Happy New Year from Donis. Christmas is over, Boxing Day is done, and I’ve eaten too much. The end of the year has always been a big time for me, marked not just by Christmas and New Years, but my birthday on December 29. Yes, I was Mama and Daddy’s little tax deduction. Which means that January 1 is the beginning of my new year in a literal way. December is Big Birthday and Special Event Month in my family.* My mother, sister, and grandfather were born on December 6, 7, and 8, respectively. My parents’ wedding anniversary was December 16, which also was traditionally the day my father took us kids to the lot to pick out our Christmas tree. Then we had Christmas, my birthday, and New Year’s Day, which was the day we ate black-eyed peas and cornbread and took down the tree.
These days my Christmases/Birthdays/New Years are much quieter. My parents are gone, I have no kids of my own, and my siblings and in-laws and their families all live far away. So my husband and I have developed our own little rituals and practices with friends or on our own. We don’t even do much in the way of presents. For the past few years we have gone out together and bought things for ourselves. It really takes the pressure off.
For my 2015 birthday we saw the new Star Wars movie, ate pretzels and chocolate lava cake, and I worked crossword puzzles, which is a great treat for me since I love puzzles but don't generally allow myself to waste so much time on them.
But as of tomorrow, January 1, the end of the year celebrations are over and the time will have come to begin anew. I wish you all a wonderful 2016, and I hope it is a year of good fortune, health, and great productivity.
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*Interesting factoid: my husband is one of six children, three of whom, including himself, have spouses with December 29 birthdays. I don’t know what that means.
