Let's Party Like it's 1999....

My sister, her husband, and my beautiful nephew Bill are coming to spend New Year's with us tonight. They're bringing dinner. Now that's a good houseguest! I just have to go out and buy a bottle of bubbly to toast the new year....which will probably be done with mimosas at breakfast.

I took down the tree yesterday, the first time I've ever done it before New Year's day. It was still holding it's needles, but it went up early this year and it had lost it's magic for me. It's nice to have the space back. I'm going to take the Christmas cards down, vacuum, and re-arrange a bit of furniture to hide the blank spot that held the tree. I want to get all the laundry done, change the sheets, and put everything in it's place to start the new year. It won't last 12 hours, but still.

It has been a long year, this first one with Bad. There have been countless precious memories made, a parade of triumphant firsts, but I am glad to see it go. I am relieved to say good-bye to his babyhood, and embrace a toddler instead. I was not prepared for this boy, for the pace he would set us from the very moment of his birth. He has demanded love and care from us, grasping at the world with both hands, siezing his due. He has given back joy tenfold, but this year has taken it's toll on my mind and spirit and body. I can see glimpses of the new year coming now, as he reaches for his daddy and not only me, as his attempts to communicate become clear, as he elicits more laughter from me than tears. Maybe this will be the year he starts to sleep through the night....

I have high hopes for 2008, I'm not going to make a list but they will reveal themselves here in time. I hope you all have a wonderful time tonight, whether partying madly or staying at home. Part of me regrets not planning a more exuberant celebration, but really I'm happy to be spending the night with the ones I love best. Tomorrow morning, getting up early and NOT having a hangover, I will be absolutely ecstatic about it. Here's hoping the new year brings joy, health and laughter to us all.

Happy New Year!!

Veronica over at Sleepless Nights just created this new bling and awarded it to ME!! Bad is screaming at my leg so I can't create links to everyone I would like to right now, but you know who you are....everyone who reads and comments here has really made a difference to me this year. You mean a lot to me friends, so have some beautiful bling for your blog: