Forgive me readers, for I have slipped; it has been five days since my last blog post.  And, you know, it feels a lot more like five weeks!  The reason I haven’t been blogging is because I have been busy!

Up until yesterday, I had kept up with the minimalist challenge — giving away one more thing each day since December 12.  It really has become a challenge!  Yesterday I was supposed to get rid of twenty-one things, today twenty-two, and tomorrow twenty-three.  But since I am behind, my goal is to dig up sixty-six things tomorrow, throw them in the trunk of my car, and take another trip to Salvation Army.  Actually, I got started today by mailing six items to people who had purchased them from me on Ebay.   So, tomorrow I will find just sixty more.  You can probably imagine that this undertaking has taken some time!

We also had two daughters and one boyfriend here for part of the last week and my husband has been taking vacation.  Having these extra people in the house has been extra fun — more cooking, more laughing, more Uno playing, more eating.  And, more living equals less time for blogging about living.

During this time, one of our daughters embarked on a fitness regimen which included her middle-aged mother!  For several days in a row we did forty-five minutes on an elliptical machine followed by fifteen minutes on the treadmill and several weight-lifting reps.  It really didn’t take more time than my usual workout, but it was different time.

My routine for the past several weeks has definitely shifted.  Where I had been waking, making tea, and blogging, always in that order, I have adopted the theme of ‘fluidity’ for the holidays.  I have tried not to demand structure, but instead to go with the flow.  And ‘the flow’ has not always included my usual activities. Actually, ‘the flow’ has been a lot of fun!  It has allowed for new recipes, lots of movies, some impromptu shopping, and lots of chatting.

In the midst of all this ‘flow’, to our great joy, our first grandchild — my newest love-child — was born eleven days early!  Her arrival inspired a road-trip to Cincinnati complete with lots of adoring and picture-taking, but not much time for blogging.

Today, as I lay in my bed, recovering from holiday exhaustion, I started to think about all the things I will write about in the next several days and I started feeling a little overwhelmed. Then I remembered last year. When I lived apart from husband, we sometimes didn’t see each other for a month at a time.  I would often greet him saying, “I have so much to tell you. I don’t know where to start, but I am sure it will all leak out over time.”   I am feeling that way right now.  How can I in one post describe my joy at meeting our granddaughter, my experience of laying aside my agenda to ‘go with the flow’, my thoughts about simplifying through the minimalist challenge, my new information about my health, my time with my daughters, and my thoughts about working as January 5th arrives.  I can’t.

I have so much to tell you. I don’t know where to start, but I am sure it will all leak out over time.

I hope you will join me on my continued journey in this next chapter.

Psalm 90:12

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.