Avoidance

A quiet painting by the marvellous Danish artist Vilhelm Hammershøi

Hello sweet Readers,

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I've been avoiding you! And it's not that I haven't been thinking about you. I have. Really. I've been feeling guilty about not blogging much these days, especially for myself. My blog lets me write (which I like to do daily), compile and distill my decorating whims (even better!), and journal a wee slice of my life.

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But I just can't seem to compose interesting posts in the short scraps of time I have available these days. The reason is two-fold. Since Christmas, I've decided to stop blogging at the office...no reading blogs and no writing blogs (I usually edited posts I wrote the day or days before, but still...this took time and consumed all my breaks!).

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I still give myself a half hour or so on the internet at noon, to read the news and the odd blog or decor site. But forgive my lack of comments. I make the rounds and some days break my rule and visit the remarkable Calie (check out this talented decorating goddess!) or Linda (aka Mrs.Matthew Mead, who needs no introduction) or the accomplished Swedish gardener/decorator/photographer/reader Poppins or my new friend Paula (whose values and tastes are remarkably grounded and inspiring in this silly world) when I should be working! But those moments are scarce. I like to check on the remarkable Vee but have hardly had time with all the great Swedish and french eye candy blogs I've found lately. I'm too busy even to post their links!

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So that leaves evenings and weekends to blog, and you know about those. So I'm now a weekend power-surfer!

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The second part is that I've started working out again (an excuse to eat more!). We bought a posh new treadmill for Christmas (which I don't think I found time to mention). So on evenings when I don't have a blistering migraine (few), I try to go on it for an hour or so. I'm loving it, despite the back pain and the fact that the activity seems to be causing my dormant fibromyalgia to flare up! Some days, I feel like I'm living in a 90-year old body, but that's my difficult and eternally annoying body. But I still enjoy it! After maintaining excellent fitness for so many years and making exercise a huge priority in my life, it took a while to get out-of-shape but now that I am, I really need to beat the odds and whip myself back into it. And it's great to move my body again and re-discover my muscles (and new jiggly bits I never had before).

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What's great about the treadmill is that I can read decorating magazines or my novel when I'm doing the walking bits, at least. But reading and running simultanteously are not recommended.

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So, I'll blog once or twice a week and hope that's enough to sustain me (and you!). Please keep visiting!

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I have so many ideas for posts too: My interior design class is rather boring, but I want to share some highlights. And I intend to write a post about Mariette Himes Gomez, a designer I adore and whose awesome book "Rooms" I'm re-reading. I'd like to tell you about the Eckhart Tolle book "A New Earth" I'm reading (yes, that Oprah book), which is an inspiring little read that neatly summarizes so much of the Buddhism I've read over the years. He's an insightful and deft thinker and writer and anyone would benefit from reading this wonderful book (even if you feel like a sheep reading the Oprah books!)

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I should also tell you that next Tuesday is my birthday (hurray!), so we're going to David's Mum's house in the country for cake and celebration this weekend. We hope to eat lots of sweets! And rest....

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I also meant to tell you also that our big living room rug arrived today! It's lovely and I'll post pictures soon, but might wait until I re-paint and do new curtains, which could be a while. I'm so undecided on colour but have decided that changing my mind is my divine right.

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I also got a wonderful sunburst (sort of) mirror for my bathroom I need to show you! And an adorable salt-and-pepper set from Etsy.

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David and I are also making plans for a trip abroad, but I'll share the destination later, as a surprise! You will be so jealous. I'm jealous of myself. And I've booked a flight home in May to visit my beloved Mom and family and can hardly wait...details later. All that to say...so much happening, so little time to write about it!

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But I guess life's for living and this year, I plan to do just that!