New Beginnings

Hello www, Happy New Year! God is smiling on all of us and wanting only our good: this year and always. Please keep this in mind when you hit bumps in this journey we call life. There's a Spanish saying, "No hay un mal que bien no venga." Roughly translated: there isn't a bad thing that happens that good doesn't come from it. The passing of time, the passing of yet another year. Time is such a strange concept. The other day as I walking my dog in the park I was just about to scold him for smelling yet another blade of grass when I asked myself, "What is my hurry? What do I need to do today? Let him sniff away." What also helped Toby's cause was the fact that it was warm and the wind was blowing kindly. The moral of this short story is: take your time. You have it to spare.

Change is here, whether we like it or not, whether we voted for the person or not. I'm talking of course about the "changing of the guard," Bush out, Obama in, that will happen on Jan. 20th. I continue to pray, as always, for whomever is holding the keys to the Best, and Most Dangerous country in the Free World.

Let me back up here a moment, though, and tell you about how my NYE was spent.

I know I told some of you that I was going to a party with some old college buds and my brother, but I really wasn't planning to do that, since my brother was supposed to be working until midnight.

It's true there was a party, and yes, I did know some of the people at the party from college, but I did not know the actual people hosting the party. I didn't feel comfortable just showing up, especially without my brother, who knew pretty much everyone who was going to be there, including the hosts.

I decided I would treat myself to one of my few 'NYE parties at home.' I went to mass with my mom, and when we returned we had some more of my delish ham (I'm resolving to cook more in '09) for dinner.

After dinner I changed into some flannel jammies (sexy!), my slippers, made some hot chocolate, let my dogs in, turned on the Christmas tree lights and slid in the DVD of 'Pride and Prejudice.' Oh, and I lit some Yankee Candles, cinnamon. I was debating whether I would watch the ball drop.

I was about 2/3 of my way through Pride and Prejudice, enjoying every moment of it, when I got my brother's call.

This was about 10:30p. My brother was able to leave work early and wanted me to join him at the aforementioned party - lots of like-minded liberals there - but also my friends from college, in addition to new people I would meet...

...In ten minutes I was changed and ready to shake my money maker.

It was a blast. I'm glad my brother insisted on me going. We stayed up until 3:30 this morning, talking, dancing, laughing; it was great.

The hosts were gracious, welcoming, and fun.

In the backyard was a homemade pit, for lack of a better word, that was elevated, and we put log after log onto it. The sparks from the fire matched the sparks flying from our happiness at being together. At one point in the evening fireworks light up the calm, dark sky.

I don't know if you do this also dear reader, but I like to think of how I spend my NYE as an indicator of how the NY will go.

SO, when I'm comfortable and happy where I am (I was perfectly okay with staying home and chillin' like a villain), but Life pulls me out of my comfort zone and puts me into something more rewarding, like being with old friends, then bring it '09!

Happy New Year my friends! Cheers!

Gahd bless us all, always.