my least favorite holiday

...has always been new year's eve. blech.

it probably all began when i was around 10 years old, and our parents took us to mcdonald's (which was a HUGE treat) for new year's eve. i ate my last big mac that night ~ seriously, i've never eaten one since ~ because a few hours after we got home, all five of us came down with a monster stomach virus. it was horrible. and we only had one bathroom. i vividly remember yellow tupperware bucket-type things that we were instructed to throw up in. we were all lying on the living room floor with blankets and pillows...barfing our guts out.

new year's eve as a teenager wasn't much of an improvement. while everyone else had something cool to do on that night, julie and i were at home. no dates. no cute guy to kiss at midnight. instead, we passed the time listening to casey kasem count down the top 100 hits of the year. we'd put a blank cassette in the tape recorder/stereo, then pray that casey would not talk through the intro to songs that we wanted to record.

when leo and i were dating, and then for the first few years of our marriage, we always had plans for new year's eve. i came to realize pretty quickly that i hadn't been missing much all those years by not going to any parties. when kate was born, we decided that the risk of being out on the roads on new year's eve wasn't really worth it. so now, we spend december 31 at home with the kids. which is totally fine with both of us.

i don't really get into all of the end-of-the-year media stuff ~ you know, the top ten of everything under the sun: "top ten most shocking tv moments, top ten movie flops, top ten celebrity melt-downs." big deal. i also don't get nostalgic on december 31, nor do i sit down and take stock of my life. i analyze myself enough every day (honestly), so i don't feel the need to do it solely on january 1.

i do feel a little gloomy that christmas is over. it's the anticipation of christmas that makes it so wonderful, wouldn't you agree?

in general, the anticipation of almost anything is better than the actual event. anticipation is exciting...anticipation is pure, because anything can happen...with anticipation, the possibilities are endless and there is always a chance for a happy ending.

so instead of looking back at 2007...

i eagerly anticipate 2008.

happy new year!!!