New Year's Eve. That magical night when one year ends and another begins. A night when kids can't wait to stay up late, young adults can't wait to party, parents can't wait to get the kids to bed so they can go to sleep, and older adults just want to go to sleep and welcome the new year in the morning.
When we were little, staying up till midnight on New Year's Eve meant drinking Shirley Temples, watching Guy Lombardo with the family, and banging pots and pans at midnight outside the front door (our Wisconsin neighbors never appreciated this much, and I think they thought we were crazy). As a young adult, I spent many a New Year's Eve partying with friends, especially New Year's baby, Julie Murphy, at Phoenix Hill Tavern, welcoming the New Year with a headache and yawns. Once I got married and had kids, I just wanted quiet New Year's celebrations at home, not wanting to be out on the roads with all the crazy drunks. Now our celebrations mean family movies and games and just spending time together. And often a special meal is involved. Today we're having leftover hamburgers and brats that Vince did on the grill last night. Yummy.
New Year's is more than celebration though. It also means making resolutions involving how you will make the new year better than the last. I've never thought much of resolutions, because most are so lofty or involved that after about a month, no one remembers them anyway. Someone once said, ""Many people look forward to the New Year for a new start on old habits." And then they never change those habits. I ,also, am guilty as charged. So, I believe in making a list or map of not only things I want to change or improve in my life, but specific things I can do to make those changes happen. Then as I perform each change, I can knock them off the list or map. Then at the end of the year, I can see what changes I actually have made, and where I still need work (if those changes are still important to me). So, today, I will be making my road map to change.
Happy New Year to everyone.
