...And a Happy New Year

This picture is from New Year's Eve 2010 (because my camera's in the other room, you see).  But Trey is just as cute this year.  Promise.

I have to admit: the end of the holiday season bums me out just a little bit.  I miss the lights, the music, the decorations, the food, and most of all my own breathless anticipation of the moment when Trey first sees his gifts under the tree.  I'm sad that Sesame Place's Very Furry Christmas is over, and that Trey won't be able to visit Elmo again until May.  I wish my mom didn't have to go back to work, and that my brother could stay on Christmas vacation forever.  In other words, I want that holiday magic to keep on doing its magic, magic thing.

But, alas, that's not to be.  Time marches on, and we mortals have to get back to business (which is, I suppose, a funny way of phrasing it, since both Donnie and I worked throughout the holiday season - but it's not the same, and you know it).  Much of my January promises to be bleak, what with my Philadelphia Eagles' failure to reach the playoffs, and all that.  Oh, yes, and did I mention I'm not the biggest fan of cold weather - which, I imagine, will be descending upon the East Coast at some point this winter.  Maybe. 

And yet, there's fun to be had: museums to visit, cookies to bake, books to read, Blue's Clues DVDs to watch.  And I can't help but bask in the feeling that this moment, this beginning of a new year, promises only fresh starts and second chances and the much-needed opportunity to become better. 

I have goals for 2012, of course, although I don't feel the need to share them here.  Let's just say I'm well aware that I have room to improve my parenting skills, my health, my career, my finances, and just about everything else I touch.  Dwelling on the particulars can be daunting, but that feeling of this year I will make the change and live the change and be that better smarter slimmer saner person I want so badly to be remains vividly intoxicating.

So I say, let the adventure begin.  Bring it on, 2012.  I think it's going to be a good year.

Does the end of the holidays make you sad?  Are you a New Year's Resolution kind of guy/gal?  Do you think 2012 is going to be awesome?