i know that sounds dramatic
but….
i’m allowed.

i have been sick.
that’s gotta buy me some
artistic liberties, i think. :)

all in all,
2022 was actually a pretty good for year
for me.

a bit of a recap in bullet point form:

got a new laptop named iris
tried chef’s plate with mostly success
made a smurf display in the corner cabinet
watched roughly 19 years of grey’s anatomy IN ONE YEAR
wisdom tooth extracted after about 9 years of “it’s fine”….
survived COVID (August - made me miss family camping)
survived pneumonia (December - SO MUCH WORSE than COVID)
purple hair in various iterations
read 38 books! (goal was 35)
survived fiona with one tree down & a mcgyvered sub pump
rebuilt the deck with Cam’s help
painted many things in my front yard purple, orange & yellow, including the door (purple)
my dad’s emergency surgery scare
did the wellness cocoon, acupuncture, chiropractor & may have gotten a family dr
brought home samir the squishmallow, a car tent, a pink car mattress & a hammock
got a park pass, went roadtripping — Wolfville with Cathy; Isle Madam with Andrea; and Cabot Trail with my brothers & wives & island-tripping with old friends home from away Angela & Chris
got coyote spray and reclaimed the trails!!!!
saw the skydiggers again with Cathy, heehee
pushed out of my comfort zone with 80’s rollerskating!! and the Land & See photography workshops!!
had a totally sweet and unexpected surprise on my birthday
did the grown up stuff — Bell cell phone saga; got the furnace cleaned; replaced a door knob ALL BY MYSELF
saw an almost really big murmuration!!
listened to 182, 207 minutes of music
sat wayyyyyyy too close to the fireworks; went to the parade; stock cars and smash up derby; minions movie; (all of this by myself and that’s ok) :)

i did some creative stuff, too, but….
not really enough to talk about.

painted some cards…did most of a month of inktober…
started a floral alphabet, finished nothing.

but that’s ok.
some years you do, some years you don’t.

but…..i kinda feel excited about 2023….
i have plans and goals and aspirations and
i feel all butterflies-in-my-belly
when i think about it,
and THAT is a good way to feel
about a new year coming in.

i hope the end of december
finds you happy and loved and
full of turkey dinners and
super sweet cupcakes…

and sending you all the best for 2023!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Every year, I choose a word
to set the tone for what I want out of
this coming year…
to set the stage, establish the mood,
create the atmosphere…

to start the year off on a right foot…

I have been doing this since 2008 and some years,
it has worked very well for me;
other years have been a bit of a dud.

I have chosen words like
embrace, adventure, happy, risk,
balance, brave, leap, connect, dare and focus..

Last year, I chose glow
and, honestly, it was one of my
best choices ever.

The other years that I can say
worked really, really well
were unfold and adventure.

But glow?
Glow was fan-frigging-tastic.
And possibly because 2021
was a good year for that kind of thing,
for self care and calm,
for being introspective, for spending time
focused on me…
when I chose that word,
I was picturing intrinsic happiness…
happiness from within.
And that’s what I got.

I did things for me and by myself.
I pushed myself out of my comfort zones,
I allowed myself comfort when I needed it.
I adventured and created and rested and
made decisions all based on what I felt
I needed most…not what I thought others
might think, or want, or judge.

I looked after me.
And it was a fantastic year.

Like, seriously, a FANTASTIC year. ♥

This year, I didn’t contemplate my word
for long…it was like it came to me
immediately…no hmming and hawing,
no wondering if it’s the right word…
the word RESOLVE just popped into my head
and left no room for any other words.

I feel like I start a lot of things,
I talk about what I want to do,
what I should do, what I need to do…
but if you know me, you know I often
don’t do any of these things.

The definitions of resolve is
to decide firmly on a course of action…
a firm determination to do something.

And that really spoke to me.
Loudly. With all caps and exclamation marks.

So, hello 2022.
C’mon in. I’m ready for you.

Happy new year to anyone that still
shows up to read this…heehee.
I mostly keep this blog as a bit of a journal
and accountability tool for myself
but I appreciate anyone that takes the
time to stop by my little weird
and random corner of the internet-world.
I hope you have a year of laughter, health and
happiness! ♥