I love the end of the year. Not only is there all the holiday excitement, but nothing prompts the soul to reflection more than a year coming to an end. It’s like a built in yearly reminder to check our progress and growth and evolution.
So over the last week or so, I’ve been thinking about my life and how it compares to this time last year, and time and again, there is one thing that jumps out at me…
I have become a little old lady.
I think it started this summer when my stomach was so bad. I had to stop drinking coffee for a little bit. And as it turns out, I don’t miss it much. The promise of coffee used to be the only thing that would get me out of bed. I considered it a tragedy if I was out of my favorite creamer. And now if I make myself a cup, I don’t usually even finish it.
And not only do I not drink coffee, but I seek out and drink tea. Me. A tea drinker. This is so out of line with how I see myself that words could not adequately do it justice. Tea drinkers are calm and peaceful and centered and just so not me.
But then I wonder.
TJ and I were seeking out movies on Netflix to watch the other night, and there were a couple of action movies that looked so good, and yet I couldn’t bring myself to watch them. Why bring violence into our lives, I thought. That looks gross. I would have much preferred to watch Call the Midwives or the documentary on Tupperware in the 50s that I was watching earlier in the day. (It was much, much more interesting than it sounds.)
And then there’s the handwork. I’ve loved knitting for years now. This is nothing new. But now I’m kind of hooked on cross stitch too. And I learned how to embroider. And I have begun to wonder why people go out of their houses and socialize rather than knit dishcloths. Knitting dishcloths just feels so warm and cozy.
And finally there’s the cooking. Yes. I have learned to cook. Like I can make food that is not only edible but that actually tastes good. And I actually baked this weekend. I made multiple loaves of zucchini bread, and I guess I’ll be making more because we got a boat load of zucchini at the store this weekend that is about to go bad.
And so yea. Over the course of 2013, I became a little old lady.
Maybe it’s because I’m in my mid-thirties. Maybe I have just matured. But I seem to have bypassed that whole middle age thing and went straight to the geriatric side of life.
So if you see me on the street, you should probably call me m’am. Otherwise I might start shaking my cane at you as I rush home to my rocking chair, wool, and chamomile.