Saturday, January 29, 2011

January...so long!

Heading into work yesterday, Ron and I drove through several patches of varying degrees of fog. It occurred to me that the entire month of January has been like that for me.

When I was younger, I didn’t care for January because it was such a letdown after all the excitement of the holidays. Now that I am older and wiser, the month has become a much welcomed return to sanity and relief from all decorating, shopping, cooking, parties and Christmas music. This is the first time I can remember getting annoyed at the sound of “Jingle Bells.” January is the beginning of a new year and a chance for a fresh start. It’s supposed to be like the first day of a new school year with freshly sharpened pencils and clean blank pages in your brand new notebook.

Not this year. 2011 has been disappointing in almost every way I can think of so far. Work has been challenging on many levels - nothing insurmountable, but challenging nonetheless. Several friends are experiencing personal crises with health, lost family members, and tragedy. I ache for them. And then, the shooting in Tucson…such tragedy – such sadness.

Personally, I have been fighting a cold/flu for over 3 weeks now. I ‘lost’ a week of work lying in bed and I missed a trip to Texas to see family and meet the new baby. Antibiotics, Mucinex D and nasal spray have restored my daily functioning and sleep has given me some energy, but my house is a mess. Christmas decorations have been pushed into two rooms of the house, but there are ornaments to box and trees to take apart and store. This requires garage cleaning and reorganizing – something I have not had the energy to handle.

And if all that hasn’t been enough, I haven’t gotten to see my Wild Thing since New Year’s. He’s probably another inch taller! I have really missed him.

After I post this entry, I am going to see what I can to do ‘get my house in order’ because Wild Thing is coming over tonight. There’s nothing like the energy of a 4 year old to brighten the day! Looking outside I see clouds and it looks cold. I’m going to do my best not to let that slow me down today. The extended forecast says that it’s going to be sunny all next week. That will be a great way to start a new month. Almost smells like freshly sharpened pencils….

So, good-bye, January! Don’t let the door hit you on your way out.

2 comments:

Don Meyer said...

You lost a week? Well, it ought to be around here somewhere.

I, too, am glad when the holiday season is over, and I have been having a bad time with cracked ribs, a fall that cut my jaw, and general malaise.

My condolences for all of the various tragedies that have hit you. Eventually we will all survive.

Unknown said...

Thanks, Don! I shouldn't complain so much....