Author: Rene

The “Year of the Purse” ended with an appropriate trashing of my favorite over-used and ripped purse, purchased on vacation in Australia. It was a cute little bucket thing which served me well.

Surprisingly, no one has badgered me yet for this year’s theme. My sister and I have been sitting on this highly anticipated announcement, waiting for a query from the masses. Since we have heard nothing from our loyal followers and anticipate we could be waiting until July for a peep out of someone, we are just throwing it out there without fanfare.

Seahorse. Yes, I anticipate finding a seahorse this year and therefore, because we really had no better ideas, it will be the year of the seahorse. So use your myth and imagination this year and enjoy nature!

“Absolutely captivating creatures, seahorses seem like a product of myth and imagination rather than of nature.” Sara A. Laurie

It’s just part of the process for the new year. Decorations are put away, dust removed from places hidden by the decorations, and then the unsubscribing from all of the emails sent throughout the season of decorations. Everything you possibly googled, in some cases just spoke, pops up in the emails sent. Of course, lots of promotions for travel, because, “This will be your year!”

Thus, I’m deleting and cleaning out files and unsubscribing and etc…

This morning my beloved, sitting directly across from me at the kitchen table, Face-timed me. (Is that a verb?)

The only thing this brief encounter did was to give us a good chuckle. The feedback on the microphones was a little ear-piercing. We were testing the new iPad apparently? It is a lovely device with a keyboard I adore. As I type on it now, staring lovingly across the table, I am grateful for this little convenience which gives my typing fingers joy, provides countless inane moments of writing observations, and in general, gives a little perk to the morning routine.

I think I shall Face Time my spouse and thank him.

My college friend, “Paroline,” sent me this lovely quote.

Little did she know I had just been playing “Librarian” with my three-year old administrator of fun. Of course, the librarian could recommend the books I needed, but sometimes she pretended to be on the phone, too busy to help me. Hmmm.

Oh the things we learn from those young ones! Thankfully she is a frequent library patron and knows the ropes there. She continues to teach us. And I am learning to let the phone be out of sight and out of mind when I am blessed to watch my little charges!

These “whole body” deodorant commercial drive me nuts. I’m not against the use of them, but I do have a pressing question.

If these products last 72 hours, are you not supposed to shower for three days? If you did, you would be washing off the water-based formula and thus, rendering the 72 hours wasted. To truly get your money’s worth, I guess you wouldn’t shower for three days, thus, saving on the expenses of heating the hot water, washing towels more frequently, and lack of need to purchase shampoo and conditioner as often. Perhaps they are actually on to something?

If you don’t shower for three days though, how do you wake yourself up in the morning? These questions have plagued my thoughts recently. Thankfully, I have bigger issues to address today as I coddiwomple through Friday.

Tuesday was a late-start day for schools, due to the less than an inch amount of snow on the ground. (?) Today I am watching the wind gustily blow the flakes across the back deck with over an inch piled up, dreading my foray into the driving public shortly. I have to pass a high school, always dicey on a good day.

Why there isn’t a late start today, when roads iced up the past two days and are certainly worse this morning, I do not know. Perhaps returning to class on Tuesday was still something teachers and students dreaded? Easing the way might have been a solution of sorts.

Whatever. I am grateful for the moisture and thrilled to let the garden hoses enjoy a respite. Slip-sliding away…

Pinterest has many solutions for cleaning. My hardwood floors could use a good fix and shine application. There is actually still a spot where black paint from my son‘s project in high school hit the sanded wood before the sealant application years ago. I kind of liked it, so I just left it after smearing it into the wood.

We’ve dropped a number of destructive things which have left dings, dings I’ve tried to fix. We have scratches. Lots of scratches from high chairs, little ride-on toys, pulling the fridge out for cleaning, and the general wearing of our pea-gravel-embedded shoes in the house. It’s silly, but apparently I get a little sentimental about over-use of hardwood floors. The shine is gone, the memories linger.

Nah…I’m just a little too realistic to think these floors will glisten again. They’re clean enough, and if they look too good? We might be afraid to walk on them. Shiny floors are not in the cards for 2025.

Now it feels like the New Year! Yes, I know we’ve had Christmas and New Year’s celebrations on a Wednesday before, but this year it threw me for a loop. I kept thinking it was Monday for a few days, and then I was looking for a Monday to start my resolutions and my cleaning! My, my, how set in my ways I can be.

Really, I don’t clean on Monday anyway. That’s a Thursday ritual. And resolutions? I make them every day, so I didn’t need today for that either. Perhaps it was the idea of getting back to a routine, which, when I have a routine, I get bored. Sigh.

Perhaps I shall celebrate the Irish tradition of Women’s Christmas with a hearty stout instead of tea, and a chocolate candy instead of cake. That seems like the way to usher in the year, even if I’m not Irish. Thank you for that information, “Pann,” my Irish lass friend!

We had fog today, dreary and unusual conditions. It just made everything feel colder. So, I plunked down with my heating pad and watched “Extreme Ice Machines” on the science channel. What a crazy informative show!

Of course I had no idea how the northern countries managed their snowfalls. Snow can be on the ground in whatever place we were watching for eleven months of the year. They have major machines for everything from the airports, ski hills, roads, etc… It did nothing to warm me but was intriguing. So, I laid a fire, turned on plenty of lights, and lit a bunch of half-used candles. I am now warm and happy, watching football and continuing to welcome the new year.

What a way to enter into the new year! From the archives of Old English…we shall go forth “coddiwompling.” Happy 2025.