A Houseful of Boys!: It's A New Year

We celebrated the end of the year with our close friends...we ate and sipped on (a rather incredible) champagne punch and ate some more and danced to Abba and played games and laughed and before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye to 2015 and hello to 2016.

Here we go, new year. Here we go.

I have had so many things swirling around in my head lately...the normal thoughts of resolutions and changes and words of the year and all there's all kinds of clutter happening in my wee little brain. I'm not even sure how to spit it out onto this place...but this is my own little journal and over the last decade (!) of writing here I've come to realize that for me, just writing things out helps me to process.

I used to be really big on choosing a word of the year...a word to help me set the tone for how I wanted life to go during the coming year. But I've found that when I do that I end up drawing a line in the sand and I find myself stuck.

Stuck because of a word I over focus on.

One year I chose the word 'bloom'. I wanted to grow, to expand, to bloom. I grew a business...probably bigger than it should've been at that stage in my life, I jumped in to doing things a little more than what I really had time for, I gained 10 pounds.

How's that for blooming.

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But I do love the beginning of a new year and I love the chance to start something new, to set some goals, to challenge my thinking. It's how I work...I'm a planner and a list maker so this kind of stuff feeds me.

But the thing is...I just want to make it out of this new year unscathed. I'm laughing (and cringing at the same time) but it's true. I want me and my houseful of boys and my family and my friends to find ourselves sitting pretty, healthy and whole on the flip side of this year.

I'd also like my dog to stop barking at every dog that crosses my front lawn, a mysterious $10,000 to show up in my checking account, and to be able to fit into that super cute black cocktail dress that's tucked in the back of my closet...but now I'm sounding greedy.

My boys...my trio were all home and I had them all three sleeping under our roof together for two whole nights. I've come to realize that not all their lives will be running smoothly at the same time and that giving (often excessive) advice is job security for me but so totally not what they want to hear over and over. And over again.

I'm good at repeating myself until I'm sure I'm heard.

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Boy #1 has a lot going on, lives far away and I want to swoop in and fix everything that needs to be fixed because I, being older and wiser, know everything. Boy #2...and are you sitting down for this? Boy #2 has become my easy child. For reals. And Boy #3? He's a senior in high school and has parents who have senioritis just as badly as he does and the sooner he realizes that (once again, I know everything) the easier it'll be for all of us.

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But having them all home, watching them relate to each other...I just need to let life happen. If I swoop in and don't let them stumble...then what good will it be in the end? I want them to learn to be men...to be strong and sensitive and while it's hard to watch, I need to let them each figure things out all the while letting them know that the net is here just in case. But only just in case.

This parenting gig doesn't get any easier, does it?

So this year...this brand spankin' new year, I want to concentrate on one thing. I want to listen to God. Not just the nod my head kind of listen but the real deal listen. I am being pushed and pulled and I feel like He is being very clear in what He's telling me...and I'm not paying close enough attention.

I know I need to spend more time in the word...and more time sharing those words I'm spending time in. But He's leading me to serve better, to be his hands, to grow...and I've been slowly opening my eyes to how that looks and that He wants of me. I'm being asked to speak more and this space is being shared more...but is that it?

Listening involves patience...and I struggle in that department.

So here we go. 2016! Remember all the scare about the year 2000? That was 16 years ago and we're still here...and we still have electricity and water and, thankfully, Costco.

Last night that guy that I like so much bought himself a brand new punch bowl set and made the biggest batch of champagne punch you've ever seen. Think brandy and frangelico and four bottles of prosecco and a whole bunch of other stuff and an honest to goodness ice ring with fruit frozen in to it.

He made an ice ring.

And I might've laughed about it but every single person who walked in the door looked at that massive bowl of punch and commented on the ice ring.

We're bringing back an oldie but goodie, friends.

The morning after serving a massive bowl of punch meant a lot of texts from friends this morning.

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This morning we had a lazy morning...I made a frittata with lots of fresh veggies in it and for lunch we had a big salad. In between we took our pup on a long 2 1/2 mile walk around our lake. The laundry is going strong, I have a huge pot of Sunday Gravy in the oven...basically spaghetti sauce with sausage and meatballs and a pop roast in it, and I've worked my way through a couple of dvr'd hallmark movies.

This vacation has felt good...but' it'll feel good to get back to a regular routine. Am I really saying that?