So, we’re three whole days into the new decade* already … how’s it going?

First, I can tell you, it’s cold. Like, 20 degrees with wind up to 40 mph. Brrr! Except for opening the door for Chappy to go to the bathroom, I haven’t stuck my nose outside all day. And the one (or, other) drawback to the big windows in this otherwise wonderful townhouse is that on windy days, they’re drafty. So on windy days, the house feels cold. Or, at least, it does if you’re near a window.

Luckily, I’ve got shawls and handknit socks … and afghans! I’m sitting underneath my yellow Sylvi afghan right now, with the laptop in my lap. I’m sitting on a floor pillow, leaning back against my red chair, which is what Chappy is curled up on. Cozy, huh?

I’ve spent most of the day reading through my book manuscript, looking for weak spots, things that are missing, things that need to be better–stuff like that. The first half … which I’ve had done for years and years now … is actually pretty much, well, done. Except for a comma or two, I basically couldn’t think of anything to really change. I’ve tweaked and edited so much over the years when I was stuck on how to move the story forward, the beginning really doesn’t need much.

The second half? Or, really, the last 100 pages? They need work because they truly ARE the “rough” in “rough draft.” This makes sense because they’re the newest. I’ve written them but haven’t gone back to read them again, expand the themes, tighten the prose … all that.

But, still … Those first 200 pages are pretty good. Or at least I think so!

Otherwise? Mom and I met up with Kim and Liam yesterday. I returned the knitting book Kim lent me and she returned the DVD for “Up,” that I lent her. We had coffee and treats and a very nice visit. Kim’s right–we need to do this more often! Though, we saw each other a month ago, just after Thanksgiving, so this is pretty good for us.

I HAD been planning on inviting Risa over to see our new house, but then she went and sprained her “good” ankle so that, suddenly, two flights of stairs just aren’t as appealing, so we’re going to have to put that off for a bit. (I knew I should have asked her over at the beginning of December!) Of course, the ground floor of the house is perfectly nice, with a couch right next to the coffee, and there are only two steps up from the driveway, so it’s not like it’s not possible to get into the house … but, still, it’s not the same if you don’t get to see the whole thing!

I baked bread today (rye bread, which is already half gone). Baked a cranberry-applesauce cake with leftover cranberry applesauce from Christmas–I made up the recipe, but rich with spices, walnuts, and dried cranberries. Yum. I’ve gotten a lot of knitting done on my Redhook and am a couple inches away from splitting the fronts from the back.

All in all, a pretty nice year so far. Mom is taking down the Christmas decorations, and that all seems kind of odd. We had a perfectly nice Christmas, and all, and our cute new little tree did a great job being, well, Christmasy, but, still. It was different. The last time I woke up in a new house on Christmas morning, my first instinct was to run and check if Santa had come with presents. I had 34 Christmases in that old house of ours, and the one in this house both did and did NOT feel quite like Christmas. (Which, yes, I know, isn’t about where you are, but whom you are with, but you know what I mean.) The holidays this year were nice. They were family-filled and love-filled, and perfectly pleasant … they just felt … different. So the idea of putting all the Christmas decorations away and trying to get back to normal … when we had only just barely started to feel like “normal” when the holidays arrived … isn’t as bad a thing as usual.

Oh dear, Chappy’s barking at the front window again. Ironically, the blinds to the one and only window in the front on the ground floor don’t go all the way to the bottom, so while we can block OUR view out of the window, we can’t block Chappy’s. And since we share a front walk with our neighbor’s, whose door is right about 6 feet away from ours, Chappy gets upset whenever they use their door–and there’s nothing we can do about it! Ironic, huh?

Sorry for the lack of pictures … Oh, all right. ONE picture, of Chappy on his chair the other day. Except, he was curled up on my side of the chair, and looking very snug indeed.

* Although, technically, the decade won’t start until 2011, just like the 21st century didn’t officially start until 2001, but let’s not start the year off by quibbling.

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