Here Comes 2007

Barn Side, 2006, Oil on Panel, 16x20

A few thoughts about New Year's Eve.

I have always rather liked celebrating the new year. It's a holiday that doesn't require the politics of gifts and there is usually a good party involved. Everyone is happy and excited and hopeful about starting a new year, which while I find that puzzling sometimes (isn't every day the start of a new year?), it is also infectious, I must admit.

That said, while I have certainly had some memorable celebrations, until I met Doug they were mostly kind of pathetic and sad. I was trying too hard to have some kind of meaningful event on that night and it seldom happened. I did spent one walking along Penn's Landing in Philadelphia with a guy who looked just like the singer from Spandau Ballet (popular at the time), which was nice even though I never saw him again, and more than a few New Year's were spent at one or the other, or both, of my favorite dive bars, also in Philly. One year I was stuck in a car with a bunch of idiots, in the middle of nowhere in a snowstorm in Minnesota, and another year was three days of partying. Stupid, but the best way to avoid a hangover. At least when you're 20.

After I met Doug, things calmed down. We did end up at the bar the first year we were together, and one year we drove to Atlantic City. But after we moved to Utah and children began to arrive, I was mostly sleeping by the time the big moment arrived. Or breastfeeding. Or both. The last few years have shifted again and our kids are now willing and able to stay up and so we spend it together. The ball drops, we all kiss each other, they get hustled to bed and the lights are out by 12:30.

I imagine at some point we will be staying up until 2am again, worrying about our kids doing what we did as young adults. Totally can't wait for all that. Heh.

But this year, for the first time ever, we have a sitter, and Doug and I will be going out. We are going to go out for dinner and then to a party at a friend's house. We will probably be home before midnight because I can't think of a better place to be when the 2007 starts. With my husband, four kids, four cats, one dog and 21 chickens.

I wish you all a Happy New Year!!

PS. Blogger won't allow me to add an image today. I'll add one when they decide they can handle my request.