Happy New Year!

After weeks of preparation for a few days of celebration, She is finally grounded and surrounded with another list of things to do: pack away decorations, make a few final returns, recycle the Christmas tree, (if she has a real tree), and purchase up any year end discounted goodies.

Most kids are back in school, save for a few college-bound stragglers whose next semester begins end of January. Her workplace is full of those who are functioning through this post-holiday blur, almost in a "what-just-happened" daze. Her previous schedule is kicking in with the addition of her New Year's goals and resolutions. Losing weight, getting in shape, stopping smoking, finding a new job, and getting more organized top most resolution lists.

It would really benefit Her next year if she took some time to recognize and record what worked well for her over the holiday season and what did not. For example: caterers, lights that need replacement bulbs, and recipes. Sometimes a good tradition may need an adjustment to include the upcoming members of a family. Families are ever-growing and changing beautifully.

This is also the time to save all the new addresses she received from her Christmas cards- that is, if she received actual cards this year, not Christmas emails. Christmas texts were quite popular this season. Facebook seemed to trump the postal service with holiday greeting 'cards' as well. Hopefully she sees a good memory in her downloaded holiday photos, because life goes on regardless of what the calendar reads.

Many have been dealing with serious situations like divorce, the loss of a loved one, or a medical diagnosis. Depending on her whereabouts, wintry elements have her scraping a car window more than she'd prefer, as she bundles herself up in clothes that don't exactly complement her figure. But when it comes down to either warmth or fashion, she tends to choose the latter.

Kindness is a buzz word for 2017. It should have always been a yearly buzzword. She's not necessarily disappointed that her twelve days of Christmas did not include five gold rings; she's moved into the New Year where nothing less than one golden nap would satisfy, and a little piece of dark chocolate.

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