Starting Fresh

January always motivates me to "start fresh" in many aspects of my life, i.e., spiritually, emotionally, physically, and socially. Most years I start off with great objectives, but end up focusing too much of my time and energy on one area and neglecting the rest. This year I have had a clean-up, clear-out, throw-away fit! Once the Christmas decorations were taken down and stored away, and the house had a good general cleaning, I started in on the closets. It took me all month but I have gutted, cleaned, and de-junked every closet and cupboard downstairs. We have had a big pile on the curb every garbage pick-up day, and I have finally let go of things I have had for over 40 years! Things that we got for our wedding (46 years ago)that I just couldn't bear to part with because of who gave it to us finally hit the curb -- although, I will admit, there are still a few of those things I put in the back of the closet! It feels so good...but I still have the upstairs closets to do.

The best days of the month were the few days we spent helping Leo celebrate his 6th birthday. We met him for lunch at school on his actual birthday, then met the gang that evening for dinner and ice cream at Freddy's. Tara came over to join in the fun for the weekend, and on Saturday we all went to Build-a-Bear at The Woodlands Mall. After carousel rides with their new critters we went home for dinner, gifts and yummy ice cream cake. Leo is such a delightful little boy. He is sweet and kind, obedient to a fault, super smart and thoughtful. He loves to ride his bike, play games, read, and play the piano. He adores his little sister, and can never get enough time playing with his cousins that he dearly loves. He brings us such love and joy.