Happy New Year!

This is my fourth New Year without Ray. It’s not as emotional as Christmas, but I miss him so much.

He would have loved seeing the turkeys that I saw walking across the street this morning. And shortly after, I saw a fox crossing my neighbor’s front lawn. That was an awesome sight.

It’s amazing all the wild life I see, since I live in the middle of St Paul, MN. But I live close to the river and there are lots of woods around me, and we’re having an incredibly mild winter, so what the heck, the wild kingdom is right outside my door.

As is my New Year’s tradition, I raced to put away all my Christmas stuff, and as usual, I won. I love the way the house goes from being full of red and green objects, to being naked again with gentler colors. I love clearing out the Christmas clutter and getting ready for New Year’s by being organized and enjoying my home with its sleek and steady lines again.

It’s been a bare winter with mild temperatures. But last night, it rained and then we had a few spits of snow, so it’s a white New Year. The wind is howling this afternoon and we’re going drop off into the single digits, so I’ll be sure to snuggle in tight while sleeping tonight.

New Year’s resolutions? Well, I’d like to do more than clear out the Christmas clutter. I’m thinking of going through the house room by room to get rid of excess stuff. I took a lot of Christmas stuff to Goodwill when I was decorating and I think that was just the beginning of a major clean-out.

I’d like to paint the kitchen.

A hold over from last year, get my papers in order so Asher can find them easily if I die or have a severe illness.

And that’s what I’d like to do in 2012 with its extra day.