Hello, 2022!

Happy New Year to you all! I hope that your year is going to be better.

Just better. Better than what has happened to you in the recent years - whether the happenings of the past two years (or any sort of timeline that you feel is appropriate at this point) have been wonderful or lousy - there is room for better. There is always room for better.

My new year started at about 12:30am when I woke from my early to bed existence. I had a hot flash and needed to use the bathroom, so I got up and looked outside to see if the snow had started. It had. I went back to sleep and managed to sleep until about 5am. After some social media bingeing, I came downstairs to do some work and unpacking.

This has been a crying day. I have been crying since I awoke. I am getting accustomed to these days in my hormonal cycle, and I am very glad that it is happening on a holiday when it is snowing and where I do not have any sort of obligation to anyone other than myself. So, I am carrying around a bunch of tissues with me when I start up again.

I am currently sitting in my messy office and studio actively avoiding the work that I need to do to make this place easy to navigate. I have today and Monday off from work, and then I will be back full-time at my job. I found the box with my office supplies. so I have put them on the shelving that is behind my desk. Does anyone need any pencils? Pens? Post-it notes?? (Just kidding - I would NEVER give away the Post-It notes!) My space is starting to feel a bit more like it reflects me which is nice. I do not know if I will ever get away from boxes of stuff lurking in the background, but I am making some progress.

Did you know that my recycling service will not take cardboard boxes out of the bin? I didn't until Thursday when they left the stack of collapsed boxes by the side of the road. The trash service didn't take them either, so I have lots of boxes that do not have a place to go at the moment. The recycling center that I was going to use as a last resort apparently closed down SIX years ago! Tells you how often I go there. I think it closed at the same time we started curbside recycling in my town.

I saw a meme on Facebook this morning from a man named Joe Beam. It said "To shake off the last couple years, I've decided January 1 is Season 1 Episode 1." I really liked that sentiment. I liked the idea that this is not a continuation of the old season or series but it is the start of something new completely. My new show is called "Explore with MJ." This is the first episode of the new season. You know what? I am thinking that a new season deserves a new look - I think I will mess with my blog theme today...after I post this.

Today is also a day of tangents. I am currently looking at calendars to see what type of desktop inspiration I want for the year. This is something that I will need to buy when I go to a store in the next two days. My calendar for last year was the Mandalorian and it is time to cut it up and use it for visual aids for my students. I enjoy a page-a-day calendar, but I am not sure what to do with the pages after the day. I want to keep them and use them for crafting, but I never do. I have a series of Disney trivia cards that I made forever ago with the idea that I would use them with my clients, but I never have. 

Whew. Tangents!! They are distracting me from the things that need to be done. Welcome to 2022!

Welcome to "Explore with MJ."

What is your new show called? What is your season 1, episode 1? 

Happy New Year!! 

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