Monday, January 05, 2015

Happy To Think of Good Things Even Though Winter Break Is Over

This may very well be the worst Monday of the year. Not because of any catastrophic events, or front page news, but because it is the first day back to "real" life, after winter break. I truly am sighing deeply, and feeling blue. People are dragging their Christmas trees to the curb, taking lights off their houses... tragic sights that make my heart sink. Geoff remarked this morning, "The days are getting longer." I nearly moaned. I said, oh so wistfully, "I am looking forward to fall." I miss short days, long nights, and the anticipation of holiday traditions, relaxed plans, celebrations, pretty sights. I love pajama days, and too many good things to eat in the refrigerator, lists of movies to watch, nights without homework, sitting by the fireplace, and sharing the sofa with Mister Foo. I feel strong pangs of petulant regret, because of days lost to recovering from ailments, missing parties, missing family, not being in Wisconsin, Oregon, or some darling cabin in the snowy woods.

{If only I could keep to my one resolution... stop blogging, then you would be spared my pitiful tale of suburban woe.}

Fortunately, I did pick up my camera, or phone... and I have some happy moments to recall. Many happy moments, actually, and really, the only trouble is how greedy I am to enjoy more.
























It looks, I suppose, as though I will have to think of some other new year resolution, because I have quit quitting blogging, again. Key to my resolve to stay at it are Maria's sad face when she thinks Chickenblog will be no more, the return of dear friends to the blogosphere... making my interest in the Internet Infinitely greater, and sweeter. And then, just this morning, I stumbled upon a new-to-me blog, and a post about not quitting at blogging, and her thoughts so neatly and succinctly matched my own, that I felt a small surge of renewed desire to carry on, and resolve to squash the doubts I typically nurture and feed. When I think, "Oh screw it! I may never be a success, but it's some kind of habit, anyway..." well, it's hardly a rallying cry, but here I am.

Perhaps, I will resolve to embroider more, because after making my birthday cake in pink floss, served by a ROUS I felt a pleasing contentment. I may resolve to do all those usual things people resolve to do, like exercise, and eat kale, and write to Congress. Or, more likely, I will look for pretty views, pack school lunches, remember garbage day, celebrate the small and obscure occasions that fascinate me, try to be, and do, better, and daydream about next fall.

Here are some Good Things...

1. Today is Ron's birthday. Happy Birthday, Dad! I sure wish we were there to celebrate with you!

2. Alex has a working phone. This is because Geoff set me up with a new phone, which very nice, but I feel even more happy for Alex, who has my darling and dear old phone.

3. I've potted my birthday plants, and some bulbs, and they look pretty. {And this is a huge accomplishment, because sometimes I wait too long, and things get brown, and droopy and pitiful, and I am left feeling ashamed... not so pretty.}

4. The viking tent is even more fun than we imagined it could be, and that's even though it's not entirely done. {More on this later...}

5. We dropped cable. The only thing we miss are the clocks... lol.


11 comments:

Jennifer said...

It's true -- this is an end of break that's harder to accept than the start of school in the fall; pushed out of the cozy, warm hearth and back out into the dark days.... But we still have our tree up (next weekend I'll think about taking it down), there are still all kinds of special treats around in the cupboards, and this is always my most productive crafting season so there are some consolations. And I'm with Maria and the sad face at even the thought of your stepping away from here. We need you!

warren said...

I struggle with blogging lately as well and contemplate quitting as well. I mean, what I am writing about lately has been boring...not so much because we aren't doing anything, but more because it seems like there are other things to do than write about those things which seem exciting to me. It is a struggle in some ways, but whenever I consider taking it all down, I just cannot bring myself to do it. I have "met" so many great people and learned so many great things...I just can't do it. And to dispose of this diary would just break my heart...so I have resolved to just keep on writing when I feel like it and on the subject I want to write on and if only my mom and wife read it, so be it...anyhow, I like to read your posts whenever they come and whatever they are about...so share what you will, when you will!

Unknown said...

Happy new year! Please keep blogging :)

Anonymous said...

Awww, thank you, darlin'! I hope I can inspire you a little to stick around. I enjoy reading about your life, in prose, and in pictures. If nothing else, let it be a journal for your children and grandchildren to look back on someday in the far distant future. After being gone for three years, I have to say that I'm enjoying being back. I was stuck in Facebook world for most of that time, and this is so much more gratifying. I realized that I really wanted to write more than a few lines, and blogging is the way for me to do it.

I love your embroidery! That mouse is perfect. What are you doing with the panels? I probably missed that in my absence.

I would like to get rid of the satellite dish. The only thing I would miss is Food Network and HGTV.

Keep blogging! xoxo

Anonymous said...

Judy in KY here. Can't get onto Google. Technical problem, so commenting as anonymous. I love Chickenblog, so much inspiration, so many good things. I am trying to get my technical problem solved so I can get back to my own blog. It's been frozen or something and I can't get to my Dashboard.

Natalie, the Chickenblogger said...

Bloggers get it! Thank you, friends, for your understanding, for replying, and sharing your thoughts, too. Blogging is so weird... we get it, right? A little commiserating, and things don't feel half as bad... whether wrestling with back to "real" life, or figuring out the whole blog scene and our place in it. I feel better about all of it, now I've heard I am not alone.

Natalie, the Chickenblogger said...

I just left a comment on your last post, addressing the whole "locked-out" issue, but possibly you cannot even see the comment. Good luck getting Google to help you unravel the mystery. I know it can be a grueling process to figure out Internet/web issues. Don't give up! Don't surrender!

Natalie, the Chickenblogger said...

You have inspired me, SusieQ! And you are right, Warren, too... these posts hold history and memories, and it would be a shame to lose them, when someday children, and grandchildren can have them, learn from them, laugh!

You haven't missed a thing... I have been on an embroidery journey since December 1... sketching something on flour sacks and tea towels, then stitching away. I cannot help myself... I have a deep crush on my mouse-rat. I like to imagine that my taste in art is sophisticated and mature, but the truth is I simply adore mice in dresses, rats in river front houses, and tiny worlds of wonder. I cannot suppress it!

Natalie, the Chickenblogger said...

Happy New Year!
And thank you... encouragement is never out of style.

Natalie, the Chickenblogger said...

Yup. You get it.
Thank you, friend.

Natalie, the Chickenblogger said...

Oh, good... you understand! Even back to school, after summer, has a sense of freshness, and beginning. But after winter break, it feels like being kicked out of wonderland and into something cold and harsh. So, yes... let's look for the next great thing, right? More crafting! And have you heard?? This will be the Year of the Goat! What nonsense can make of this?