Early Resolution

I have been thinking a lot recently about what makes me happy. What external things, what about myself, what activities make me truly happy.

I've got a pretty good list put together, and I've noticed a common thread: mostly, I really like to connect with people. Obviously, I mean people I like, not crankypants people at the mall. Not so obviously, "people I like" doesn't neccessarily mean "people I know" or "people I get to spend a lot of time with". Sometimes "people I like" also means "I like you in small doses, say for an evening", or "you live in my computer, so we can't go have a coffee, but I like you anyway". This also means that I have been thinking that people I don't like so much, I should maybe avoid.

Where I fall down on this (and on just about anything else I decide I want to do that will make me happy) is that I skew towards the lazy. It's easier for me to sit on my couch and knit and watch tv than it is to do just about anything else (this is why my kitchen isn't nearly as clean as it could be). I also have a tendency to get over excited about things and book myself way too much to do, and then wind up all burnt out, sitting on the couch, knitting.

So, I am starting small. I am sending Christmas cards (and now that I've said it in public I have to do it) and some emails. Once the crazyness passes in two weeks, I'm going to visit some people who aren't too far away, and spend some time at my local yarn shop. Then, late January/early February, I'm going to cram a whole bunch of visiting into one weekend. I know that I'll keep my momentum until about March. I just have to remember that I like spending time with people, and that while my couch is also nice, people have a tendency to move far away, and my couch ain't going anywhere.

Something came over me last week.

I reached out to two people that I typically only have contact with when it is absolutley neccessary.

This resulted in a good phone conversation and a lovely Saturday morning.

There's something to be said for the spirit of this season.

My Artsy Pet pursuits: Everybody, forward this to Mr. Harper!

My Artsy Pet pursuits: Everybody, forward this to Mr. Harper!

Reposting Johanna B.'s post.

It's important.

And just in case you missed her post from Monday:
http://artsandcats.blogspot.com/2008/12/okay-everybody-back-to-your-civics.html

ETA link to a published letter from the leaders of the coalition:
http://www3.thestar.com/static/PDF/Ottawa/081201_opposition_letter.pdf

Good article from the CBC explaining the Governer General's role:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/12/02/f-governor-general.html

It's December!

First things first: we've got some pretty interesting stuff going on politically in Canada right now, that could see a change from our current newly re-elected government, to a coalition government.

My friend J over at My Artsy Pet Pursuits explains it far better than I could, so go take a look.

Moving right along!

It's December. Twenty-three sleeps until Christmas morning. This means that I put up our decorations on Sunday. Usually, I wait (at my husband's request) until after December actually starts, but this year I jumped the gun by a day.

We now have Santas (the one on the left was made by my aunt):

Stockings with elf clothes hung up over top of them:

And a tree with colour changing lights on it:

We do have a much larger tree usually, but it takes up most of the living room and, more importantly, blocks the back door, which would mean that Roo couldn't get out into the back yard. Last year I was cranky and didn't decorate for Christmas, so it wasn't an issue, but this year I needed a fix, so we hit a local big box store and picked up this little guy for $20. I can only fit half of my decorations on it, so I chose the most important ones and made sure that they reflected both of us and our history together, as well as before we met.

Every year I give Fred an ornament. This is one I made for him our first year together:

Our second year together (yes, that is a black christmas ball):

Around the back of the tree, there is also a Millenium Falcon, and an X-wing Fighter:

I have enough angel ornaments of different kinds (cloth, wood, glass, ceramic, hand made, plastic, you name it!) to do a whole tree in just angels:

Finally, I have started my Christmas knitting: