I saw a "someecards" greeting that said "Let's put tremendous pressure on ourselves to have a good time" or something along those lines. That pretty appropriately sums up my feelings on this New Year's Eve. Gone are the days of getting all bedazzled and heading to an overpriced club downtown to try to cram as much of to drink as possible into my gullet in order to get my "all you can drink" money's worth. And yet, I'm not ready to resolve myself to the idea of sitting home, alone, ringing in the new year in my pajamas. So, this year I'm shooting for something in between. Being a very social being, we'll be spending our last moments of 2011 and the very beginning of 2012 with the friends who have become our family. And I couldn't be more thrilled. Well, I could be. I'd love nothing more than to ring in the new year with my husband, but duty calls.
The end of a year brings a sense of retrospect. Looking back, 2011 has been one of the greatest and most eventful of all 30 of my years. The birth of our second child, a new job that keeps me closer to home, the celebration of friends' weddings and the births of many of their first and second babies, the reconnection with family with whom we'd lost touch. All of these brought a feeling that to describe it as joy seems insignificant. The death of my grandma was one of the most difficult moments, but without times like this, the others have less meaning.
And with the end of one year comes the beginning of another. What will the new year bring? How can 2012 possibly top 2011? What great things are in store? I'm not really one to write resolutions - see post about not setting simple goals. So to resolve to do (or not do) something goes against my nature. Sure, I'd love to drop the baby weight and then some. Of course I could stand to be more organized. Who couldn't? Why wouldn't I want to blog more? Read more? Stress less? Eat healthier? Drink less (or more)? Spend more quality time with the ones I love? Travel more? Follow through with creating photo albums for my kids? But will I really do any or all of these things? Probably not. But I just might try. I'll join the throngs of the resolute at the gym. We'll see how things go. Or maybe I should make a resolution to make a resolution and stick with it. There are still 7 and a half hours til the new year. That's plenty of time.
