Yes, it takes me at least 3 weeks to feel like the new year has begun.  It may have to do with my astrological sign < wink wink nudge nudge to those who know me and what I mean re: today>, or having classes start last week and still have some shuffling to do there.

With working through a lot of the yule holidays, I do need to ease into things so that I feel at least a bit rested and ready for the upcoming year. Already in the works – classes as mentioned – including a fuller and expanded Sewing Level 1 class starting this coming Saturday, room to have more students in all of my dance classes, and a general feeling schedule of wedding alterations and custom projects already in the calendar.

2013 has some good vibes in it already!

Philanthropic/volunteer wise, I think I am mainly going nerdy/geeky this year as the Ottawa Browncoats Community is centring itself into my vision – we’ve been kindly nudged into having a table at the upcoming Game Summit on February – early – more details on that when we get them onto the Ottawabrowncoats.ca website.  And Ottawa Comicon should be confirming that they received our request for space there too…in May.

Where I have chosen to step back is of course, the Bazaar, which is a feeling of freedom and relief  – as much as I love our dance community here in Ottawa, I am really looking forward to joining events run by the other fab organizers in the area, and being part of their support system as they have been for me over the years!

 I’ll still have my OCCP/ student recitals, as long as I don’t go crazy 🙂  So feel welcome to come dancing !

And sewing is looking as fun and rewarding as ever! Along with a few fun custom projects as mentioned, I am still thoroughly enjoying being Luxe Bridal’s Alterations Specialist – bringing the final touches to the dresses their brides order/ pick up from their sample sales.  Lisa and Madeleine are great to work with and 2013 is looking good!

So, welcome 2013 – let’s rock it together!

This just happened- Tom and I laughed.

After needing major futon time last night as a cold invaded my system, and having a mediocre night sleep wise, this morning is off to a good start!

Got to the drive clean testing place a bit early( after getting a bit turned around in the back roads of Vanier), and headed off for a short coffeewalk to a nearby bakery.

Recommended by the staff at McConville’s, the Maison Baguettes on Montreal Road was a place I have walked past over the years, and now I know I will pop in again. Simple coffee and muffins that are crispy on top as they are freshly baked, makes me happy. Wifi too.

As I was happily nomnoming away, my cell rang and my car was ready 15 minutes early. Yay! And it passed. Double yay!

And after pulling into my driveway with but of revving- there be snow speed bumps :-), I got out of the car and looked down to see my earring. Lost almost a month ago, it is not an expensive piece, but a lightweight pretty piece that I had worn to dinner chez Deepali and Ashish in December.

It had fallen out before the evening began and waited patiently through multiple trips before creeping back out from under the seat to be spotted.

While I still have a dry cough settling in and a busy day ahead, I think a good start deserves an immediate dose of recognition!

So thanks Universe for the good start to today!!

This holiday season has been an amazing blend of fabulous friends in intense doses interspersed with quiet downtime with Tom and Sprocket. It’s been exactly what we both have needed and it’s not quite over yet.

December 31st and while I am still officially on a break, I have found I am already doing my traditional housecleaning of transition. AS I finish up one block of time/segment of life/ session of work, I automatically take some time to tie up loose ends.

Even before we go on our summer holidays, I clean the house as much as I can so that when I am ready to come back and start work again, it’s waiting for me, ready to get started without any major distractions holding me back.

This Yule/New Year felt like we really needed that down time, and I was so happy to have a few days here and there to ourselves to just be { nap/ watch movies/spontaneously try new things and just relax}.

This past weekend, we both hosted and visited, so today I already slept in 2 hours, Sprocket has just jumped off the bed now – that’s a 3 hour sleep in. And we are grateful that we have a few invitations to choose from for gathering with our amazing friends tonight, but we may need another quiet night.

So, may your NYE be exactly what you need, may 2013 bring you everything you manifest with your thoughts and deeds, and may you all keep posting your goals and achievements on your blogs, Facebook and twitter with gusto- alongside lots of food pics and nature shots!

Now back to changing my calendar to 2013, paperwork for TAV Creations and enjoying another quiet day out in the Byward market , if I get there!  If not – there’s a futon  and some company waiting for snuggling! And those Thank You notes I still owe oodles of people!

With all of the work on my plate, the events, shows, parties and such, 2012 Christmas season has been even more of a pain than previous years.  The frenzy of trying to squeeze it all in during a one month period reminds me that I need to focus on getting it in during the year, not just now.

