Easing Gingerly into the New Year (with a little moan on the side!)

2013. Ten days in and all is, more or less, well! Happy New Year to all my bloggy friends.



5:30 a.m. and I'm sitting on the porch, in the dark, hugging my coffee cup, staring at the stars. My Stargazer has returned north after spending a week with us, so I have no idea which stars I'm seeing, but they sure are pretty and they sure are bright.

I can hear the hum of the world waking up, the distant murmur of traffic, the trundle of the garbage truck, early birds whizzing by in their cars on their way to work....But that's all in the distance. Here on the porch, it's peaceful and quiet, all dark tree silhouettes, velvet sky and glistening stars. I hear a cricket off in the bushes---yes, it's that warm! Should we worry? Headline in the newspaper yesterday ---"It's Winter, Right?"---over a picture of tourists baring their bones at a local beach.

"What an early riser!" you're thinking admiringly? Not! I'd rather be sleeping! Put it down to a stiff neck which makes sleep elusive,  even tossing and turning out of the question. Wah, wah!
Diagnosis: wimp. At the grocery store yesterday I stepped out of the way of a young woman in a wheelchair, her face permanently contorted with pain. Reality check. If I were in her situation I might  have something to be grumpy about! I've told the children already that, if and when my conversations start to be mostly about aches and pains, as The Prince's famously were, it'll be time to take me out back, like Old Yeller, and do the deed.

On a positive note, I've read three books since Christmas (see "on my night table") and thoroughly enjoyed each of them. And I've started knitting socks, 'cause the good lord knows I don't already have enough projects underway, and when a friend asked me to join her it sounded like a good idea. Yup. Almost a week and I have two inches done. Stiff necks do not make for speedy knitting!

Today is oldest grandson's tenth birthday! How that happened or where the last ten years went is a mystery to me......but Happy Birthday to you Tommy! Please try not to turn twenty as fast as you've made it to ten!

And before the month is out there should be a new grandchild in the picture. Brit Boy and the Lovely Natalie are about to provide a sibling for Little Brit Boy! No word yet on girl or boy, which gives me fodder for procrastination.....Do I make a wild guess and start a girly quilt (oops! Is my bias showing?? Four out of five so far are boys and while we love them all, it would be nice to bring a little balance to the picture!) or do I start two quilts----one for a girl and one for a boy---so I've got all the bases covered? And I know all you super-organized quilters out there are aghast that I don't already have two quilts finished, folded and ready....I'd shrug, if it wouldn't set off torture, and tell you it's too late for me to change. I need that down-to-the-wire thrill to do my best work!

The sun climbed higher as the ghost of a fingernail moon sank behind the trees. Time to ice again--- chiropractor's orders---the only way I would ever willingly put ice on a body part!  Between you and me and the wall, I'm not 100% sure it's a great idea to hammer on ancient bones with something that sounds and feels like an attack by an enraged woodpecker, but I'm in wait---fingers-crossed---and-see mode.Time will tell.......And then, groan, I must try to motivate myself and my stiff neck to wrap up all the tree ornaments and stash them away for next year. Fun, fun, fun!

 But first perhaps, a wee nap?