Happy New Year!

Well, we had eaten all of the cookies at our last stop, so we decided to head back home yesterday. I kept thinking I was so ready to put the holiday back in the storage bins, and get back to our usual routine. I then made the critical mistake of taking a moment to consider what my actual routine consists of. Was it the 6:00 a.m. alarm or the lack of shiny packages with ribbons that I thought would be such a welcome return? The absence of cheese platters and cookies or the joy of housecleaning that would restore my usual state of glory? The unpacking of the van gave ample opportunity for me to cover every and any clean surface in the house with something clutterrific! I was exhausted by 4:00, but had the added benefit of being expected to stay upright, and possibly awake, to ring in the new year.

I felt that I had ample snacks to keep me interested and enough angst about resolutions to keep me alert. A lot of my thoughts regarding being a better person in 2012 seem to involve more work for other people who happen to live in this house. I think it will make me a better mother and wife if I try harder to teach my children to be more responsible. One of the ways I envision achieving this goal is having them pick up after themselves on a more regular basis. What? You are concerned that I will feel less needed if I don't have to right side out those socks, make the beds and relocate the festival of crap that lands everywhere...everday? I am willing to try to learn to get over it. I don't want to suggest that all three of these people should make it their own personal resolution to listen more closely to everything I say, so I think I will just make my own efforts to talk loudly and more slowly. Again, always willing to do my part.

I was trying to get enough things done and put away so as to give the illusion of welcoming a more organized new year. When I walked into our bathroom upstairs, I was reminded how the sink had decided to clog when we were minutes from leaving to go on our road trip. I had made minimal efforts involving a coat hanger to rectify that situation, then just figured gravity would eventually win out while we were gone. The sink was empty of water last night, but lined with a dry murky reminder of what had happened. I ran some fresh water and it was readily apparent that the plumbing elves had not visited while we were away. It was 8:00 p.m., and I figured some wrenches and pipes (not code for anything kinky) were a decent strategy to my staying awake game. I do love a good project. However, in addition to wondering how it is that I still have a full head of hair, I also began to question how it was that my New Year's Eve had shaped up quite like this. Perhaps I needed to consider the figurative meaning of cleaning out the pipes and trying not to let nasty stuff clog up the works in the coming year? I think that sounds better than resolving to purchase a drain strainer, or the obvious thought of another year down the drain (whether it went willingly or not).

Happy 2012 to you! Take good care of yourself!