New Year (new dog!)

It's 2018!  I think I was hoping for a bit more from this transition into a new year.  We've been  so focused on getting 2017 behind us... as if some sort of magical change would happen, and 2018 would unfold, new and fresh and totally different.  Overall, though, the state of the world is much the same as it was 3 days ago, and I'm finding myself unable to muster the energy for resolutions, much less a whole new start. New Year's ennui.

One thing IS different around here, though:

New Year, new dog!  Meet Winter Sky Morehouse, our newest family member.  She actually came home to us on  December 28th-- a bright spot to end the year!

 We've been spending a whole lot of time on the kitchen floor this week.

 Winter's got the kitchen as her puppy-proof domain and we just can't stay away from her for very long.

 She's also a biting and chewing machine so thank goodness for a puppy-proof room, and for the fact that she loves her crate and takes nice long naps...

Making life even more interesting is the delightful little cold snap we're having.  Temperatures in the teens for a week now, a Winter wonderland out there.  Little girl doesn't seem to mind the snow... though it can get a bit nippy while we stand and wait for her to do her business.  Every half hour or so.  This puppy phase doesn't last forever, right??

But!  The way it feels to snuggle her little warmth when she first wakes up from a nap!  That part can last...

Winter went to her first party on Sunday!  The annual "New Toddler's Eve" party-- now renamed "New School-Agers Eve"-- was a blast as always, and the little guest star did a great job charming everyone and then napping idyllically on the couch while the kids watched Harry Potter...

Since new year's, we've mostly been doing this:

 Snowy-cold weather makes for good hibernation, and a bit of cabin fever.  Got out to the Art Museum yesterday, which felt great.... then came home and hibernated some more.

While I may not have a clear idea of what I want to do with this year... I know what I do NOT want to do... and that is to go back to work tomorrow.  After a rather restful, cozy two weeks off, work life is going to be a rude awakening. And, I will have to be away from this face all day!

But!  We have Fake Christmas to look forward to on Saturday (a terrific excuse to leave our tree up a little longer) and I think a return to routine may be just what I need to become a bit more intentional about this new year.

In the meantime, signing off... I've got a puppy to take outside.