Year of the Pause (and I taught myself to play the cello!)

Hello, beautiful new year! It's sunny here in Philadelphia (okay, okay, West Chester), and although it's cold, we still have not been blessed with any snow this winter. Isn't that crazy? And cool? Our last two winters have been pretty brutal, so I will admit the reprieve is nice.

Christmas was simple and wonderful! We spent the entire week afterward being lazy and slow; reading, playing games, eating too much sugar, watching TV (when it was working), and staying up way too late. New Year's Eve was also very boring (just quiet and at home), and I wouldn't have changed a thing. It's nice to have a few weeks where we aren't running around here and there. I feel we do that all the time --there's always something scheduled and something to do and something we're late for and something we have to schedule around --and so when we get some time to just be still, it's rejuvenating.

New stuff:
*I taught myself how to play the cello on #4's cello! He's been struggling with wanting to practice and asking me to help, and I used the excuse that I didn't know how to play a stringed instrument, until I realized I have always wanted to play a stringed instrument, so what in the world was I doing not attempting to play the cello??? So, I sat down with his little (medium) cello and taught myself. And I love it! I may have to practice daily, myself. And now I'm ahead of the little guy, so I can genuinely help him in all his cellist pursuits! In fact, seeing me play the cello and asking him questions (how do I hold the bow, again?) really gave him a boost of confidence and he played a beautiful rendition of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" (or as #6 calls it, "ABCD") last night.

*#6 started Sunbeams which means for the first time in... gosh, 13 years? we don't have a kid in the nursery. It's so weird! We only have to wait 7 1/2 months until #7 goes into nursery...

*I backed into the mailbox with our massive van in the middle of a torrential rainstorm. I felt like an idiot and may have sworn a bit too much (according to my daughter). I also may have stood out in the rain in my bare feet in the mud trying to right the thing or at least get it ready to be fixed, and I may or may not have been doing that when Brandon came home and saw me and laughed his head off and made me come into the house. And then the day after Christmas, he fixed the mailbox. :)

*My husband gave me approximately 3 gifts for Christmas and I love them. The first is my yearly calendar for the wall in the kitchen and I actually don't have it, yet, it's in the mail... The second is a journal and it is not any particular journal, it is a Novel Journal and mine is Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice! What this means is that it looks like an ordinary journal, except that the lines one writes on are the tiny, tiny words of the entire novel. Isn't that fun? And what's even better is that I'm writing again! The third gift was a large print of this painting:

She Will Find What is Lost by Brian Kershisnik 

I've been wanting it for a long time because, obviously, it speaks to me. I say obviously because first, I'm a woman. Second, I believe in angels. Third, I believe those angels are my ancestors and future progeny. Fourth, I have mental illness. Fifth, I feel deep hope whenever I look upon it. Sixth, I love art. Seventh, and finally, it's just a great painting! I was really excited to finally have a copy. I'm buying a frame for it, today!

*In my family we rotate names for Christmas. For example, this year, I had my brother's family, and my other brother had our family. They gave us a great box full of board games (love them!). But my sister decided to go ahead and break the rules by making me a gift with the help of my husband. It's something I've also wanted for a long time and the canvas print should be here next week! The roots are ancestors and the trunk is my husband/me. The branches are our children...

*Brandon travels 4-5 days a week, now. He has a long-term client in Kansas and a short-term one in Washington D.C. It's hard, but it's income! And the Kansas clients are really great to work with, so the travel isn't something he dreads. I'm going to go to Kansas with him in a few weeks so we can have a sort of getaway for our anniversary. Baby girl is coming with us, so it won't be as carefree, but it's still better than nothing! And I've never been to Kansas or Missouri before, so it'll be great to travel there just for the heck of it.

*My goal this month is to treat the house the way I treated it last January when nesting was kicked into high gear --purging and cleaning! I'm not sure if I'll have to same motivation I had when I was pregnant, but I'm sure going to fake it until I make it. It's amazing how quickly disorganization and clutter creep in when I'm not on top of it (which is, like, every day). Wish me luck!

*I've read 8 books in the last few weeks and I have 5 more on my list...

*Our family's new year goal for 2016 is thusly:

I'm gonna need to honor it most humbly!

Happy New Year, dear reader!