Next Thursday, our CMLE members will see the Weekly Review email again in their inbox, recapping the blog posts from the upcoming week. We hope you enjoyed your holiday break as much as we did. It seems appropriate to wish you a Happy New Year now while we are still in the first week of the new year!

I don’t know about you, maybe it is the tortured times we live in with really fast change along with fears about national security, but it feels like maybe this is the year to keep it simple. I was looking back at old newsletters, and am reminded of where my head was at way back in 2007; definitely a more zen time in my life. My parents were still well, sure-footed,  and living in their own home, and 2007 was the year my first grandchild was born. Six of the little rascals have followed him since then; creating a gaggle of grandchildren! The holidays this year were loud and chaotic! However, I took the time to view the world through their eyes. To see this bright and shiny world through a child’s eyes reminds me of what we miss in our hurried world. I am going to keep my “commitments” simple this year, and will pull key sections from the grandkids playbook. Eat when you are hungry, sleep when you are tired, and wear comfortable clothes. Seems simple doesn’t it? Oh, and only read seriously good books, and feel no need to finish books I don’t like! Maybe eat only very good chocolate too! Smile…I could go on….