Proposing a Happy and Productive 2013!

Hello, my patient friends out there in the internet. There are several explanations for why have not been posting for the past 5 months. Please pick and choose any combination of explanations because they are all true.

1. I have been away from my sewing machine.
2. I have been crazy busy at work.
3. I was crazy busy packing, de-cluttering and stashing in order to prepare to be away from home for a long time.
4. I have lived and worked in another country for 3 months. London! it was great!! yes, I was crazy busy at work, so I didn't meet up with anyone--sorry! I did go fabric shopping, though. I have come to realize that it's a form of torture to shop for fabric when you don't have access to a sewing machine. Yes, but between work, dance, touring, I did manage to get some shopping done. I'll try to post some pictures of my purchases.
5. I came home, did laundry, slept, and packed again for my vacation.
6. I spent 3 weeks in Egypt! it was great! No, I wasn't scared--I went with several friends and I made new ones. I saw lots antiquities, learned some dancing, brushed up on my bargaining skills and bought souvenirs, including fabric and buttons. It was a happily exhausting process.
7. I'm crazy busy at work. :)

Sadly for now, my new reality is that my international jet-setting days are over for the foreseeable future (I had a lovely time!). I'm working on reconnecting with friends, sorting through piles of postal mail, coping with the realization that I'm a packrat with a hoarding situation (it's not a unsurmountable situation, but it does need constant attention). Immediate Goal? clearing of my sewing/cutting table so I can sew some simple tops for work. Intermediate Goal? find a space for my serger. It's been in a box for several years and it deserves to be used. But before I work on these, I'll probably head out to the sewing and quilting show. I found an invite in that pile of postal mail.