A New Year

As I sat in church yesterday, the thought crossed my mind that every new year should start out in church. It was a wonderful way to start the new year--worshiping and hearing the Word, and visiting with some dear, dear people.

I had taken down our Christmas on Saturday, with the exception of my nativity, which I decided to leave up for awhile. I have a rule that the tree needs to be down before the first of the year, and truthfully, I'm pretty tired of it as soon as Christmas is over. This year, our daughter's cat stayed with us for about a month, and spent most of the month with her head poked out of the tree, pretending that she was in the wild forest. As a result, I refused to put my antique ornaments (and my Waterford crystal ornaments and all of the beautiful ones my sister-in-law has gotten me over the years), so all I put on the tree was a few fake poinsettias and some berries. So taking down the tree was a breeze! The house has a more open feel to it, and looks cleaner, even though I'm procrastinating really cleaning the house. January has arrived, and the wind is blowing the snow around. I'm not a fan of winter, but the midwest keeps calling me back. I'll be here for a long time, because most of the people I love most are nearby, and that's what really matters.

I'll post more later as my brain thaws out and my ideas for this blog emerge. Happy New Year to you and may God richly bless this new year for you and the people you love. I'm off to either quilt or cook!!