The Last Evening of the Year

Snow:  If you can't beat it, use it.

I have returned from my holiday peregrinations just in time for the turning of the year.

I am remembering many a New Year's Eve, and forgetting many more.  Or discovering that most of the New Year's Eves of my life have been rather forgettable.  Except for the time I set my Joy of Cooking on fire.  But I digress.

I am listening to the whir and click of AJ's sewing machine, as he sews "silverware holders" for the family feast we have planned for tonight.

I am listening, also, to the sounds of a Nerf-hoop basketball game in progress downstairs.  I am smiling about the way that the sound of one basketball game or another, played by one set of family members or another, has been the background music of my life.

I am going back and forth on whether or not I am glad Husband and I decided not to go in for any actual champagne, and just to share the kids' sparkling grape juice.

I am not resolving anything.  To wit, I hereby do not resolve to: eat more fruits and vegetables, exercise more, try to lose or gain weight, go off caffeine, become vegetarian, quit Facebook, read the entirety of Ulysses, (re-)learn how to knit, eat less chocolate, or be a better mother.

I am thinking over my goals and hopes for 2011.  I plan to keep on being a good enough mother, a grateful pilgrim, a voracious reader, a committed writer.  I was very happy to see my little black writing goals journal on my desk, waiting for me upon my return from our trip.  Tomorrow, I will open that little black journal and jot down my writing goals for the year.  I have a few that are predictable, and a few that feel downright audacious.

I am wishing you the best of everything that's important to you in 2011.  I hope you have at least one audacious hope/goal for yourself, too.  Thanks for reading, and Happy New Year.