Kickin' & Screamin'

I was just sure that I was going to be a famous blogger.  You know, because of my clever wit.  But this aspiration, along with many others, just didn’t pan out in the ole 2015.  But I want to give it another  try, and I can’t think of a better time to start than now–New Years Eve.   Why am I not out at some New Year’s party, you ask?  Well, I’ll have you know that we were invited to TWO whole parties this year, thank you very much.  But the cold hard truth is, we are 46 year old parents to an energetic nine year old, and will consider ourselves to be in hard-core party mode if we make it until 10:00.  And I don’t know why, but something about staying up until midnight to see the New Year in sort of makes me sad.  It just seems so final to officially say goodbye to a year that we will never see again…we will never have identical experiences again that we had in this past year.  The year is just gone.  I find it more “happy” to just go to bed as usual, like I would on any other Thursday night, and just wake up the next morning hoping I remember to write the correct date on the first check I write.  Which, coincidentally, will be tomorrow, seeing as how tomorrow is the first and we have bills to pay.   I don’t write many checks, with all the online stuff and debit cards now.  But, I do make a point to always write something interesting on the memo line at the bottom.  If I’m not mistaken, the last check I wrote was at the local Publix, and in the memo I wrote “don’t squat with your spurs on.”  I’m sure no one ever sees it.  It makes me happy.

It’s 9:52 and I feel certain I can make it until at least 10:30 on this New Years Eve.  Look at me!  And, as many people are making ridiculous New Years resolutions at this time, I shall do something a bit different.  I find resolutions to be silly.  Why do people want to make unrealistic goals for themselves just because it’s time to once again start writing a different date on those checks?  Rather than creating resolutions, I shall ponder for a bit on a few happenings from the past year.  Whether personal happenings or world events, these are just a few things that will mark 2015 as a memorable year for me.  Keep in mind that the word “memorable” doesn’t necessarily indicate a good thing.  Some of this stuff is just downright stupid.  But some are near and dear to my heart.  Hopefully, you’ll know the difference.

1.  The damn dress.  Was it white and gold?  Or blue?  How much time did otherwise intellectual human beings spend debating this on social media?
2. Katy Perry’s dancing sharks– Super Bowl half time show.  It’s been almost a year, yet it’s still fresh on my brain.
3. Letterman.  I miss you.
4. Adele.  She came back!
5. “What are thooooose?” …still the most commonly used phrase in my home.
6. Inside Out.  Yes.
7. Shelton and Stefani?  No.
8. Donald Trump.  You decide.
9. Steve Harvey.  We’re all human, dude.
10. Cats.  Not the musical, just….cats.  It’s a personal thing.
11. The Force Awakens.  We’ve aged together, Leia.
12. Paris, Charleston, Refugee Crisis, mass shootings, war…..we can’t stop praying.

Little things happened in 2015.  Things that touched my heart forever.  But in 10 years, I won’t be able to tell you the exact year it happened, just that it happened.

A day in July–I remember it like yesterday–while floating in the lake, my daughter told me she didn’t really care for One Direction.  (Win!)  We recorded the Dolly Parton movie and she has watched it five times since it originally aired.  She has decided that boys are cute and don’t smell as funny as she used to think.  She has developed a sense of humor that makes me laugh to my core every day.  I won’t remember the year it happened….just that it happened, and it’s shaped my happiness into what it is today.

So, Happy New Year, or just Happy Tomorrow.  Life’s just gonna keep right on going…. Just don’t forget to change that date on those checks.

I highly recommend this link: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/12/27/sunday-review/2015-year-in-pictures.html  ….the NY times Year in Pictures.  A huge percentage of them made me cry….for various reasons.  The exact moment of these photos will never happen again, which is a blessing for many, sad for others.  Some are puzzling, horrible, beautiful, and unbelievable.  Just like the real life moments they are attached to.

Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning, but a going on…..  ~Hal Borland

Onward and Upward, my friends!