If you want to feel painfully, empathetically self-conscious for all of humanity (and why WOULD you want to feel that way, is the first question), I suggest reading the mini-autobiographies at the back of a many-contributer short-story collection. Look at everyone striving for that balance of informative, creative, self-promoting, self-deprecating, likeable, and witty. I pity us all.
Well! *brisk clap* It’s New Year’s Eve! I have had three main stages of Making Resolutions:
First Stage: childhood – early 20s. Made resolutions such as “Lose weight” and “Exercise more” and “Spend less money.”
Second Stage: early 20s – early 30s. Inspired by my even-before-online friend Surely, who made fun/interesting/achievable resolutions such as “Choose a scent for our household.” Made resolutions such as “Play the stock market with pretend money for a year, to see if I want to do it for real” and “Either buy the discontinued lavender-vanilla conditioner on eBay or else quit whining about it” and “Drink champagne more often than once a year” and “Try just ONE reusable pad so I can see if it’s something I’m even WILLING to resolve to do” and “Throw out that bottle of lotion I hate and buy another kind.”
Third Stage: now. No resolutions—but in an ennui sort of way rather than a strong, declarative, “I don’t make resolutions” sort of way. I could start up again AT ANY TIME. But I think I used up all my interesting ideas and/or lost interest in thinking of more. Now I stay up, drink champagne, eat pizza rolls, and think about how I used to have interesting resolutions.
Another tradition I dropped was The Transferring of the Calendar. For YEARS that has been my traditional New Year’s Eve activity: taking the old calendar and transferring all the birthdays, anniversaries, piano lessons, etc. to the new calendar. I thought I liked that: an excellent way to pass the time, and also a pleasingly symbolic and thoughtfulness-producing activity (Rob will turn FIFTEEN this year; Oh, look, it’s been a year since Elizabeth had that appointment; Oh, there’s Lauren’s due date!). This year I realized I HATE having to do that on New Year’s Eve and it makes me feel frazzled and burdened, so I did it a few days ago. Much better.
My NYE tradition is to feel woeful about not having Big Exciting Plans, while wishing that midnight would hurry up and arrive so I can go to bed already!
THIS New Year’s Eve, I am already wishing for midnight because by then the baby and I will hopefully have been asleep for four hours.
I just 100% love hearing about resolution of any kind and I can’t explain why. Some odd form of January Coping Mechanism, maybe?
I am going out this year for the first time in probably 10 years. I will miss the pizza rolls (and mini tacos!), but then again it’s not First Monday for a few more days so there’s still time for a few good snack nights.
Happy New Year!!
We are actually hosting a big-ish party this year which I am SUPER excited about, after many years of going over to our friend’s basement on New Year’s Eve and playing Rock Band and board games while drinking ourselves into a pleasant stupor. Which means we did usually at least manage a babysitter which was pretty lucky. The kids will be here with us this year, but will have their older cousins to supervise/entertain them until ten pm, at which point I am enforcing a KID FREE PARTY.
Anyways. Hostessing sometimes frightens me because I do get all these unrealistic expectations of spotless everything and amazing homemade appetizers and whatever, but I’m getting better at just accepting what comes. We have this big dining room now so our house is the obvious Party Spot, therefore I’m basically being a compulsive jerk if I refuse to host just because I can’t bear letting people see my house in a state of less-than-perfect. (There, New Year’s Resolution made and accomplished! Personal growth ahoy!)
In the resolution department I went straight from the first stage to the third. I might have to try stage two – that sounds right up my alley.
Happy New Year to the Swistle family!!
So I have worked the last 4 new year’s eves and letme tell you. I resolve never to be those twenty somethings again. Way too many stupid people , I will totally join you for wine, pizza rolls and general shinanagans.
I moved from never making resolutions (or perhaps making them and promptly forgetting them) to having a word for the year and then actively working toward that word. One year it was Freedom–we got completely out of debt. Last year was Experiences–to honor that word, we–among other thing–sprung for a Disney Cruise to Alaska. This year, my word is Joy. I’m not sure if we’ll have a big activity associated with it or smaller ones–like playing ‘Just Dance’ with the kids, planning more silly stuff, etc. It works for me. And it also allows me to justify…say…splurging on a big trip or…um…something.
I think I felt much the same way those poor contributors must have while trying to compose my Twitter bio.
The stock market idea is cool. Did you try the reusable pad, or is that too personal? It might be too late for me to have that resolution, but I feel like maybe I should.
I am kind of in the firm, declarative “I don’t make resolutions” stage. Not for New Year’s, anyway. I’m the self-sabotaging sort. It just seems like setting myself up for failure.
Yes! I ordered one reusable pad each from several Etsy sellers (so that I could try a few different styles), and I really liked them. I ordered more from my favorite seller (http://www.etsy.com/shop/SugarMonkies), and now that’s what I use.
Happy new year to you and yours. I rarely comment, but I read often and enjoy it. I hope it’s a happy an healthy year for you.
I made one this year “to make my house a lean mean clean running machine” gutting the crap to see the good stuff–who knows how I’ll do it OR if I will but I went through the no resolutions phase for a while and now I’m trying them on again…
But which calendar did you choose this year? Did I miss that?
I chose the Farmer’s Market calendar for the kitchen, and the Wallpaper calendar for the office. Then the kids chose the Darth Vader and Son calendar (Rob and Edward’s room) and the Minecraft calendar (William and Henry’s room). Paul is bringing to work the Lego calendar I ordered before noticing the Minecraft one.