one week later…

… and the day job is definitely slowing down. The company I work for had its annual dinner dance, a.k.a. big office holiday party, on Friday. I haven’t been to this in ten years, but a group of colleagues wanted to get a table together this year, so I went along with them. Nice to get dressed up for a change, although note to self: Don’t wear dress with train when you need to walk half a mile from car to venue, unless you want to arrive looking like you’re dragging a forest full of leaves and twigs behind you. And it was also fun to see esteemed colleagues singing along with the band, break-dancing, and busting various other moves on the dance floor. Ah, the office party. (But no, since you ask, the videos don’t appear to be up on YouTube yet…) Also, since my last post, I’ve paid for the land survey – or at least I’ve paid my half of it. We were going to take care of this at closing, but since we now won’t close till January, the surveyor was getting anxious. He has his cash… now when can I have my land??!! Actually it’s a relief that the seller is now happy to close in January (new tax year), because there is still no closing date in sight for my refinancing. I’d be frantic, except that I know I’m not the only one waiting ages for their refinancing to come through. So, to close on a happier, more festive note, here is a picture of my Christmas tree.

only little, but rocking those lights!

I got it yesterday – it’s only little but it has roots, so I’m hoping I can keep it alive until I’m able to plant it out somewhere on the land. The lights are battery powered… Next year I’ll be looking into solar powered tree lights, for sure.

dreams and sweepstakes

Browsing through a recent issue of Yoga Journal today (how nice to be on holiday!!), and saw a feature on gorgeous, exotic yoga retreats. (The online YJ site doesn’t seem to mirror the print version, so I can’t post a link to this.) What caught my eye were the sorts of things I could do on my land… a treehouse deck, a meditation space created in the forest with candles circling a mosquito net canopy (that’ll be essential in the summer), a candlelit labyrinth… Yes, I’m still thinking about one of those! And I’m also thinking more practically about solar heating, and the job of clearing parts of the land, which is why I’ve just entered the Mother Earth News sweepstakes to win a solar hot water kit, gardening stuff (including what looks like a little tractor), and also the chainsaw sweepstakes. Would love to win a chainsaw!