Fresh New Calendar

I love this lull after the holidays before the beginning of the new year.  I slowly putter around the house and clear up the chaos putting the house back to rights.  I feel like I have a license to throw out stuff I would otherwise hold back on. Half bottles of condiments in the refrigerator ... gone!  Magazines and catalogs .... gone!  Boxes in the basement to things I bought over the year  ... gone!   The odd pair of shoes in the laundry room that don't belong to anyone that lives here .... gone!  Clean out the file cabinets and junk drawers too while we're at it and throw out all the mystery keys and tangled shoelaces. 

I keep a big calendar in my kitchen that holds all the important events and appointments for the family.  On a quiet evening I take down my old, worn out calendar and transfer all the birthdays and anniversaries over to my shiny new model.  Reading through all the scribblings on the pages of each month reminds me of what we were all doing throughout the past twelve months.  Years ago it was pediatricians and orthdontists and birthday parties for friends.  Lots school plays, open houses and band concerts and soccer games.  Then it was driver ed courses and road tests and regents exams.  Soon it was college visits and proms and senior teas.  Now it's pretty much just my hair appointments and the heart worm reminder for the assistant.   I feel a little sad when I go through the past year now and see all the blank spaces staring at me.  How did the boys grow up so fast? 

Well, here we are embarking on a shiny new year with a shiny new calendar and I'm getting a little morose.  This year will have lots of new adventures in it and lot of new quilts and sewing projects.  I'm teaching my friend Mary to make a quilt soon and the ORB quilt group is starting it's NINTH round next week.  I'm getting my dining room turned back into a sewing room this weekend as I put away the tree and I'll be all set to start sewing again in 2011. 



Thanks for all the concern for the assistant.  The vet checked her leg out pretty thoroughly and he didn't feel any evidence of tears or breaks.  Whew!! It seems it's an inflamed knee, probably from slipping on the ice.  She got some cortisone shots and is on some meds and was told to rest.  She is taking her resting orders very seriously and has been faithfully snoozing away almost all day lately.  She is already walking better so if all goes well she will soon be back to one hundred percent.