Happy New Year (with no resolutions attached!)

Happy 2012, everyone! I hope you all enjoyed this first day of a new year. It passed quietly for us. I think the single most exciting thing we did today was go for a hike.

Quiet isn't bad, though. We just ended a very merry {and very busy} Christmas week, and come Tuesday, all the crazy busy-ness of our regular life resumes its tumbleweed course. I'm already making to-do lists of phone calls, emails, and errands. But that can wait. For just a little while longer, I can pretend nothing else in the world exists but me, my fuzzy pajamas, and back-to-back episodes of Cake Boss.

I have made no resolutions thus far. I'm not big on New Year's resolutions. After years of not being able to keep them, I rather gave up on the idea. But make no mistake. I have hopes, dreams, and plans aplenty for 2012.

Fueled no doubt by two things that happen every year at this time:

1. The overwhelming urge to clean out closets and organize the house and,
2. An undeniable craving to plan summer trips for our family.

Like clockwork, every January and February, you can find me in odd nooks and crannies, cleaning, oragazining, throwing out, or giving away stuff. If I'm not doing that, I'm on the computer researching trips to Mount St. Helens or Orcas Island, booking cabins and camp grounds, writing out itineraries.

I don't know why these urges strike when they do. But I don't question them anymore, and I certainly don't fight them. And today, right on schedule, they both showed up with a vengence.

Caleb's room received the brunt of my organizing mania today. Not only did I clean, but I went through all his toys too. New ones from this Christmas. Old ones from last Christmas. Whole bunch of junk he's collected in between. Some toys went into rotation up in the closet. Others went into bags for the thrift store. Took about an hour and a half, but like an itch that's finally scratched, I felt utterly relieved when it was done.

What did I do next? Laid down on Caleb's bed, in his perfectly clean, organized room, and dreamed up family vacations. Duh. It is January 1st, after all. I told you. I can't fight the urge.

I found myself dreaming today of a vacation to that southern sunny land I used to call home. The practical part of me says it's preposterous to hope for such a thing. How could we ever afford it? But then, a girl can wish, can't she?

There are other wishes I'm holding near to my heart for 2012. But like plans, I'm trying to hold them loosely. 2011 taught me that plans change {dreams, too}. And you have to be willing to change with them, or else be left behind in a heap of regret. Roll with the punches, ya know? I think that'll be my new motto for 2012.

Well, it is nearly January 2nd now and I really ought to be in bed. We're getting up ridiculously early tomorrow to watch the Rose Parade at my in-laws. Maybe the football game, too, if we're lucky. Happy New Year, everyone! Blessings to you all at this time of beginnings and fresh starts. :)