"A day late and a dollar short"

Happy New Year! I'm a day (or two) late and a dollar (or two weeks) short on blog posting, but here I am!

New Year’s Day, I awoke at 3:50 a.m. to drive Annie and Shawn to Logan Airport, then back to a quiet house, where I napped for a few hours. I spent the day quietly, doing laundry and cleaning up.

Everyone was at home for at least part of the holiday. A friend of mine recently remarked, "Grandchildren are such a delight!" Of course, our own little ones were a delight, but grandchildren come without the burdens of how to feed and cloth and educate them. I don’t fret when it’s past nap time or struggle through a transcontinental plane ride, trying desperately to entertain and quiet a rambunctious one year old.

Thoughts of David flitted through the holiday time, but no sudden spasms of grief, just bittersweet memory of Christmases past and an awareness that there will be no more memories to make with him.

We hosted about 34 people on each of the first three Sundays of Advent, sharing a meal, reading Christmas scriptures, and singing carols. On the last Advent Sunday, we were joined by several of our children and our grandchildren.

And now, the New Year. Jim has a colleague who stopped setting goals several years ago. He has ‘intentions’ now. I’m intrigued. In years past, I made a show of going to bed before midnight and ignoring the New Year's arrival. I pretended not to set goals, but really, I was always setting goals and feeling failure.

Yet, I feel a surge of excitement at the pure-as-the-driven-snow 2019. Can I move forward without saddling myself with unattainable goals?

I want to be realistic. Not commit to 'never again' and ‘from now on,' but be open to new habits and the possibility of being more consistent in the things that matter most to me.