Winter Plans

So far January, like many of the month that came before it, is not looking the way I had imagined. Which, as it turns out is exactly how life works. Things like puppies, arctic weather patterns, frozen pipes and broken dishwashers sometimes conspire to turn your plans upside down. It has been exceptionally cold. The kind of cold that has you drawing the curtains to keep drafts out, has you wearing knee highs, leggings and cozy sweaters. The kind of cold that has you hosting your best friends in your pajamas for lasagna and a movie. If you've never hosted friends for a pajama night, I highly recommend you do it.

Partly due to the weather and partly due to the chaos, I have so far refused to take down all of the Christmas decorations. I have left just enough to keep the spirit of the holidays alive. As I write this, I'm sipping my evening chai latte and looking out of the studio windows where I can see the warm glow from the lights still hung on the front porch. It's hard to get motivated to take it all down when it requires multiple layers of clothing just to step outside.

As a planner, it can sometimes be hard for me to adapt to the unexpected. Right now I'm struggling with the basics of keeping the house going, let alone figuring out a new schedule and getting things in ship shape. Organizing my junk drawer has literally been on my to do list for over a month. It is January 8th and I've yet to finish putting my 2018 planner together. My brain is full of ideas and things I want to accomplish but the truth is that trying to find a new normal with the demanding schedule of a puppy and the lack of time and energy left from that, is no easy task. I've struggled a bit with losing my Sacred Day and am just now, a month later, figuring out ways to work creative time into my life. I'm having to shift my thinking and as always, I have to process a big change for awhile before I can adapt and thrive.

While I look forward to getting back to having a full day to spend as I chose, my reality now looks more like a couple hours here and there during puppy naps making it that much more important to be intentional about my time. It's hard enough fitting in all the things I need to do during her nap times, let alone finding time for the things I want to do.  Golden Retriever puppies require a lot of supervision. Maybe it's that way with all puppies, I've only ever had Goldens. You can't take your eyes off her for a moment!

So while it's taking me a little while to figure out how to make my days look the way I want, I am still finding time to knit more socks to add to my basket of socks that I made last year, or do a little embroidery and a fair amount of reading since I discovered that with the help of a weighted bookmark, I can actually read while I'm knitting. This may be how I spend my days until the spring thaw. This discovery has been one of the best things to have ever happened to me!

We have a brief warm up headed our way this week and I plan to make the most of it with lots of puppy walks and maybe even find a few minutes to take care of that junk drawer. I hope you are staying warm and dry and finding lots of moments to do things that make you happy.