Happy Chanukah & Merry Christmas!

With gifts wrapped, a fire merrily crackling in the wood stove, and the smell of baking bread wafting through the house, now seems a good time to reflect on the past year and prep for the next one.

2016 has not been a good year globally for anyone, and personally it’s been just as rough, but it’s had some shining moments. Going into 2016 we were in the final stretch of completing a new library, archives & museum building. As deadlines were being pushed, so was everyone’s patience with one another. With office supplies and rare and valuable material left to move- and to make matters worse, we were moving them into a building still under construction- emotional and physical exhaustion were running rampant. As with any group project of this scale, general human decency and professional behavior were often forgotten as questions of organization and protection of material tested staff members’ teamwork abilities. Oh and by the way, to top it all off, vacations were being restricted because we needed all hands on deck. So there was no escape.

With this situation in mind on January 1st, 2016, I wrote my New Year’s Resolutions:

Stay Happy! – 1. Start a gratitude journal, 2. increase exercise from 2 to 4 weeks per month.

I’ll tell you right now, both of these fell by the wayside. Nights of sheer exhaustion found me fast asleep before I even picked up the journal, and after hauling heavy boxes all day, exercise was out of the question.

Maintain new blog.

Ahh, now this one, despite the promise of few trips this year, I was able to keep. I actually took some GREAT trips and a few more than had been planned…

As the only escape from the daily grind this year was to literally leave town, we booked ourselves an overnight in Sitka. I gave Michael Chabon’s book, The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, one more shot. I never finished the book. Thankfully, Sitka is nothing like Chabon’s imagination.

Then there was the “family obligation” trip to the East Coast for my grandmother’s 90th. (Thankfully my employers deemed this a fair excuse for skipping town.) During which, I might have added a couple extra days in New York City… where amidst visiting friends & family I found time to visit some literary destinations and discover that as much as I enjoy visiting the MET, I don’t think I’d want to stay over night. I’m happy to leave From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler to E. L. Koningsburg’s imagination.

Finally in June our brand new, shiny, beautiful building opened! But that’s when the growing pains of combining services began. Librarians take change hard, so if you thought patience with one another had eased, you’d be mistaken. It was time to leave town again. So I went in search of “Kindred Spirits” to reaffirm my faith in humanity. I unplugged from reality for a week in Prince Edward Island where I fully immersed myself in the world of Anne of Green Gables and her author L. M. Montgomery.

And then spent a happy birthday week in Chincoteague, Virginia during the annual Pony Penning Week, learning the truth behind Misty of Chincoteague, a history which was quite fictionalized by Marguerite Henry.

And to round out the year, in a surprise move by my Mother, she took me with her for a week to Holland! (Holland posts will be next on the blog after we finish the Chincoteague series!)

So you see, part of me will be sad to leave behind the year I finally experienced Pony Penning Week, visited Amsterdam for the first time, and made the pilgrimage to PEI, much like I was sad to leave my visit to Corfe Castle in 2015, not knowing when I’d be able to return to Britain. But that brings us to 2017…

Looking Forward

I had no idea I’d be returning to the UK in just two years’ time. I am beyond excited that I will be attending a 3 week course on heritage places in England during the summer of 2017! The trip will bus us to several famous castles and heritage sites where we’ll be learning from conservators and preservationists! Part of the trip will take us to Bath where I will be sure to share with you everything Jane Austen related! There’s SO much literature to come out of Britain that I’m sure I’ll return with loads to share with you!

SO, with something to look forward to in 2017, I decided this December to take the bull by the horns and prep for the coming year:

• I’ve spent December working through the Blogilates Beginner Calendar yet again so that I can hit the ground running in January with her new PIIT (Pilates Intense Interval Training) program.
• I’ve also been working through the Travel Blog Success classes (*affiliate link) so that not only can you look forward to more posts in the coming year, but better posts!
• And as for my day job, I’m sure things will settle down in the coming year. Either that, or I’ll go to England…and just stay there.

Bring it ON 2017. I’m ready.

Let’s Talk!

What was your favorite part of 2016? Are you ready for 2017? How have you prepared? What are you looking forward to? Let’s discuss in the comments below!