I used to have Dan Wilson playing What a year for a New Year, but it came on automatically every time this page was loaded. I love the song, but if I hear it one more time before next new year I am going to have an attack. Hence its removal.
New Year's Eve and New Years Day are emotional times aren't they?
I vowed last year never to be home for this holiday again, but then my dad got sick and it seemed like the right thing to do.
So inevitably it's been a mixed bag.
Sometimes it's hard to see the wood for the trees. When you're single, singleness can become all consuming and the label that's applied to you. Although perhaps it's just me that thinks that. I've run into a bunch of old friends and not one of them has asked if I am married. Maybe they just assume so because I have kids? In any case, I feel particularly un-partnered at New Year.
The New Year's Eve that really sticks in my mind is the millennium. Ringing in 2000 on the banks of the river Thames with literally millions of people was quite something. But most years, it's just like any other party. Funny how it's the one day that gets blown out of all proportion.
All day, I've been sad that I don't have any big plans for tonight. I've been let down by both of my siblings and, since I am staying in a small rural town, there isn't anything to latch on to at last minute.
I try to be positive, but my nature tends towards the "half empty" scenario. Especially when I am at home. When I am here, my focus is on what's missing not on what I've got and consequently I've been thinking about what didn't happen this year.
On Christmas Eve, I talked at length to an old friend from high school. He'd recently got divorced and has yet to have kids even though he wants them. We were talking about the perils of Internet dating in ones 40s and he said "you are so lucky to already have children".
Yes, I am.
In 2008, my children turned 5 and 7. One learned to swim, the other learned to swim better. Training wheels came off. Baby teeth fell out. They grew taller and stronger. They said "I love you" a million times. It was a good year.
Tonight, I will ring in the New Year with my sons. I've got alcohol for me and sparkling apple cider for them. We've got Jools Holland's Hootenanny on the telly and sparklers to wave in the back garden.
Have a Happy New Year. Resolutions are often more like wishes, so I hope a few come true.
Here are some I made earlier:
Longest confession of all time
How kissable are you?
Happy Boxing Day
Merry Miserable Fabulous F*cking Christmas
Persistent, interested or just plain annoying?
Do blondes have more fun?