This week’s prompt for Think Write Thursday is to talk about New Year’s Eve. Do you love it or hate it? Do you yearn to go out on the town or would you rather stay home for a cozy night in? Big party? Small gathering of friends? Tell us how you want to spend New Year’s Eve and remember, it’s just words and you aren’t actually committing to anything so the sky is the limit!
Queue the music…
So many questions in here!! Do I love it or hate it? Well, I think the answer is this:
The younger me loved the party aspect of the event, and the now me appreciates the review of the year and anticipation of the year to come. The younger me loved to get dressed up and head out for a night of party, party, party! The now me appreciates staying home in quiet reflection for the evening. And, honestly – staying up until midnight? That hasn’t happened in years.
Somehow the wild days of my youth have been replaced with – well, an old person! LOL
But, if I could have any New Year’s Eve I want – this would be it:
The company will be stellar and the conversation stimulating if all of you are here! There will be games and so much laughter! There might even be some tears as we remember what 2016 was.
And, as we look forward to what 2017 might bring, we can raise our glasses in hopefulness and good cheer.
That would be how I would like to spend New Year’s Eve – with all of you! And, in the perfect world – the transporter would be a thing and I would have one! However, please know that on New Year’s Eve I will be raising my glass to all of you in friendship, love, and good cheer.
Happy New Year my friends – may this coming year bring peace and prosperity to all of us!
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That would be what I am today – starting my 56th journey around the sun.
…Age is just a state of mind, and you are as old as you think you are. You have to count your blessings and be happy. ~ Abhishek Bachchan
And, I thought a little montage of the much, much, much younger me would be nice way to reminisce about this monumental event.
We start with this little girl in a laundry basket on my Nana’s porch – I think I was about 6 months old. And, although I do not remember this at all, my Nana’s house was a place that I spent a great deal of my life. My Aunt Jacque was in high school here.
My Nana always loved to tell the story of me sitting in the laundry basket. The best part of memories is hearing others tell them and even though you can’t remember – but somehow you feel like you remember it because you have heard it so many times. I still have the basket in this picture.
This family fills my mind with the best of memories. My Nana was my favorite person in all the world. And, seeing this photo with my grandpa (and his two sisters – Aunt Sylvia and Aunt Marion) from the days when he could still get outside on his own is the best. He had MS, but he taught me how to swing and so much more!
This was one of very few vacations we ever took as a family – Here are my sister and I going through the Soo Locks. I remember this photo being taken and really – could any girl be more stylish? Looking at it today, I think my mom must have had a Sophia Loren obsession!
Here are my sister and I at the house my dad and his dad built and this is the house we lived in the longest.
One good thing about having had so many birthday’s is that you have so many memories! And, that makes me feel happy and so blessed!
The Think Write Thursday prompt for this week is to write about the ways I stay positive when it feels like everything is going wrong. What do I do to get through those times and stay focused on the good?
For me the answer is not to make lemonade out of the crisis/issue/problem. Some problems cannot be sweetened or made better no matter how hard you try.
My solution when there is an issue/crisis/problem is to focus on something else entirely. And, not in an ignore the issue/crisis/problem kind of way, but instead it is a way for me to not get mired down in the issue/crisis/problem.
I want to stay “out of the pit” and approach it with a better view. I won’t solve anything if I am drowning with the problem.
Now, that does not always equate to staying positive, but it does help me keep my focus.
The other thing that I find extremely helpful is that I do not believe that every problem needs to be solved or has a solution. Sometimes it can’t be – and maybe the solution is to have a different focus.
I try to focus inward (perhaps you might even call it internalizing!!) Or, I might journal about the problem or I might meditate about it or I might even laugh about it. But, what I don’t like to do is to talk about the problem or solicit advice regarding the problem. This is in part because I have a huge aversion to being told what to do nor do I want you to “solve it for me”. I really do want to muddle through it on my own and in my own time.
So, when the life gives you lemons, my advice is to take a deep breath and eat a Clementine or two!
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Our Think Write Thursday topic for today is to write about holiday spirit. What does it mean to have it? Do I feel like I have it this year? Why? Or Why not?
Do I have an abundance of holiday spirit? A trace of holiday spirit? Or am I decidedly Scrooge-like?
And my answer to those questions is simply this – it depends on what day you ask me – okay, maybe even what minute you ask!
For me the question is really this: is my holiday spirit external or internal?
If it is external – then I would say my holiday spirit looks well in place. There is evidence of Christmas in this house – the tree is up – and the light issue has been fixed, presents are being wrapped, gifts are being sent off, and Christmas music is ringing though this house.
However, if it is internal – then I admit that some days my holiday spirit has completely vanished.
However, peace knitting has done wonders for the holiday spirit level – those forty-five minutes or so of contemplative knitting have been a real boost to my inner peace! Add to that the snowfall we got the other day has definitely helped move the holiday spirit level in an upwards direction.
So where does that leave me?
Truthfully, holiday spirit is a work in progress for me this year. I have really focused on the preparation time that Advent is giving me. Some days, I manage to fill the holiday spirit void more than others – but each day there is some filling taking place – even if it is only a drop or two.
I hope that by the time Christmas gets here, these words will ring true for me, “So here’s to the joy of Christmas. Here’s to the ones I hold dear. May you all have that Merry Christmas feeling, all through a happy new year.”
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This week’s Think Write Thursday topic is to write about my favorite holiday tradition – what I love about it, how it started, and why it’s important to me.
So, here is my favorite holiday tradition that absolutely makes my Christmas brighter:
Christmas music – hundreds of hours of it. And, an eclectic mix of it that is heavy on English Carols, but includes Aaron Neville, James Taylor, Vince Guaraldi, and lots of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. Those are the sounds of Christmas to me – but the best part of all were my mom’s Firestone Christmas Albums. And, singing along – so much singing along – loudly and with much joy! The Julie Andrews albums were my favorite. I came from a musical family, and every Christmas it feels good to be immersed in musical memories.
This pairs with the tradition above and involves more singing! But this singing is in church choir on Christmas Eve. To lift my voice in joyful song – there is nothing better in all the world. I have sung in choir since high school and cannot imagine Christmas without it.
But, what about you? Do you have any Holiday Traditions?
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