Happy 2018! Even though I didn’t take much time off work, I still managed to enjoy a really nice holiday season – highlights included a couple of days that L & I spent with my parents in the frozen northlands and my summer friend B being home for a whole week.

frozen northlands

It was a nice mix of family time and grownup time. The three of us went to the Detroit Institute of Art and had filet mignon on New Year’s Eve together; separately, L & I did puzzles and spent days in jammies and B & I visited the Motown Museum & had a great lunch at Social Kitchen and Bar in Birmingham (the atmosphere was a little busy and hipster for me; but the food was great – highly recommend the egg sandwich and the Brussels sprouts). He and I also found time to visit our fave local, Lucy & the Wolf in Northville (everything is good here and the service is absolutely top notch), and I felt a little nostalgic for the summer nights that would find us there eating devilled eggs and then wandering down to the live music in the square.

miss l showing off one of two puzzles we completed over the holiday – the other was a thomas kincaide little mermaid that my mom got her.

motown! #detroithustlesharder

Now everything is encased in ice, as the first week of 2018 has followed in the footsteps of past years with a deep freeze. Even though my cats live indoors and never have to put their soft paws in a snowbank, they seem to be as annoyed and drained as us humans – Sarge has barely gotten out of his cat bed since New Year’s. Everyone at work looks glassy and zombie-like. We all have road salt on our shoes and pants and although I’ve managed to shower and put on clean clothes every day, that’s about all the extent of the energy I can muster for self-improvement.

portraits of feline laziness

I did, however, get on the work treadmill today for my first run of 2018 and it felt great. I am recommitting to mileage this year and one of my goals is a half-marathon. I finally feel as though I’m fully healed from the stress fracture that’s plagued me for the past couple of years (!) and am slowly building my base again, even if it’s just on the treadmill right now.

obligatory widget central workout room selfie – can we jam any more equipment in that space?…note my moon face and pooh tummy –> hence the weight watchers…

I had a spotty performance with Weight Watchers over the holiday. I had some really excellent days and then I had some days where I wanted B’s Elvis birthday cake and handfuls of salted mixed nuts and pizza and big goblets of wine. I didn’t lose any weight, but I didn’t gain any, either, and I feel like I’ve started January strongly.
I should also add that one of my other big 2018 resolutions is taking place right now. Last year, I read an article about “Dry January” (mostly a UK thing currently, I think; about 3 million people over there participate) and decided to do it. I felt so good after a month of no alcohol that I’ve decided to make this an annual tradition.

My side hustle starts up again on Monday and if all goes well, I’ll be certified by the end of February. Not much knitting to report except Kit’s Mitts (a Christmas gift for a bestie – technically not finished before Christmas but not my fault – Sarge has a habit of digging into my knitting bag after I’ve gone to bed and dragging my knitting projects around the house, winding the yarn around chairs and tables, then up the stairs, needles and all, and he unraveled them TWICE) which I didn’t even Ravel because I didn’t take a picture of them before they were bundled into an envelope and mailed. I have a little mini-sock on the needles as a test for some Christmas ornaments / gifts for next year and a pair of wool mittens. I have been wearing the wool mittens I knitted last year quite a bit and I even wore them to snowblow and I am thrilled to report that they are WARM!! So I’m making more for the mitten basket.

And that’s about the sum of my New Year update. Happy 2018 to all and sundry and stay warm out there.