Slowly Blooming

Gradual Bloom

For our first installment of the New Year, G spoke about the slow start of 2023.  For me, the New Year has always had a difficult time taking root until at least the second week.  Even growing up, we would roll right from the holiday season into my cousin Julie’s birthday, which is January 6th.  Happy Birthday, Julie!  Our eyes were not focused on a fancy new year or starting back to school.  Our eyes were clearly set on the first slumber party of the year, obviously.

No, we haven’t had a slumber party in a number of years, but I simply replaced that joyous occasion with my wedding anniversary, which falls on January 2nd.  So, even as an adult, I have had a difficult time getting my year going.  I mean, why stop the celebration on January 1st when you are clearly going to indulge in some form of dining, dessert, or drinks to celebrate another year of wedded bliss?  So, you will often find us extending our holiday debauchery well into the new year or at least until that Monday after our anniversary.


Loving Flowers!

Something that I love and that you will almost always find in my kitchen is fresh flowers.

I have always loved flowers and would get them periodically, but a couple of years ago, a dear friend gave me this beautiful wooden box that says, “Thankful” and it has 5 mason jars inside.  I also really love this box.  You could use it for anything, but I use it for flowers.

Every few weeks, I purchase a large bouquet from Sam’s club because their flowers last for at least two weeks and they are gorgeous.  Of course, I am at the mercy of whatever they have in stock, but there are usually holiday colors, roses and a mix of wildflowers. They rarely disappoint.


I know I said slow…

We said we were getting a slow start to 2023; I just didn’t know how slow. About 12 days in, I picked up my husband’s cold. I did what many of us do even though we’ve had countless colds in our lifetimes; I threw every remedy possible at it hoping to shorten its stay.

And while I am sure some of it helped, colds have a way of taking as long as they take.

And all that talk about starting slow began to feel like my nemesis. I didn’t want to be slow. I wanted to be purposeful and methodical. 

About nine days later, I returned to training; while lighter than I’d prefer, sometimes you are required to go slow to go fast.

I spent a great deal of time with a cold, being mad about it, worrying about my training, and obsessing about how it put me behind.

Did it help? No. Did it make me feel worse? Yes. Did I continue with that path anyway? Oh, yes, I did! I may not love slow starts, but I am, for sure, a slow learner.

And then Sunday arrived, and I felt like I was back. I felt relief. I came upon a quote:


Finishing the Unfinished

Do you ever leave a book half-read on accident? Apparently, I do.

Over the holiday break, I was doing some much-needed clutter clearing. You know, finally loading things that I had gathered eight months ago into the car and delivering them to the donation site. Much of what I donated was books, which is always a struggle, but I won’t linger on that point. 

I donated about 60 books and what I discovered while going through them was I had a couple I never finished. I am not sure what happened. It wasn’t that I didn’t like them; I simply got distracted. 

One of the books I recently finished after discovering it was half-read was “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed. I know, I know, you read it ages ago, and you can’t believe I never finished it. And you can’t fathom that I haven’t seen Reese Witherspoon in the movie.

“Trust the wait. Embrace the uncertainty. Enjoy the beauty of becoming.”

— Mandy Hale

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