Overall 2008 has been a pretty darn good year for me. Other than the sheer volume of germs that invaded our home thanks to what got passed onto Hayley at school, we’ve had good health. We certainly aren’t rich, but we managed to get by and then some, finding enough left over for fun stuff too. We had a good year here in general so I can’t offer up any substantial complaints about 2008.

That being said, I love New Year’s Eve because no matter how good a year has been, I am always eager to see what’s in store for next one. I don’t know what will happen in 2009 although I certainly have my hopes and aspirations. But just the fact that it’s a brand new year is good enough for me.

Tonight, George is entertaining a bar full of drunken people by playing and singing live music, and while I wish I was there, I’m having a quiet celebration here at home with my girls. We have wine (mine is red wine, theirs is actually 7Up in fancy wine glasses), we have snacks, we have good music (somehow I only just discovered Jason Mraz today but holy crap is he ever amazing. Check him out here, you won’t be sorry! This song in particular may make you need to take a cold shower.), and soon I’ll turn on the television to watch the ball drop. For me it’s just not really New Year’s Eve if I can’t see Dick Clark’s Rocking New Year’s Eve special. I don’t know if Breanna will hang in there that long, but Hayley will.

I have a few traditions that I incorporate into the new year. Dick Clark is one of them. I also make resolutions, though I try to be reasonable; they’re probably more like goals than resolutions which is less intimidating. And on New Year’s Day I serve something with beans for supper because I once heard that beans are good luck. Tomorrow I might make chili with a ton of beans in it or I might just serve a cold bean salad with a take-out pizza.

As for my resolutions/goals, here are my modest attempts:

1. Make the effort. A good friend came up with that a couple of years ago and I have loved it ever since because it’s all-encompassing and forgiving since it’s all relative.
2. Read more. I did so much better with reading this year, having read a good chunk of books, but I could still read more than I do.
3. Deal with the panic attacks in some way. While it was cathartic to write about it last month, I’d like to just get rid of them altogether thanks.
4. Find a better balance between work, kids, and home.
5. Do something for my photo habit – whether that’s to find a class or a local club or group, it doesn’t really matter. I just know that while I still enjoy “in the moment” shots and while I do like a lot of my pictures, I want to get better and learn more. Until I find something, I’m making good use of several photography books and websites.

Basically, numbers 2-5 fall under number 1 right? But those are just my very specific goals.

I’m heading over to the couch to see if anything is on the TV yet, and if not I’ll load up another Jason Mraz album on the iPod and see if the girls want to dance for a bit.

Happy new year to you all! I hope that 2009 brings you whatever you wish for most. See you next year!