Today, at lunch, I had someone ask about the blog and I told her I was having trouble letting go of the holiday schedule. You know that week or so after Christmas when so very little is expected of a person? During that time period, it's not necessary to know what day of the week it is and it's even expected that you'll need to pause to remember the year. Days may pass without leaving the house or speaking to anyone who's not listed as your next of kin. Putting on real pants, which are void of Lycra or those with any sort of fastening device is something that's not even considered during this interval. Productivity is optional and no one thinks anything of it if they don't hear a peep from you. I so enjoy times in which little is expected, because I'm particularly good at meeting expectations when they're found in such low lying areas. That's why I'm having sort of a time of mourning for that wonderfully unique time of year.

But, we can't live in that place forever, so, last week, I began to slowly put my life back together. I tried to shower before supper time and started practicing wearing a bra again for my big reentry into society. I planned a couple of outings with friends to knock the cobwebs off of my social skills. I put on pants that buttoned and tried to reintroduce my eyes to the sunlight. I struggled to remember how to cook without cream cheese, sour cream, or heavy cream and got back on the treadmill with some irregular regularity.
Now, this week, dress rehearsal is over and it's time to get back to real life. So, here I am, but everyone knows if you overwork muscles you haven't used in a while, you might pull something if you're not careful, so we'll start slow.

I always look at the beginning of a new year like the first day of school. I always loved the first day of school. The big decisions had been made about book bags, lunch boxes, and three ring binder color- or Trapper Keeper if your mom was a big spender. The paste jar was fresh and full and the applicator stick was new and not all bent. The markers were loaded and full of colorful potential. The pencil erasers were unmarred and the wood bore no teeth marks yet. The crayons had a clean, sharp point and the wrappers were neatly hugging each one. Everyone started out with things looking up for a perfect year. So many plans and intentions to do our best and ace it.

But, it usually didn't take long for that dream to go flying out the bus window just like with new year's resolutions. Already in this young 2020, I guess you could say I've had to rip a couple of pages out of my new spiral notebook and start over, where I've messed up already. And it left behind those messy paper strands inside the spiral that have to be fished out with a pencil. Yeah, if this new year was a freshly-issued blank, manila book cover, you could say I'm unhappy that the bubble letters of my name aren't as perfect as I'd imagined and my new red crayon already snapped when I went to color them in. Yeah, it didn't take me long to mess up a fresh start.

But, the good thing about fresh starts is that we can have one any time we want one. They're not chained to a calendar and don't require a waiting period or new materials. So, I'll just take what I've got and start fresh tomorrow, January 13.

Well, that wasn't too bad, so we'll try this again in a few days.

Y'all have a productive week.

But, careful not to pull anything.