January 3, 2015
6:41 p.m.

It's a new year, people. A new year.

It seems funny to me after all these years of not being a school-child, but I still have this inner calendar that says the new year starts in September, when the kiddos go back to school. January 1st has never held any significance for me regarding the start of a new year. Never. And since I have reached the age of fifty-plus, I know it never will.

January just seems like a crazy time to be the beginning of anything. It's cold, everything is dead, nothing is growing or being harvested. What's new about that?

At least in September, things are beginning. It's the start of a new school year, it's harvest time, which means starting the process of preparing for winter. It opens the hunting season, also part of preparing for winter. It marks the beginning of holiday season, because we who prepare for winter feel a deep need to share our bounty, and fellowship, with one another. I think we know that we have to band together to survive the increased hours of darkness that winter brings.

And right in the middle of the darkness, we celebrate the beginning of a new year? I'm sure there was some sort of logic in creating this nutty timeline, but--like Daylight Savings Time--it makes no sense to me.

Honestly, my September scenario only makes sense to me because of the back-to-school schedule. School scheduling makes sense to me, because even I, a town girl, could understand that farmers needed all hands on deck during the summer months. My parents grew up doing farm chores. The town I grew up in actually has a school holiday at the beginning of hunting season, because everyone there knows that those kids won't be in school, they will be hunting with their fathers.

If not for my school-day fixation, I would opt for New Year's to be in the Spring. Yeah, I know we already have plenty of holidays in the spring--St. Patrick's Day, Easter, April Fools' Day. But we could fit it in, right? Because it makes more sense to start the year anew as the world is starting anew.

I suppose whoever made up the "Holiday Plan" decided that we needed something to celebrate in January, because it's an otherwise crappy time of year. How about "It's Cold and Dark and Everyone Has the Flu so Lets All Get Drunk Day"?

Oh, yeah. That's New Year's Eve. Oops!
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Okay, clearly I am having some issues today. Happy New Year! Sincerely, I wish everyone a great 2015.
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Since it is already the late evening of January 3rd, I think it's safe to say that the doctor's plan to induce my daughter's labor in the wee hours of January 5th is a done deal. She doesn't have much more time to go into labor on her own. Nor does she show any signs so far of doing so. January 5th will be a great birthday.

I have to say, I am so excited to meet my eighth grandchild, who is to be named for a famous princess and my mother. How cool is that?
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I'll get back to you soon! Good night, all!