It's Started

The holiday decorations came down the weekend before last, and the extra space in the house is amazing. Last week was kind of a pause for me, (though Steve is dealing with all the year-end and year-start minutiae of his employment). There's no turning back, though: 2011 has begun, and I must meet it with an assertive stance.

This is the year I become employed or wither on the vine. I still think about starting up my own design firm, but the tasks involved are somewhat overwhelming. If that is the course I am to follow, I'm sure I'm up to the task, but it would be so much nicer if someone would employ me for my vast graphics expertise. What the year will hold, I cannot tell.

I keep toying with the idea of escaping for a week all by myself. I haven't even brought up the subject with Steve, since I don't know what that week would entail. But I feel, somehow, that something must present itself to infuse me with enthusiasm for the upcoming year.

My siblings have been writing back and forth, discussing a family reunion sometime during the summer. No one is quite sure what form this would take, and I am not sure where I will be come summer, but the idea piques my interest nonetheless.

With the moms' passings, the older generation (that includes us) is feeling a need to maintain some kind of continuity, building bridges between our generation and the next. It's a good thing, I think, but I'm not sure exactly how that would take shape.

Right now I'm concentrating on creating goals for myself for this new year: Finding meaningful employment, continuing with the remodel of the house, getting things back on track to close out the next decade and prepare for Steve's and my retirement. The first goal seems to be the one that will ensure the completion of the rest. I only hope I can find a way to make that happen.

So, nothing important to report today, but I feel the need to make an entry in the blog anyway. No impressive or darling pictures to post, just an update on feeling the year begin.

We started the year with lots of rain, but now it's in the 80s this week and that means a chance to get out and enjoy the wonders of a California winter. I think rain will come again soon enough (as we really need it), and I'm hoping that the winter will be a week or so of beautiful weather followed by a week or so of chilly, rainy days.

It's started, most certainly, and there's no stopping it. I wouldn't have it any other way.