Happy New Year's

Hope everyone had a wonderful and safe New Year's! We kept it very low-key and I actually went to bed at 11 PM! Yes, I'm an early-bird! I wake up at around 6 AM no matter what, so I don't like to stay up late.

There's a saying that whatever you are doing on New Year's is what you will be doing for the rest of the year. Some of the things I did may seem boring, but they were all for a good reason.

1. Laundry - Who wants to do laundry for the rest of the year, am I crazy!? No, but I would actually like to be caught up and not stressed about it all year, so I took the opportunity to catch up.

2. Mail - Yes, I spent a couple of hours on New Year's Eve sorting through old mail and paperwork. I really want to be more organized and not let things pile up like I tend to do.

3. Cooking - I want to eat more home-cooked meals and fewer processed foods. So I baked bread to be ready for the morning and for dinner I cooked some homemade pea soup. I added a handful of black-eyed peas because they are traditionally eaten for good luck on New Year's. They added a nice texture to the soup.

4. Doing Dishes - Who likes a house full of dirty dishes? Not me and I was happy to do them so they don't get stacked up.

5. Working - I work with the advertising on our website, so I wanted everything to be perfect for the first of the year. Every month the ads switch and things can go wrong. But the first day of the year is the biggest day of all. Every single ad on the website changes and there is much potential for error. I like to check things as soon as possible after midnight because we can lose lots of $ for the site if ads are broken. It seems strange to work on a holiday, but it's not hard work and I can do it in my slippers at home! It makes me feel good knowing that I am helping make things run smoothly and doing a good job at work. Isn't that what we all want for the whole year?

6. Napping - Well, this goes without saying. I want to take good care of my body and make sure I stay well-rested so I don't wear out and get sick. (yes, I still have a small remnant of my cough from Thanksgiving!)

7. Kissing the Cat - You all know how much I adore Random and how much comfort he brings me. I'm not sure how much longer he'll be around, so I take every opportunity I can get to snuggle with him.

8. Spending time with Matt - Of course, I love to spend quiet time at home with Matt.

9. Working out - I went to the Gym in the morning to get a good start on the New Year. I really need to focus more on my health and strength. Wish me luck because this is my hardest area of all!

10. Watching the Rose Parade - I didn't get to see much of it, but I love the pretty flowers they use and how they create elaborate floats using thousands of tiny flowers. I love the idea of seeing beauty all the time every day. We need to remember to take time to smell the roses in our lives. Remind me to appreciate beauty whenever I can find it, even blurry floats on a small TV set at the gym!

11. Creating - I really feel alive when I can create. I didn't have much time left at the end of the day, but I did manage to scrap my favorite photo of Random. Thanks, Matt for taking such wonderful photos of the cat when I'm not home to see him sleeping!