Auld Lang Syne

  Well dear friends, the "old year" is going out
on a bit of a sour note this year. I came down
with a cold and cough right before Christmas
that's taken a real toll on me.
   Add to that the fact that my son-in-law just
got through with some surgery and our family's
fairly new New Year's Tradition will have to be
missed this year.
   We can, of course, still have our individual
"celebrations" to welcome 2013. But it won't be
the same without everyone being together. Still
that seems preferable to spreading my 2012
cough with the rest of the family or bothering
my son-in-law when what he needs most of all
for the New Year is rest!
   That said, I believe our new "Tradition" is
worth re-sharing with you. So, I've decided to
repost my blog from last New Year. Maybe it
will give you some ideas,,,,especially if you've
got kids! Hope you enjoy it!

A NEW NEW YEAR'S TRADITION
I like holiday traditions!
I watch "A Christmas Carol" every
Christmas.....as many versions as
possible. "A Christmas Story" is a
"must see" every year too!
I read "Polar Express" to my grand
kids every Christmas Eve.
And, for the past few years, our
family welcomes the New Year 12
hours ahead of most of the rest of
you!
My daughter came up with the
idea after seeing the youngest and
oldest in our clan (I claim the latter
title) try to keep their eyes open to
watch the ball come down on Times
Square after a full day of talking,
playing, and eating.
Of course that ball marks the
beginning of a new year......but not
everywhere! There are lots of midnights
around planet earth so we decided to
celebrate the one that equates with the
Noon hour at my daughter's house!
That, by the way, would be
Midnight in Jakarta, Indonesia!
So, we celebrate "New Year's Noon!"
You have all the fun, while everybody
is awake, and get a head start on the
New Year.
I nearly had the rest of you beat by
36 hours! I forgot what day it was and
was ready to begin the festivities on
Friday at Noon!
Another great thing....if you miss
Midnight Jakarta time, you've still got
11 more time zones to use to beat the
crowds!
By the way, there's little chance I'll
miss the New York celebration too.
There are enough firecrackers in
our neighborhood to wake the
soundest sleeper when people glued
to "the tube" watch that ball drop!
In any case, whatever time zone
you're using to mark the start of
2012, the New Year will be well
underway by the time you read this
Blog.
And with that in mind I'd like to
wish you all a very happy New Year
with the hope that, in it, all your
NEWS will be good!