January

I like January. For years now, it's struck me as a mellow month, before hectic schedules resume, where I can continue hibernation post-holidays and get a few things in order. There's a fortuitous while elephant gift exchange at work this month, and I've been quite pleased at putting together a grab bag of random items that I can't unload at the thrift shop: an opened bottle of tonic water left behind by a visitor, a "vote for Hillary" button, 5 cents in Canadian Tire money... you get the idea. Other literal and figurative housekeeping has included using up random things from the freezer and pantry, looking for new soap dispensers, and reading through a few books-that-were-gifts before giving them away. These are the sorts of things that will fall by the wayside, later. A year is long, and by the end I have no recollection of what happened in the first few months, but at least I'll have used up long-forgotten frozen bread crusts.

There's also the pleasure of deciding on what to achieve in the year ahead. For 2016, my resolutions are:

1. Take it easy for a while (the last couple of years, in particular, have been busy and intense)

1. Eat Greek food (it's been a while, and Greek food is delicious)
2. Find a couple more everyday skirts and dresses (I tend to gravitate at any given time to one skirt or dress and wear it to death; it would be nice to have a few in rotation).

For now, I'm still spending lots of time in the living room, on the couch. (This is neither my living room, nor my couch, but rather a stopping place for tea). Already though, work is gearing up and my calendar is filling up. I'm soon to be dragged unwillingly out of hibernation and swept back into the normal pace of life, but for just a bit longer, I'm going to keep prioritizing life's important activities like working on a jigsaw puzzle while listening to a podcast, sampling Belgian beers, and checking out cookbooks from the library.