We don’t give gifts for Xmas, we donate to charity.  Throughout the year, I get mail outs from those charities asking for donations to be spread out during the year, not just at that one hyped up time of year which is Christmas { my words, not theirs}.

And they are right – so plan 1, when I finally get around to making our donations { we use CanadaHelps.org } on behalf of family members for holiday gifts, I will be looking at setting up a monthly plan, or at least scheduling in my own calendar to make the donations on a more year-round way.

And seeing folks over the holidays is fun/stressful/superficial/whacky and full of contradictions. We want to see people and this time of year, we are programmed to schedule in that time to go to parties and re-connect o a social level.  But we cannot attend every event and can get very crazy trying.  And when we are there, it’s loud, distracting and again we are trying to squeeze in those quick catch up conversations with everyone we know, so that we only really get that soupçon  of connection.

So that’s plan 2 – make time for double date nights, fifth wheel nights { this would be the mix of couple and singles,just to be clear}, girls nights, guys nights, etc. throughout the year.  We had already begun doing this in 2012, and while again, we cannot attend every event, if we know there are planned out multiple options, we will at least get in 4-6 visits outside of regular channels, as opposed to just one whacky party!

Cards…

I did not get cards out this year – I might, after I finish my work load this week. I will try to go digital at the very least and bombard emails/twitterfeeds/facebookwalls etc with some adorable imagery of the season sending greetings of joy to all of you.

Or I may just sleep.

In my “week off”, we will travel and host, and see cultural events and visit with family – just like everyone else.  And in that brief period of time, I hope to catch up with my husband and new doglet. Cause we’ve had a busy 2012.

So, Christmas, don’t be hurt, don’t be offended.

Yule barely got a toast from me this year, and it’s closer to my heart.  It did get a Cherpumple, though, so I guess you can feel a bit left out as you’ll be getting the leftovers…yes, Cherpumple does seem to freeze okay – must be the preservatives in the cake mixes and store bought pies.

The remaining half will emerge when we host my family – Bwahaha!

So, Merry Christmas to all of you who have the spirit at this time of year.  May we start to create a balanced approach and keep it going throughout the year, instead of the standard collective manic burst for the rest of the month followed by the post Cherpumple Coma.

Thanks to everyone who joined us today in spite of the whacky weather! Cherpumple, Grinch, conversations, folks squeezed into our cozy apartment and lots of amazing food!

We hope to spend more time with all of you in 2013, as we totally realized how much we want to chat with you all in more depth !!

@halyma and @wtl, a photo by Halyma on Flickr.

This year, we celebrate Samhain with some of Ottawa’s finest at the 14th Annual Charity Witches Gathering on the Saturday before Halloween.

We have been judges for many years with Auz and Marianne as our cohorts for the evenings adventures and it’s always a fun but challenging experience!

If you click on the photo, you’ll be taken to my Flickr page where there a handful of great shots from the party, which featured the theme of Day of the Dead.

And if you are one of my Flickr contacts, you will see a couple of shots from my youth which inspired by hair for Saturday!

We were actually characters from “Weird Science” from the end of the movie when the nerds were now cool. But for those who just thought we were Duran Duran, I’ll accept that too!

T/H

http://zoolegacy.bandcamp.com/album/city-light-glow
Downloaded from their website linkage!
http://thezoolegacy.com
Never heard you guys before, but Dying Song is already stuck in my head!
So while my dancing will be confined to the dance floor, I am looking forward to seeing some of my dance friends there!

Also wishing good luck to the folks in the Army Run today!

The last Dancer’s News  weekly email version of the summer just went out – but during the month of August it will be quietly informing people by existing online and being updated via the comments in the Blog Version found here.

I have 4 more client projects to finish over the next few days then when my sewing machines go in for their month long spa treatment, I start mine as well!

I am really looking forward to getting a massage from Vera Sagram, and then walking away with an order of Vera’s Belgian Waffles!

I was scanning through my blog and saw the post I had written last year around this time, and the great pics of the fun stuff I did last summer.  And I just don’t have the energy this summer to do the same.

Maybe while I am on my break, I will find the time to go through things and relive the fabulous spring and summer I have had – it’s been great.  And it’s been BUSY.

But for now, I will look forward to the break and know that I’ll be thinking of each and every one of you while I am swinging in my hammock, drinking a toast with camping buddies, or viewing the amazing vistas in the park.  Honest 😉

See ya in September – unless I get creative and bloggy in the meantime !

T/H