizing your hopes and dreams for the year. I do like this better than resolutions - it is concise and easy to remember, especially if you make it rhyme! My theme? Possibly: '09 will be chaos and clutter-free, physically and mentally, for me.

I am continuing to refine, for '09, this theme, so I welcome your thoughts and feedback!

Christmas was fabulous! I am posting pics of my favorite gifts - the first of which is a bottle tree that Richard made for me. I love it for several reasons, but most of all because he was so happy in giving it to me. It was such a precious moment that I will always treasure. We pulled up in front of Jan's house on Christmas Eve, and he was in the driveway. He made up a story that forced us through the front door, right past the bottle tree. He had it planted by the walkway, adorned with bottles, just waiting for me to arrive. He told me he knew that it didn't look like other bottle trees on the websites he had seen, etc., but that this was his vision of a bottle tree. He made it to look more realistically tree-like. Of course, I was teary and love it more than I can say.

Apparently, Richard & I are going to trade trees and tears together: a couple of years ago, after the passing of his father, I gave him a sugar maple tree to plant in his Ripley yard as a memorial to his Michigan roots and the time that he and his dad had spent renovating that house.

It is truly a work of art!

Another amazing, artistic gift is from Vicky.

She collected our thumbprints over Thanksgiving and created a platter for me. It is precious, and captures everyone's personalities or interests. She also gave us little thumbprint ornaments that are too cute to use only at Christmas; these may need to be on the giant, front porch ficus. While we do not exhange presents, a tradition rooted in to too much excess over the years, but sentimental or handmade gifts are welcomed.

May we all have a year of treasures - Happy New Year!