The Nutcracker!

Two enamored little girls with dancers!

Another two of the dancers from The Nutcacker

Sophia and Martina with their cousin Rachel, a dancer in The Nutcracker!

I'm back!  I know it's been a while but I've returned for one last post of the year aside from some poetry that may find its way to the blog if I get a few moments free!

The Christmas days are behind me and now we are nearly on the eve of a new year!  This was the most wonderful Christmas ever.  It seemed to ease by somehow without the stress that most years bring.   There were surprises and contentment joy and peace and all seemed to come together in perfect measure to create the perfect holiday.  The presents were plentiful, the food amazing and the company splendid.  I did not ask for anything and got more than most with the greatest gift being a healthy and happy family.  Who could ask for more.

And here we are, on the cusp of a new year!   As a believer that any moment is the perfect time to make a resolution, to make a change, I don't particularly believe in the value of January first, yet it is hard not to reflect on the year gone by, on the year to come and to wonder what, if any, changes could be made.

Today I went to the ballet.  The Nutcracker was being performed at a local venue and I took my daughters there.  As an added bonus, my cousin's daughter Rachel was dancing in the performance and it was wonderful to watch her on stage!

This is an old story.  Klara falls asleep and the toys come to life and it could have been done in the very traditional sense but the artistic director put a new spin on the show.  It had a very Canadian content and the set backdrops were actually Group of Seven paintings.  Toy soldiers were Mounties and the animals were beavers and other distinctly Canadian creatures like loons.  It was a wonderful variation and I enjoyed it likely more than the traditional performance.

So if my resolution was to be anything at this point it would be to be prepared to not do things that no longer work!  I would take creative and innovative measures to achieve my goals.  I will not be stuck in a rut and I will actually think through the decisions I make to see if I'm doing the things that I did in the past that carried me to an all too familiar but wrong place.

I intend to apply this to all areas including work, family and relationships.  It is so easy to repeat the same mistakes over and over because the places the mistakes lead to feel familiar and comfortable.  But familiar and comfortable aren't always the best things if they prevent you from getting what you want in life.  If you 're settling for less than you deserve, if you want more, you may have to change the way you approach things.  You may have to shake things up a little to propel yourself forward, to grow, to achieve your dreams! Nothing is impossible.

Also, I'm noticing that as my kids get older(two already out of the house), what wonderful company they are.  When they were little I was limited in what I could do, babies and small children keep you close to home, keep you confined but when they reach an age where you can take them along and they're companions or leave them more then freedom returns and with it the ability to do more.

For example,   I can now travel for a few weeks without them, be more impulsive, be more free.  The baby years are fun but the big kid years are easier and freer!   I loved having babies but I am so enjoying being free of that sort of commitment to home and hearth.  I like working and having money and I like the three trips I have planned between now and March 31 most of all!

I also intend to up the excitement factor!  I'm a bit of a "fun junky" and I cannot stand being bored.  I need to dance more, travel more, socialise more because as much as I like baking and cooking and family life, I'm not really all that domesticated.  Plus I'm very good at doing all of it anyway!!

So, New Years resolution?  Not really because I plan on starting today!  In this very moment!  I've never been good at waiting!

Happy New Year everybody!   And have fun!  Life is not that serious...enjoy!

Dreams only dreamed are wasted and you have the ability to set your life up so that you can live them!