The Little Succulent that Could

We organized a few key areas of the house yesterday.  Kitchen drawers full of clutter, a bookshelf overflowing with non-book items that really should live elsewhere, that sort of thing.  I neglected to take any photos of the disorganization that existed before and the results aren't so meticulous or impressive that they merit visual proof, but trust me, it makes me feel better to have a drawer housing tupperware containers instead of, among other things, four rolls of packing tape and a phone book we never use.

I did take this photo, though, of something we decided to keep in the midst of decluttering.  In the summer, I can get vegetables to grow and thrive in the yard, but with house plants my green thumb is hit or miss.  This little guy has new growth appearing despite an embarrassingly long period of neglect.  It's earned the space it takes up in the house and a chance to bounce back. 

We shall see.  If it continues to flourish, it'll be nice to have this reference point of how closely it brushed with death.

positive energy

Have you ever had That Day, where everything seems to go wrong, and you get discouraged because things are going wrong, and then you can very nearly FEEL additional Wrong Things coming your way because your discouragement acts as a beacon?

That was me yesterday. But it won't be me today!  I've decided to identify the good things happening to me (admittedly, there are some every day), harness that positive energy, and use it like a force field around myself to deflect the Spiraling Pit of Discouragememt.

So far today;

- An early morning meeting at work was cancelled.  Initially, I saw this as a Wrong Thing, but hey, I got my day started early, I had an unexpected hour to get things done, and I'm dressed a bit nicer than I would have been, had there been no meeting scheduled.

- A woman I don't know stopped me in the hallway to tell me how much she liked my sweater.  That in itself is lovely to hear, but she had no way of knowing that....

- I made the sweater I'm wearing today!

- I also found a box of rosemary olive oil triscuits in my desk that I'd forgotten about last week.  Say what you will about processed food, but sometimes it cheers you up.

Let's keep the positive energy going: what's going well for you today?

I'm over at Happy Sighs today!

Hey you guys, you're getting a whole four sentences from me even though I just posted yesterday. Wow, right?

I'm super excited to have a post up over at Happy Sighs today. It's part of a series called Why We Wed, Rachelle's awesome idea that's now being hosted by the equally awesome Liz at Happy Sighs. Go check it out (and keep reading while you're there, trust me).

Oh look, that was five sentences -- bonus!

I guess I took a holiday blog vacation after all.

Hey, so I was supposed to post SO MUCH during the holidays, wasn't I? Or something?  Eh, I posted on Christmas so I'll say that counts. 

To be fair, I didn't have all that time off from work.  I got a day off for Christmas and one for New Year's, so the five days of work may be jarring next week. (I did work a bit on Saturday, so that might help, I suppose.)

But, like I said when I was geared up for all! the! posting!, a lack of activity here indicated that I was busy doing fun things, and indeed I was.  There were a bunch of trips to various dog parks, and dinners with friends and family, and there was much organizing of things in our house.

(Yes, I find organizing things in the house to be fun.  You wouldn't know it if you were *in* my house, but after a stressful week these days, I start looking around for some clutter to tackle. My house usually does not disappoint in that regard.)

Anyway, I'm currently being all introspective ("what do I want to improve?  are resolutions stupid? what if you call them 'goals' instead?"), so when I figure out where my thoughts are landing there, I'll letcha know. 

Happy 2012, everyone!

very merry

The above is but a fraction of the deliciousness that was had at our fourth annual Christmas Brunch today.  It's a meat pie, made not with a traditional French Canadian recipe but with my mother's wonderfully updated approach: ground pork, sour cream, and rosemary, baked in a pie crust.

Not pictured, but equally yummy, my mother also made a spinach quiche.  There was chowder and smoked salmon and bagels and goat's milk cheese with cranberries in it.  There were homemade cinnamon rolls and gingerbread and fruit salad. We sipped mimosas and homebrew and the bourbon-y eggnog that The Awesome Husband made from scratch.  (I don't think anyone sipped all three of those things, though.)

Fourteen people, one cat, and one dog gathered in our kitchen and living room to enjoy all that great food and drink.  Our house isn't spacious, so it was definitely cozy.  And definitely awesome.

If only we had a very small Santa hat...

Cecil knows where it's at.

And by "it," I mean "Christmas spirit."  Or "sun streaming in the picture window."  One of the two.

Every time he stretches or shifts around to get comfy, there's a great deal of rustling from the wrapping paper on the gifts he's nestled in.  It's pretty cute.

May you all have a puppy curled up under your tree (if you celebrate this time of year in the manner of decorating trees) today, or your equivalent of happiness.

Hello, Christmas!

I am officially on holiday weekend and free from work until Tuesday. Hurrah!

It feels like I might be the only blogger who'll possibly be posting *more* over the holiday weekend than normal. (Note: I make no promises.)  I'm reading a lot of "I'm off for the holidays; see you in 2012"posts, and while I get where those folks are coming from, my perspective is a bit different.

Blogging for me is 100%, without a doubt, purely a hobby for me.  I don't make any money from it, I don't set blogging requirements or schedules for myself, and I don't spend a tremendous amount of time on most posts (I'm sure many of you have already figured that out).  If I have something to say, I say it.  It's great when folks choose to read, but if nobody does, there's no tangible consequence.

I intend to fill my holiday weekend with things I find fun, and a blog post is likely to be on the list.  Although, if I end up without enough time to post, at least it'll be because I'm busy doing fun holiday things, rather than working.

Cheers!