Ringing In The New Year

Today has been glorious. In fact, yesterday was pretty wonderful, as well. I think between the 2 days, I have gotten almost 20 hours of sleep, and have burned about 50 calories. I slept in, read a Martha Stewart magazine cover to cover, ate waffles, watched every movie trailer I could find online, polished off a veggie platter left over from a family reunion, watched The Devil Wears Prada, and drank champagne (not necessarily in that order).

It's not that we didn't have fun & exciting New Year's Eve options-- it's just that after all the Christmas revelries, we simply couldn't handle any more.

Chris & I came down to SoCal about 2 1/2 weeks ago, and realized yesterday that we hadn't once slept in. We have been scurrying around, doing laps around Orange County (sometimes branching out to San Bernardino, LA, and San Diego as well) visiting relatives, Christmas shopping, attending family reunions, and doing a little work here & there as well. Not the best way to spend your vacation time.

We finally landed yesterday, after a trip down to San Diego, where I spoke at a conference, and were so wiped out that I could feel my insides screaming "No More People!"

I cannot express in words how wonderful it feels to simply do nothing. It will be getting dark in about an hour, and I am still in my PJ's, and haven't left the house once. And it feels so, so right. I am soaking in laziness until my fingers get pruny.

Here are some discoveries I have made in the last 2 days:

• There's nothing in the theater worth watching... except maybe, if I had a 10 year old daughter, I would take her to see Enchanted. Have you seen the trailer? It looks adorable.

• I miss cooking. Yes, there has been a lot of Christmas baking, but I miss everyday dinners at home. It's not the same living with your in-laws. Martha inspired me to make spaghetti squash and homemade bread.

• Alone Time is therapeutic and sometimes needs to come in large doses.

• New Year's Eve parties are over rated. 2008 came in just fine with us on the couch watching a movie.

• I love being around my family. Yesterday was the first lazy-day I have spent at home (we have been staying with the Kernaghan's because of the mangy mutt). It was nice to just sit in a quiet house, chat about unimportant things, and not have to fit in a million activities.

• I have lost all ability to type (I think I have hit the "backspace" key more than any other as I write this), as well as any creative spark that I once had. My brain must be melting, or something.

• It is possible to make it through New Year's Day without seeing a single Rose Parade float, or even glimpsing at a football player. This is a first for me, and I don't feel that I am missing anything.

• That weird song that you sing on New Year's Eve is called "Auld Lang Syne" and it translates (from an old dialect in Scotland) to "Times Gone By". It is a promise to remember people of the past with fondness. I feel better about singing it now.
  

• I have just about everything in the world that I could want. Except a car that works-- but besides that, I feel completely content and at peace.

It's been a good New Year's.