The Best of January

December is such an easy month to like that I never got around to doing a "best of" list.  If I had, it would have included Christmas lights, Christmas trees, Christmas ornaments, Christmas presents, Christmas dinner, Christmas stockings, Christmas carols, reading Christmas stories on Christmas Eve, Christmas cookies - oh - and celebrating hubby's birthday.  Yep, December is pretty much all about Christmas. 

That kind of leaves a big hole when it comes to January.  Christmas is over for another year and most of the baubles and ornaments have been carefully stored away.  Now that the fun part of winter is finished the endurance part starts.   To help me focus on the best of each month I'm trying to come up with ten things I'm looking forward to enjoying every month. Here's my January list:


1.  Enjoying fresh snowfalls.  We really haven't had much in the way of snow this year - just a few centimetres, although we did have quite a bit more than that at the cottage.  In fact we've had so little snow I haven't been able to take many winter photos yet (apart from the ones I took at the cottage just before New Year's which you can see here) and most of these pictures were from last year.

2.  Examining the intricacies of individual snowflakes.  I love how they are all different and all so pretty.  I think the best place to admire snowflakes is when they fall on your windshield of the car as you sit at a red light.  Speaking of which, I don't really have any photos of snowflakes - I think I'll have to set that as a photo challenge for myself in January.  I love photo challenges.

3. Crunching clumps of snow and ice on the sidewalk.  Along the same lines I love knocking the snow out from around the tires of my car.  Kind of weird things to like, I know.

4.  Evergreen trees - Winter is their finest hour.

5.  Playing bridge.  We are part of a bridge group and haven't played any of our games yet so we will be playing them fast and furious over the next few months.

6.  Skating on the outdoor rink close to where I work.

7.  Making New Year's resolutions.  It is such a nice way to start the year - sorting out what needs to change in your life and trying to work at self-improvement.  I always set myself goals and I sometimes even stick to them - although I usually don't.  It doesn't matter though, it is just the process of taking stock and finding what falls short of where it should be and trying to improve it.

8. Seeing the lovely sunrises and sunsets.  It is easy to see both in January since the days are still so short.

9.  Wearing my cozy woolly winter scarves.


10.  Attending the Opening Night Party of the Interior Design Show at the end of January.  Another excuse to get dressed up and go out on the town.  Wahoo!

What about you - how do you feel about January?  Is it a month full of interesting activities and events or a long month to get through after all the fun of Christmas?