How Do You Do It?

Today is January 8, 2025!
2-0-2-5!!!

I have to practice the number of the new year at the beginning! I write it wrong and speak it wrong for months into the year. It helps to rehearse it and remind myself frequently. We don’t write checks anymore. That used to assist me. Every once in a while, I’ll blurt out some random year number from the past, confusing myself and wondering “where did that come from?” Anybody else do that? “It’s not always easy getting your brain to sync with reality,” she says while plopping her hand to forehead!!

I hope all of you had lovely holiday celebrations. We had several, but we are still waiting for some. Seven people’s gifts are still under my tree because of illness cancellations. Crazy viruses going around!! We know many people who have fallen ill.

Today, our world is white! Living in a Snow-globe, I like to say! We have a few inches on the ground and more coming, we’re told. I know you’ve heard me gush over snow. It is so fresh, clean, pretty as it blankets our world. It makes my heart happy. I say that as a Virginia gal who doesn’t see much of it. It never lasts long. I wish it did, but I may change my mind if I lived in Alaska. But, I wouldn’t be against trying it!

I can recall my early childhood days in Pennsylvania when drifts were as high as telephone lines (when there was such a thing) and constructed igloos lasted weeks. I also remember lots of sledding and sleigh rides. I realize I am one of a few lucky ones, but we had three-quarter horses and my Dad restored an old horse sleigh for our family enjoyment.

Whenever I hear the song “Over the River and Through the Woods”, our sleigh rides pop into my head! We didn’t just ride on snow-covered roads. We rode over the meadows and fields and through some woods.

Here is one of our Christmas card photos:

Even back then, cards sometimes carried photos. Our photos rested in slits on the card paper. I’m sure Mom and Dad made them. I don’t remember that part. Dad dabbled in photography with a lot of equipment, as a High School “Shop” teacher back then, he had a dark room where he taught the students about developing film. Thus, he made our photo cards in every sense of the word! I remember being with him in the darkroom after school hours and watching negatives become pictures; magic!

I’m supposed to be talking about the New Year today, but I guess Christmas is not out of my system yet! That’s not new for me. Christmas always lingers in my heart and home. I don’t undecorate until closer to the end of the month, typically.

Back to my original topic …

New Year: What habits or traditions do I hold the first of every year?

I probably “Don’t” do more than I “Do”!

Let’s start with the DON’T…

* I don’t make New Year Resolutions. I never have! It hurts my brain.

* I don’t choose a “Word for the Year”. I have tried, but nothing seems appropriate for a whole year of unknown happenings. I feel like I have to try too hard to fit everything under this umbrella. I just categorize life as it happens.

* I don’t use a paper calendar anymore. For years, I spent the first few days of the year putting birthdays and events onto my new calendar and then discarding the old. Sometimes, I kept the pictures from the calendars. I don’t know what I did with them. I, now, use the calendar on my phone!

Several years ago, I tried going back to paper and using both for two or three years. I love stationary and the calendars were so enticing, cute, fresh. I thought let’s do both phone and paper. It was a lot of duplication and paperless won out! If I sat at the same desk everyday, then maybe I’d try a paper one too. Or have a work one on paper and personal one on my phone, but that’s not my life.

Digital won. It’s always with me and I don’t lose it.

* I don’t make an annual plan at the beginning of the year. I found it not worth my time because life changes in the meantime. That doesn’t mean I don’t plan at all. I do plenty of that.

Here are a few things I find myself DOING every new year …

* I clean out my emails. Sometimes it takes several days, but I make myself do it. Those boxes fill up so fast and I need to keep very few.

* I unsubscribe to loads of emails. Somehow the number of places who send emails grows with every passing day. I take time at the beginning of the year to unsubscribe to any business I don’t want an email or notification from!! It lightens the load!

* I order new Mascara! I know this is random, but I do it. They say mascara should not be used over a year. This is how I remember when it’s time is up! I know too many women who’ve gotten eye infections: old mascara can definitely be a culprit!

* As I put new gifts away, I straighten or donate from that area of the house. If I put away Christmas napkins, for instance, I take out my napkin bin and tidy up or decide to donate anything in it!

* When I put Christmas decor away, I look at what I didn’t use this year and decide if it’s worth storing for another year. If not, it goes in the donation pile.

* Now that the project of Christmas is over, I decide what my next big project will be. It’s different every year.

I decided mid-December that I wanted to needlepoint again. It’s been years since I had a project going. I started one after Christmas and finished it last night! I have two more in my stash I’d like to do over the winter. I also have the urge to learn to knit and crochet. I crocheted in my twenties but only knew one stitch. I’d like to take an online class for both. This is making me feel very old, but nowadays young ones are valuing handmade more and more. I love that!

* Next up, plan our summer vacation. I know it’s better to do this in the fall, but getting input and dates from everyone is more difficult. I normally try to book by the end of February if at all possible!