Sunday, January 04, 2009

2009
























when i took this picture, during a nighttime dog walk (so much colder than the dog walks in chapel hill, i might add), i was musing over which i find sadder: christmas lights after christmas is over, or naked christmas trees thrown to the curb. i still haven't decided. i always feel pretty melancholy post-holiday, missing my sweeties and my bruddies and the busy festivities of our celebrations. i miss waking up in the morning knowing i'm in a house full of people i love. i am lucky to wake up every morning that way,...it's just fun when there are a dozen or more of them.

anyway, we celebrated the new year with the dancer and family (minus artemis, who was elsewhere), playing cards and gorging on cheese fondue and roasted vegetables. we watched rear window and played spoons and greeted 2009 with a fair amount of enthusiasm. i continue to remind myself that 2008 didn't utterly suck. here are my reasons why:

1. stella.
2. barack obama
3. bean won her cbyx scholarship
4. good movie-watching
5. my pellet stove


there must be more, but without moving into somewhat negative territory (i.e. "no one in my family died," "we did not lose our house to foreclosure" ), i can't think of anything else right now.

so i welcome 2009, in which i will be the mother of two teenagers, my girl will come home, my business will grow, i will finish the crafty projects i've started over the last nine months, and i will remember people's birthdays. uh oh, that's starting to sound awfully like resolutions, which i've resolved not to make. and i hope everyone else in portland feels the same way, so my gym doesn't get unbearably crowded during the month of january. actually, i did settle on three *resolutions for myself:

1. be brave
2. be optimistic
3. be here

the third has a bit of a buddhist flavor to it -- i'm going to stop browsing craigslist for dream houses in the countryside and dream apartments in brooklyn. i'm going to just live here, in portland, maine. because it's actually a pretty wonderful place to be.




*i have not resolved to stop my photo thievery, hence this image from christmas, stolen from my bruddie, of my grandfather, ribby, holding my newest sweetie, stella kate:

7 comments:

holly kellogg said...

my gosh, ribby is exactly the same. and stella is a beauty. she's lucky to have a great-grandpa, and you're so lucky to have both of them!

Liz Woodbury said...

i know, doesn't he look amazing? and she really is a gorgeous baby with a sunny personality. i AM lucky. i hope you get to meet stella this year! xo

Anonymous said...

This is a lovely, optimistic post and it made me feel hopeful too.

-dancer

Liz Woodbury said...

oh good! it did have an upward trajectory, didn't it? started out melancholy, ended up all buddhist, plus the bonus multi-generational thing at the end.

Anonymous said...

That's a fantastic picture, stolen or not! And it's good to read an optimistic post. We've just been showing our Thai teacher around Portland, and I, at least, am remembering why I like the place so much....

Michael said...

Happy New Years!
I think your "resolutions" are quite good. vague and positive!! hopeful.
Some of the photo's you've posted of Stella remind me of Zoe!!

Liz Woodbury said...

lisa, stella does remind me of baby zoe sometimes -- i can't wait to see what she looks like as she gets older!

and mama d, i'm glad you got to do your portland tour! did you show her the christmas lights?