Happy New Year

As I sit here thinking about the day ahead, I have to tell you, I'm not a great lover of New Years Eve. Yes, along the way I have had some good times with good friends. But as a rule, they have mostly been non events.
Well, there was that one year when I met my future husband on New Years Eve in 1983. By New Years Eve 1984, we were sitting home, in front of our first Christmas tree as husband and wife.
But other than a few standout years, they all passed by pretty much same old, same old. When we started having kids, we stayed at home, invited all of our friends who didn't have plans or babysitters and just sat around the table enjoying each others company. Something that we would have been doing had it been New Years Eve or any other day of the year.
When midnight came around, the kids emptied the kitchen cabinets of every pot, pan, lid and spoon. Headed outside, and marched around the block. Banging the pots and pans to bring in the new year. Then Devin (a dark haired male) had to be the first one to walk through the front door backwards. Don't know why we did that, but who know why traditions start. Harriet told me to do it, so I did.
The night would close with each of us breaking off a piece of the New Years Pretzel.
The next day, the kids woke up to the smell of pork and sauerkraut.mmmmmmmmm.

Did anyone else bang pots and pans on New Years? As my friend Ruth mentioned in her blog post, it was something we did growing up in Pittsburgh. My father would make us newspaper hats, we would gather all the pots and pans in the house. At the stroke of midnight, we ran outside and marched up and down the street banging the pots and pans together.
I guess I could make something up about the symbolism. Something like it's to make sure you have enough food to cook in the new year or something like that. But I'm pretty sure it was just that they made the most noise.

One of the few years I spent away from home on new years was in 1980. I was living the life in DC. We had a party (of course)at our apartment. When midnight was approaching, my friend Judo and I started handing out the pots and pans. People looked at us like we were crazy!!! We ran outside at midnight, I think we were the only ones out there. Weird.

Anyway........while New Years brings out a certain sadness in me, it also brings out some hope. Hope that better days are ahead. New Beginnings.

So here's to you, dear readers. To new beginnings.

Happy New Year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Never A Christmas Morning,
Never The Old Year Ends,
But Someone Thinks Of Someone,
Old Days, Old Times, Old Friends.


Merry Christmas to all my friends, old and new!!

While I'm Thinking About It

Every time I write a post, I keep reminding you all that I haven't been blogging much. I also haven't been keeping up on most of the blogs that I used to follow.
Last evening,I had a few minutes to catch up on some I used to read faithfully every day.
The funny thing about the blogging community is that sooner or later, we pour our hearts out writing about our feelings. Then complete strangers comment. You go back and forth talking about things you care about. Sooner or later, you become "friends" with these fellow bloggers. I always laugh that these people know more about me than my family. You know whats going on with them at work, their religious values, kid problems, family outings etc. Right Judi?

Eventually things they say come up in conversations with family or friends. Maybe someone will ask how long you've know a certain person you were talking about. I always have to stop and laugh at myself when I say "well I've never actually met them."

Anyway, I say this because while catching up on my favorites last night, I came across this post . Although it was written on Nov. 1, I just came across it now. Amy over at Callapitter says it so much better than I ever could.

The haunting thing about this is the title of her last post. I hope I don't die waiting for health care reform to happen.

She did die. Without the health insurance that surely would have saved her. Leaving a husband and two young sons behind. It's not a woman in some political commercial. Or some story a politician is citing as an example. Or a person from some far away place that makes you doubt it's real. It's a real person. A Pittsburgher. A young mother who traveled in the same blogger circles as me.

Sorry to be a bummer. This really makes me sad. I wish I would have seen this sooner.