Goodbye and Hello

Well, it's over.

Goodbye to Christmas, goodbye to 2014, and goodbye to the Christmas holidays.

But hello to a touch of domesticity on blogger! I haven't seen you for quite a while. But it's a new year, a new page turned, and golly if I don't just feel like writing again.

So let's start with a list shall we? A Nine Things list, in a blast from this blog's past.

1. My eldest is now sixteen. And I feel, as a result, ancient and inconsequential in his life. I wish I knew more of him and saw more of him, but he's ploughing his own field now and I know he'll grow best out of the shadow of my tree (mixed metaphor alert).
2. My youngest two are really growing up. There are lots of numbers and counting in our days, reading and pretending to read, and asking profound questions. I love to watch their minds and intellects grow.
3. I have started my new business, Sparrow Stitch, making bespoke curtains, blinds and soft furnishings. I've started very small but it feels really good to be working and learning how to run a business. The website is in its infancy but you can find me over here:  http://sparrowstitch.co.uk/
4. This has been the first year in a long, long time that I haven't been ready to say goodbye to Christmas come the start of the new year. I love new beginnings, and from 1st December I go so crazy on Christmas that I'm ready for it to end five weeks later. But I don't know, this year I've sunk into the Christmas limbo and loved having the family around with our lazy days, and I'm struggling to get back into the fast lane again.
5. My husband and I have now been together for 11 years. And it sure feels good. We are such a partnership that I do not know how I'd ever manage without him (and hope I never have to). And I still get slightly giddy about him all these years later. That's nice, right?
6. We went to my parents for Christmas and it was lovely. But my dad's been ill a lot in the last few months and he's getting older. I found it so strange spending six days with him, because the him that he once was wasn't fully there, and most of the time I found myself missing him.
7. I have plans for this new year. They start with me going in for the 'one little word' and choosing (or, in reality, finding it chose me) strive. Nothing feels more apt right now. My next job is to dig my December 'to do' list out and make a new one for January. I always feel better with a direction to go in and a set of jobs to complete. Yes, you can call me Monica (overused Friends reference).
8. I also have plans for the house and the garden. You're going to see me in paint-splattered jeans a lot over the January weekends. I may even share a bit of it here. There's only so much staring at other people's impossibly perfect rooms on pinterest before you start thinking "just start" (or other suitable pinterest quote).
9. And I have plans for this blog. I'm starting by committing to two posts a week. Come back on Thursday to find out more. You'll be very welcome.