Happy New Year...

Well, at least it's still the first month of the new year. Not that it actually seems new anymore. My January has been packed full: of social events (don't get interested, we're talking about kid's birthday parties, brunches, family visits...) work overload, work crises, getting to know new family members, trying to get back into the swing of our regular routine, and of course it's the dead of winter, so there is not enough sun and alot more general crankiness then, say, midsummer at the beach. (I wonder if people in warmer parts of the world are happier, or if it all averages out?) So all this busy-ness has made the new year seem, well, old.
Work generally has been outrageously busy, which is to be expected, as the workload is definitely seasonal, but this year, there is alot of unhappiness and disagreement among my colleagues. (Pertaining to work decisions.) Initially, it was easily dealable, but lately, as there continues to be no end in site to the bickering and lack of compromise, I, usually pretty mellow on the work colleague spectrum, am becoming FED UP! That's probably my unconscious reason for blogging today--I really need to vent. I don't even need to go into details--I need to complain about the lack of respect I am receiving; I need to complain about a lack of politeness among colleagues and among bosses and workers, a lack of kindness among colleagues; and an inability to separate personal feelings from business professionalism. I need to complain about back stabbing even though it's such a cliche; about inability to let go of grudges based on real or imagined insults; and how about dishonesty, while we're at it, although that complaint doesn't necessarily have to do with what's happening at MY job.
Whew...only a few weeks into the new year and the need to vent...not a very good sign. But now I feel better.
This year I am going to really try to use my creativity and maybe improve my artistic abilities. It's definitely therapeutic. I'd love to take some sort of art course, learn the basics of watercolor or sketching or something...but I just don't have the time right now--adding something would take away time I need at home. So I've been encouraged by reading some crafting blogs (thank you tweetness, Posie gets Cozy, Shim and sons) to start crafting on my own. I've mentioned the sun porch pillows, which are actually completed, and with my new digital camera, I'll hopefully soon learn how to upload photos and be able to show them off. I made a really cute tractor cake (pat pat on my back) for a little kid birthday party and took some pictures, too. My next project? Well, I've got quite a list, some more creative than others: paint two bedrooms (definitely will try to be task supervisor for those), bathroom needs painting, so does the ceiling in there; but NOT MORE WHITE! I just bought some awesome chocolate brown dupioni silk. We moved in last year and are definitely really slow about making decisions about updates, etc, so I am finally planning to work on some drapes. I've got nice cream dupioni silk drapes, but they're from the old house, and are about 18 inches too short. So I'm planning to add some of the brown (Maybe 4 inches) to the top, and about 15 inches on the bottom. I'm not much of a seamstress, I took sewing in 6th and 7th grade, and that's it. So we'll see.
I'll take any advice available, on any of the above issues, by the way!