Happy New Year!

So the kids' rooms are clean (4 bags to Goodwill of clothing and toys), my studio is clean (well, the storage closet is spotless, but the floor of the studio....mmmm....well, it is a WORKING space, after all), the holiday decorations are coming down, the refrigerator is spotless (unplanned wine explosion caused us to have to scrub the damn thing out), and my daughter is back to school. It's the new year. Welcome, 2008!

Did you all make resolutions? I don't make new year's resolutions, per se. I actually make my resolutions (so to speak) on my birthday, which was back in November. I figure that yes, the year starts in January, but my year really starts in November, because what better time to say "before I get another year older, I'd like to accomplish this..."? So that's what I do. I like to think about what sorts of things I would like to accomplish for the year, be they changes I'd like to make or just goals I'd like to meet to make me a better person. I don't hold myself to anything--they change at will; I add and take away from the mental "list" I keep as I go. Nothing rigid. It works for me.

New Year's Eve was a quiet night. We hardly ever make it staying up to midnight here, so it was a rare treat to get there this time. I wound up spending the time watching reruns of "The Next Food Network Star". Sad, sad, sad. I hate those reality shows. But I just...kept...watching. I switched over to whatever channel it is that shows the ball dropping, and caught the last 24 seconds of the countdown. Perfect! Saw the ball drop, kissed my dozing husband, and went to bed. So, no wild parties for us.

Yesterday we went food shopping, and then took the kids to see "Alvin and the Chipmunks", which they loved, and was mostly appropriate for kids. That's a nice change nowadays. Half the time kids' movies aren't really for kids, but this one was pretty good. My daughter LOVED it, and my son and daughter were both dancing in their chairs to the music. We really, truly had a good time. It never ceases to amaze me how the littlest times can be the ones you enjoy the most. The holidays were nice, we saw friends and family and had a good time, but I never got that warm really happy feeling during them. But then yesterday, we went to the movies--just the 4 of us--and that feeling just came on. Same thing happened Saturday, when we went out to dinner. Again, just the 4 of us. We just went to Perkin's, no big deal, but we had a really nice time, and there was that happy, warm feeling. I was truly happy. So I think there's a lesson in there for me. I hope I can learn it better this year.

Today is a day to get back to normal just a little more. I am going to take down the holiday decorations today, with exception of the tree. I have been forbidden to take the tree down until the weekend, because "everyone just likes it SO much", or that's according to my daughter, anyway. So, ok, I will let it slide for a few. Everything else has got to go, though. I need to see some surfaces again. Right now everything is covered in STUFF. So, down come the plasic tubbies from the attic, and into them goes the stuff, away for another year.

Tomorrow I'll post some pics, so be ready! In the meantime, I'd like to say Happy New Year to everyone and thank you all for coming by! I'll leave you with some pictures my daughter took this past Christmas with the kiddie digital camera she got. Do we have a budding photographer in the house? Erm... I'll let you be the judge!