A Happy New Year

Happy New Year!  2016 is here and not a moment too soon for me. Do you ever experience a year where the “good” events are outnumbered by the “not so good” ones?  I can’t really say 2015 was unpleasant or dreadful by any means, other than the traumatic fall I took in February while walking the dogs, when I sustained a broken arm, a large gash which required 8 stitches in my left hand, and I suspect some rotator cuff damage.  No, that wasn’t enough to screw up the year, but when I had a mammogram go haywire a couple of months later I had the extremely distressing assignment of being more or less, actually more, tortured by the doctor and nurses  – seems I needed a few “chips” inserted to mark said spots for the surgeon – NO it wasn’t cancer, a blessing to be certain, but I wouldn’t wish that incident on any woman.  I found myself with a major sinus infection on my birthday – I waited 62 years to spend my birthday at the doctor, where I was given a shot, meds and sent home to bed.  Have you ever spent your birthday in bed, not by choice?  Not my idea of a celebration.  My sweet man, Dan did bring home cake, with lots of icing, my favorite – not a total loss.  A little later in the year I mindlessly threw my cell phone into the washing machine with a load of whites…it never recovered, however I discovered being without a cell phone is tranquil.  Note to self – do not carry cell phone with you at all times and never lay it on top of laundry in a basket!  As 2015 came to an end, my oldest daughter, LuLu suffered a badly broken leg in a ski injury on New Year’s Eve.  I am glad and relieved she did not bump her noggin!  On the bright side, we purchased a home, remodeled it and moved in!

In hindsight these inconveniences are truly nothing but that – inconveniences.  I see my blessings in all of this.  I could have slammed my face into the concrete in that dog walking accident, but I didn’t.  I could have been diagnosed with cancer, nasty shit, I hate it, I don’t’ have it.  My phone could have been lying on the counter, dry and in working condition.  But it got soaked and that scenario taught me that there is calmness and peace in not having a phone with me at all times – it brought to my attention the need to put away the phone, turn off the computer and spend time in the moment, the here and now, conversing with my husband, watching the colorful songbirds at the feeder, throwing a toy for the dog, reading a book, going for a walk, all preferable to being connected to an “i” anything.

This realization brought me to a place of reassessing the year ahead.  New Year – New You, haven’t we all set intentions on how to be different in the New Year?  We call them “resolutions”, otherwise known as intentions, decisions, plans, commitments. Did you make any?  My husband and I discussed a few ideas to implement in the New Year.

1. Regular date nights – we already do this and decided to keep it up.
2. Volunteer our time together – we have not chosen our cause – any suggestions?
3. Exercise – don’t we all commit to this one?
4. Put the phone down..need I say more?

So far we’ve done well.  We went to see the hysterical play,”Book of Mormon”, I laughed all the way home. We dined at a new farm to table restaurant, walked the battleground and our neighborhood and made it a point to put the phones down. It feels terrific to do that – all of that.

I made a few resolutions just for me.  I haven’t told anyone what they are yet…but here goes! Sharing them with you first….

1. Laugh more – considerably more!
2. Practice the mindfulness of yoga daily – it offers a feeling of being grounded.
3. Revitalize The Orange Bee

Yep, just three.  Three small pledges – well, revitalizing the blog may not be so small but I welcome the challenge and a change.

I have various ideas regarding my blog.  I need time to “think” on this.  The big, big world of blogging and staying on top of social media is, at times, all consuming.  It devours hours within a day, it depletes energy and to be honest it drains those of us in the throes of it.  Don’t misunderstand – I love blogging but am ready to change how I tackle it.  To tell you the truth, I am super excited to alter my blogging technique.

I want to engage more with you, my reader. I’ll see you soon to share the changes I’ll be making and WHY!