January 7 ~ Hard Freeze

The camellias are a little bruised but hanging on in the frozen weather.

The kids return to school tomorrow.  I hope they all have their coats!

January 6 ~ Unique

This past year, I was a part of the most wonderful group of beautiful and unique ladies in the Now You group.  I don't know what I would have done without the support and inspiration from these ladies throughout 2013.  From emails to postcards to pictures to special trinkets in the mail -- this has been the best group ever.  I received a sweet note and these awesome buttons yesterday and I love them!

I still keep my fingers crossed for a Now You gathering one day.  I would gladly sell my belongings for the chance to go.

January 5 ~ Stick a fork in it

Leftover olives from dinner last night -- they made the perfect snack while I cooked another round of meals.

Winter break is officially over.  Tomorrow morning, I head to school for an in-service day.  I'm not gonna lie.  All these mornings of sleeping until 8 a.m. have been rather awesome!

So stick a fork into the winter break, too.  She is done.

January 4 ~ A little bit

The sun was shining and the weather was wonderful.  After watching the weather reports, I almost feel guilty for saying that -- but living in the south has to have some perks.  Winter is just one perk.

For a while today, I couldn't find my sunglasses.  I think I might be going a little bit senile.  They were on top of my head the whole time.

January 3 ~ Snowbunny

Yesterday, we were wearing flip flops.  Today, it was cold and windy.


There was even snow.

Actually, that snow was chipped up ice on the lawn of our library.  It really was cold but not cold enough for it to snow.

Julia built a snowbunny -- the best snowbunny on the ice patch.

January 2 ~ Goals

Today begins the work on my running goal for the year.  It is raining but not cold -- and that is one of my favorite ways to run.

January 1 ~ Celebrate

Julia welcomed in the new year with a drawing on her bedroom mirror.  Happy New Year from Julia, me, and the world's largest bee.

Here is my progress on 2013's goals:

*Another 365 project - Done!

*Run 1000 miles - I ran 664 miles.  I told myself I'd be ok with less than 1000 so I didn't truly push myself on this one.

*Read 60 books - Done!  I read 100.

*Learn how to use Photoshop - Done!  I use Photoshop.  Maybe not well and I still have a lot to learn but I do use it.

*Write - Kind of.  I did write more but not to my satisfaction.

*Start a book club.  Fail.  I texted out the idea to some.  Then tried to start an online group with some high school and college friends.  We never got past the first decision of choosing what book to read.

*Clean out the clutter. Kind of.  A lot of clutter has been cleaned out.  There is still more to tackle.

*Learn sign language.  Kind of.  I learned quite a few signs initially but then the students who were teaching me moved and I haven't had much of a reason to learn more.

So, not a bust of a year but still room to improve, right?  There is always room to improve.

Here are the goals, in no particular order, for 2014:

*Another 365.  I just like this habit.

*Run 1000 miles.  And really do it this time.

*Read 70 books.  I love to read.  This year, I'm tackling the Newberry Award list.

*Save all my beer bottle caps for the year.  Just for the heck of it.  I already have one in the jar.

*Write in my journal at least four days a week,

*Learn more Photoshop.  I just don't find this program to be intuitive but I love it's power.

*Train Clementine.  She has learned sit, down, and how to walk on a leash.  She has a lot more to learn.

Not stretching myself on the learning end this upcoming year.  I suspect that both Julia and Clementine will teach me plenty to make up for my lack of ambition in the goal setting department.

Happy New Year!  I have a feeling 2014 is going to be awesome!