moodyredhead

“Five to one against and falling…” she said, “four to one against and falling… three to one… two… one… probability factor of one to one… we have normality, I repeat we have normality.” She turned her microphone off — then turned it back on, with a slight smile and continued:  “Anything you still can’t cope with is therefore your own problem.” — The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

I’m extremely pleased to be back to normality.

I was going to write a rant about why Christmas annoys me, and did so this year more than most.  In fact, I did write that rant.  Don’t worry, I’m not going to force the gory details on you after all.  But just to be clear, I’ve come here not to praise Christmas, but to bury it.

However, instead of inflicting upon my dear readers the details of my Christmas family trauma drama, or griping about bell ringers, or the exchange of holiday money hostages gifts, or my frustration with both pro-religious and anti-religious Christmas extremists, I decided to put all the Christmas angst behind me, and write about the part of the holidays I really like:  New Year’s.

I prefer celebrating the new year to Christmas for several reasons, but the biggest one is the idea of a fresh start.  Right now, 2010 is stretched out in front of us, all shiny and fresh and unspoiled, with all sorts of potential to be better than 2009.  And much like on the starship Heart of Gold in Sakura restaurant in Jackson, Tennessee.  Each New Year’s Eve (and Valentine’s Day), they have a sushi buffet including all-you-can eat appetizers — edamame, tempura shrimp and vegetables, beef teriyaki, pork katsu — and we indulged mightily.

But as good as the food was (there’s nothing like an Alfredo roll made by Alfredo himself), it wasn’t the real point.  The real point was getting to spend time with people we love.  And my favorite moment of the night was when my darling “niece” — the 35-year-old trapped in a six-year-old’s body — decided she wanted to try grownup chopsticks instead of the kids’ version.  Listening very carefully to my husband’s instructions, she tried it.  And, predictably, got it right on the first try:

Another interesting part of the evening was when my 11-year-old “nephew”, sweet kid that he is, attempted sitting in my lap.  Which is a very interesting prospect now that he’s five-foot-tall and 120 pounds.  I’m just glad the chair survived both of us.  But I digress…

The next day, we slept in, with only a small altercation over my husband’s use of his new cpap machine.  (Yes, I expect such incidents to be a regular part of the new year, too, at least for a while.)  Also a good indicator for 2010 — hopefully, I’ll be able to get more rest, and my husband won’t be waking up with sleep apnea 78 times an hour anymore.

After finally getting up and moving, we had traditional New Year’s Day lunch at my Mom’s house.  In addition to a lovely smoked pork shoulder, we had candied yams, cornbread, mac and cheese, and her best homemade cheesecake EVER.  Of course, we also had black-eyed peas and collard greens for good monetary fortune in 2010.  But somebody really needs to explain two things about that tradition to me:  (1.) how many years does it take for the collard greens thing to finally kick in? and (2.) wouldn’t the “greens” thing work just as well with some nice creamed spinach?

Later, after taking care of some family responsibilities (no rest for the weary — or is that “no rest for the wicked”? hmm…), we had a late dinner out.  I hope the service we had is not a harbinger of things to come this year, although in all fairness the kid was trying, and it was late on a holiday. But the food was good, and spending some quality time alone together (just me, my husband, and our new iPhones), was also a great way to start the year.

Plus, I didn’t have to buy presents for or spend time with people I don’t like.  So what’s not to love?

The only part of the traditional celebrations we skipped was New Year’s resolutions.  I resolved not to make any more resolutions a few years ago, and since I was finally successful at that one, I’m sticking with it.  Admittedly, I would like to work harder at being the best I can be, but that may just be a sentimental reaction to “Dollhouse” getting cancelled.

So, there you have it.  Whether you love it like I do or not, the New Year’s celebrations are over, 2010 is well underway, and normality has been restored.  Therefore, anything you still can’t cope with is, well… you know.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 4th, 2010 at 11:32 am and is filed under Food, Random. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.