Happy New Year!

Here I sit on the verge of a New Year, my 41st! As I look back over the last couple of weeks, never mind the entire year, I have come to realize a few things:

· My transition to fuddy-duddy is almost complete. Aunt Karen hosted Christmas this year, and although her house is by no means cold, I felt it necessary to take slippers with me to keep my feet warm. Lord help me, but I am a pair of socks and sandals away from following in my father’s and brother’s ill fashioned footsteps.

· I am surrounded by the best possible circle of friends. Kitkat, who as Pink Girl says is “too creative by half for his own good”, pulled together a book celebrating our trip to Provence. I am not talking about scrap-booking here either. This book could, and should, be published and sold at Chapters.

· A 15 pound, bone-in ham can indeed serve as a canapé. IronMan and I hosted what is becoming an annual winter soiree in the beach. Last year, said ham was also served and I feel will continue to grace the table in years to come.

· Wii is fun! Except for the snowboarding game and that is just dumb. Thanks to Blue Girls “lift your heels” advice, I can now easily break the 100 mark in the soccer ball game. Decapitated panda heads be gone!

· 2010 holds Great Jam Expectations. I wonder if Ms. Havisham would be wondering around with jam and jelly stains on her wedding dress in that book? And would her dress catch fire as she carelessly reaches for a canning jar on the other side of the stove? Who can say? But with my new Williams Sonoma jam pan, I assure you all that you shall never be short of jams and jellies again!

· DON’T save things for special occasions and don’t put off today the things you want to do. Tuesday, after my swim, I was leaving the change room to go and teach. Upon opening the door I saw a team of paramedics working a man who had a heart attack while playing squash. We also lost four more Canadian soldiers yesterday. You never know when your number is up, so don’t have regrets when it is.

I am not sure what you are doing this evening, but whatever it is, I hope you are surrounded by the ones you love and have plenty of gin on hand!