(Title courtesy of Mark Mulcahy: I know the version off this album)

Happy New Year, one and all!

My plan for the new year was to indulge myself in a day of rest, relaxation, and knitting. The unwashed laundry and uncleaned bathrooms and wedding planning together managed to exert such gravitational pull, however, that I got sucked into that black hole instead. Ah well. I have fresh sheets and the DJ has an updated music list.

The fuzzies knew how to do the day right, at least.

2014 was a weird year, wasn’t it? At the beginning, I was a marginally employed librarian freezing my hienie off at ALA Midwinter and exploring Philly with a good friend.

At the end, I was halfway across the country, moving to a new state to take a good job.

In between, there were good times, like when Mousie and I met Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. There were sad times. There was wedding planning. Lots and lots of wedding planning.

(Pro tip: do not move, start a new job, and plan a wedding all at the same time. As a matter of fact, you can skip the whole wedding planning thing altogether. Grab your sweetie, go to a courthouse, and get yourselves a nice dinner afterwards.)

I think there may have been a few holidays as well, but wedding planning stampeded all over those.

Throughout it all, I am thankful to have my health (minus the hearing, but that’s been gone a while), my Querido, my family, and my Melba. (And the kittens, but they are not ready to be comforting companions until they have run around the house, knocked something over, drunk/eaten my beverage/food, and walked through the middle of my cooking/knitting/writing.)

In the year ahead, I am looking forward to quiet. Afternoons spent reading with Querido and Melba with the kitties galloping all over us, nights spent cooking dinner and then–gasp!–going to bed early to arise the next morning rested and refreshed. I’ll be happy to leave the madness behind in 2014.

And in this fresh new year, the night is still young. So maybe, just maybe, I can start the year off with some knitting after all.

May 2015 bring you peace and happiness.