SO, a friend responding to my post on Facebook about sending Tim to get the groceries said I should write a book on living the good life...this is for you Mar.

It's a one outfit weekend, that's what it is.

It seems I am fully in my January Cocoon, and couldn't be happier. This week, Tim and I, through our while at work email exchanges, talked about a bunch of stuff we wanted to do over the weekend. As it stands, we've done, well, none of it. Friday was leftovers for dinner, and Tim's foil to my falling asleep on him on Thursday night. Saturday brought some running to hardware stores for him and Devin, and a little home improvement, but it was a day of homey-stuff and movies and slugging for Gwynn and myself, ending in some other re-purposed leftovers for dinner last night. In fact, yesterday I never even made it into a shower and into my outfit until about 3 o'clock.

Fast forward to today and after a lazy morning, full of coffee, and conversation over CBS Sunday Morning, which is quickly becoming our family's church, our day has been punctuated by music from a new discovery, laundry, and phone calls to cousins. There has been the necessary homework, and, as shared, Tim made the grocery run, but only to the next town over, to the IGA. Overall, it has just been a day full of meaningful solitude.

And I didn't get dressed today until 2, so you know what? I threw on the same thing as yesterday, merely changing my scarf. Yep, a one outfit weekend.

What it comes down to is the fact that our family is just so able to occupy, maybe not Wall Street, but certainly our West Bay Road home. I said to Tim that I was almost feeling like I was becoming a recluse. I am at the wintery point, even minus the snow, where I could care if I leave my home. Still, my ever present voice of reason, he replied by reminding me that our fall was VERY busy, followed by December and Christmas. And February is already filling up, with an upcoming gathering with good friends already on the calendar, February Break which will certainly involve some travel, and at the end of the month, a big 90th birtday bash for his Grandma.

Knowing that, I am suddenly no longer feeling guilty, or perplexed at my need. Solitude. Quiet. Reclusiveness. Family Time. Cocooning. Burrowing. Whatever you want to call it. Right now, that is what is going on here. It is what I want. It is what we need. And, if you ask me, it is how to live the good life.

At least for us.

OK, just spent several minutes trying to pull together, and finish, one of the several blog posts I started back in December. Somehow, for some reason, it just mysteriously disappeared. Probably just a malfunction with my laptop, or Blogger, but I am going to take it as a sign.

Time to start over.

It is MLKJr. weekend, and although the family spent most of it sick, it was still a good, relaxing 3 days off. We just spent a lot of time together; listening to music, watching movies and TV, reading books. Today, everyone feels a little better, so as I type, Gwynn and Tim are baking cookies. Also, everyone but me due to my raspy cough, tried out the new snowshoes that Santa brought, on the meager bit of snow we actually do have, so that was good. Today we got Christmas put away too, which was, truly, my only absolute thing on the "to do list" for the weekend. You know, every year I say I am going to SIMPLIFY at Christmas, but more and more, I just think the holidays are a certain level of crazy. If you accept that and just go with the flow things kind of turn out better. That is going to be my new mantra. To hell with simplifying, just get on the crazy train and hold on tight, after all, things really do slow down in January.

When asked, I am the type of person that can usually pinpoint favorites. Favorite number, favorite holiday, favorite day of the week, but favorite month? Hmmmmm. Not sure I have ever really thought about that one. Now I LOVE LOVE LOVE summer since, being a teacher, I have never in all my years missed a summer vacation. But really, when I think about it, January ranks right up there. Sure it is cold and blustery, but out of that we USUALLY get some delays or snow days, and who doesn't love that? Plus cold winter days mean stayng cozy in the house, bundled up, under blankets on the couch. I always catch up on my reading in January. Then there is the fact that January is the start of a brand new year. My favorite holiday is New Year's Eve after all, with the festivity and fresh beginnings it encompasses. January is just an extention of the same.

Who knew. Favorite month - January. You find out something new about yourself every day.
And here we are, starting over. New Year, welcome. A fond farerwell 2011. You were a blast. 2012. I'm all yours.