Twenty Seventeen

Hello! As I write this, depending on where you live, you're either sleeping in the new year, or getting ready to welcome it. As soon as I publish this I'm going to put on my fancy pants and head out for New Year's Eve.

If you've been here a while, you'll know I find this to be a sad holiday, one I've gotten away from celebrating, one that causes me to look back on the previous 365 days with a feeling of un-fulfillment and sometimes regret (I haven't done this, I haven't changed that, this isn't how I wanted the year to go so I don't want it to be over yet). But 2016 was different.

When I think globally, I think I would say it was not necessarily a good year--contentious politics, a world gone mad, worries about the future regarding jobs, taxes, and so on. Of course that is all balanced out by the world of good that we don't see on the evening news, but still--the world can make you weary.

When I think personally, however, I have had a very good year. I've had a few relationships that didn't work out, but I was able to pull positive things from all of them that have left me feeling more confident and sure going forward. I've made that extra push to get myself out there, to do things that I want to do, to embrace those words 'no time like the present.' As a result, I'm ending this year thinner, healthier, happier, and more sure of what I want in life than in many previous years. For the first time in a long time, I am not ruing the passing of another year with tears (yes, literally--Auld Lang Syne makes me cry), but am actually looking forward to celebrating the arrival of the new. Instead of looking around in wonderment at 12:00:01 and thinking "How are all of you so happy?" I plan on being one of those whooping in 2017. I have a whole new year of blank pages to fill, and I'm so looking forward to seeing how my story continues. It thrills me to my toes to be able to say that.

It seems I've passed the torch, however. My sister texted me yesterday, and told me that A-train asked what New Year's Eve is. She told him it's when we say goodbye to the old year, and celebrate the new one. And he started crying. Oh he is my nephew for sure. January 1, 1985 is still one of the most vivid memories I have.

When we meet again all of our feet will be planted in 2017 so I thought I'd share one last make from 2016. It's a knitted Christmas bauble. I had a plan to make tons of these, but one turned out to be plenty, and looks just perfect in the twilit window. Ignore the visible floats and bobbles and just focus on the adorable heart. It's kind of a metaphor for the past year, eh?

So anyway--happy new year to you and your loved ones See you on the flip side!