Oh myyyyy.

This will teach me to double-check more often. January 9 was MUCH longer ago than I’d thought you’d last seen me!

My excuses are various, sundry, good, and mostly non-Internets-worthy. Chief among them are what surrounded my decision to become what one might call “more flexibly employed.” (Sub-theme 3: don’t be afraid.) I have only good things to say about all of that; all is well, and the transition has been pleasant, if VERY…transitional.

Now, I’m well on my way back to being a regular person again – or at least, whatever passes for one in my own personal universe. So far, the very best part is a lot more activity in the kitchen…sadly undocumented, but shared widely with friends, which is more important in the end, yes?

My new relative-freedom to-do list actually does include spending more time around these parts. While destressing has involved a lot of quiet time, there’s been productivity and fun as well…and I’m actually going to write about some of it. Here’s a quick list, past and future. What do you want to hear about?

Food/drink

• Classic cookies
• New cookies
• Adventures with tomatoes
• Tea
• How we’re eating

Crafty

• My knitting/crochet projects
• My pals’ projects (especially those who make a living that way)
• New ventures

Declutter/other DIY

• Tackling Mount PileOBoxes
• Organizational linky love
• Success stories

 

Post title credit: the incomparable George Takei. Give early and often to the Japan relief effort; look George up on Twitter to find out how.

DIY: Arroz con Pollo

Posts on two consecutive days? It may be time to wonder if this guy actually knows what he’s talking about.

…moving right along! It’s been a weekend of living the productivity dream chez Plum Texan, if not in every way we planned. One thing we’re working on is eating at home more often. This shouldn’t be so hard for us; we both rock at cooking. But I don’t think I have to tell you how much easier it is to let someone else do it. (Plus, in Houston, we never lack for variety or tastiness.)

Fast forward. Here's the end result!

Delightful, delovely…destashing?

I’m going to call two posts in less than a week vs. two posts in ten months a WIN for 2011 already. You may wonder if the world has tilted on its axis. My friends, I ask myself that same question all the time. ALL THE TIME. It’s probably a good thing right now, even though – or probably *because* – I’m about to start getting rid of things.

Happy new theme!

Fare thee well, 2010, and don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya.

Originally, that really felt like the best way to get started. This past year has been rough for a lot of people, myself and mine included. But lo, my friends, I come not to bury Caesar…but to praise his successor! Oh my, yes. Because while ’10 kept kicking a**es right and left, right up to the end – the lead-in to 2011 is showing a great deal of promise.

Falling over for a visit

So…yeah. Adventures in Being Me and Adventures in Being Married have run fast and furious throughout the year of Taking Action. It hasn’t all been good, and it hasn’t all been bad. But at least there’s never a dull moment…?

Since, at the moment, I’m fatigued by the not-so-good, I’m going to take a few minutes and share the good with you. Never hurts to have the reminder, right?

Forward

If you’ve been following me for any length of time, i t probably won’t surprise you to discover (or to be reminded) that New Year’s is my favorite holiday. Th is *does* seem to surprise some folk, though – usually those most enamored of Halloween, Thanksgiving, or the Big C.

Not to down any of the others, but since I was a kid, the New Year has had a huge appeal to me. While I’m very traditional in some ways, and the themes of my life (wordsmithing, kitchen magic, craftiness) tend to remain the same, I also like to always be moving forward, to discard what’s no longer working and forge ahead into new, exciting things.