Starting the New Year with a Clean Slate and a Clean Floor.

I love the New Year. It's always been my favorite holiday. I switch over to a new planner and write all my lists and plans for the year. My theme for this year is a Depth Year, where I will appreciate all the things I already have and do. We usually eat black-eyed peas with my Mom and Dad, but this year I made some at home, and we had our own celebration, because Mom had been exposed to a COVID case and was self-isolating. We drank some sparkling wine to toast the upcoming year.

The beginning of the big snow. We ended up with about 8 inches.

New Year's Eve.

Festive cheese board.

We don't have a tree, but this works.

New Year's Day with black-eyed peas.

The snow was deep enough and hung around long enough that Russ drove me to my Pilates class on the New Year's eve morning.

The Pilates Studio is down a hill to the parking lot.

My primary chores for January involve clearing out the old year and cleaning up for the new one. I archive and shred financial records, scan holiday cards and shred the cards, take down the holiday decorations, and I mop the wood floors. Mopping only gets done once a year, and this is when I do it.

Cleaning is my thing. I like doing it, and I find it relaxing. Plus, having clean spaces feels luxurious. I sometimes joke that organizing is my superpower. Daily tasks are done as a routine, but weekly and recurring tasks are done on schedule with an electronic list (I use Listaway). Some deep cleaning chores, like the wood floors, are done annually at certain times of year. It does help to be a minimalist. It is much easier to clean something if you don't have to move a bunch of stuff to get to it. I guess I was a minimalist before there was a movement for it. I used to call my decorating style mid-century monastic. I still call it that, in fact.

The clean floor.

It's a nice big space with good light. The ficus grows well here.

Furniture squashed in the dining area. Cedar slept through the whole thing.

He likes the mantel.

My calendar filled up more normally this year. Last year's January was a depressing, empty grid. This year we had the cat veterinary visits, meals with friends and family, Pilates classes, book club, car and R-Pod maintenance, plus Russ' birthday. It feels like a good start.

The view of Tacoma from the east side at Stanley and Seaforts.

Russ and I enjoy a fancy dinner out for his birthday.

The city view is even prettier after dark.

The restaurant is visible from the freeway. The sign was too big for my lens.