goodbye to january 2011

in just a few minutes, it will be no longer be january 2011. i cannot say that i am sorry to say goodbye, for a long, hard month january 2011 has been. as i write this, it is sleeting hard outside. shards of ice hitting the glass of the windows sharply. i am thankful to be safe and warm inside from temperatures that may set new records.
i am thankful, too, that there are, among the harshness, some goodness and joy. those are what i will recall here and endeavor to remember...

Adventures in the New Year (already)

If the first few days of the new year are any indication, 2011 will be a year of adventure. We rang in the new year at home with good friends. A surprise visit from an auld acquaintance was the highlight of New Year's Day. We sent off the weekend with the celebration of our Amy's 30th Birthday, an event we called "Amy in Wonderland." The birthday girl's little sister and her bff pulled out all the stops on decorations. A good time was had by all..
A cold artic blast, a dusting of snow, several long days and nights necessitated by huge dockets and a local crime spree followed. The second weekend of the new year we spent recovering from the first weekend and week.
My hope is that soon we will be settling down to a familiar routine. But I am generally up for adventure...

1-1-11; the start of a good year!

New Year's Day, 2011.
Seminole, Oklahoma.
There's been 15 bean soup simmering in the crock pot all day. A group of friends said goodbye to the old year and hello to the new at midnight with sparkling cider, good music and conversation. We watched the Tim Burton version of "Alice in Wonderland" in anticipation of Miss Amy Elizabeth Arnold's 30th birthday party, which has an "Alice" theme. Amy's Daddy and her niece, Miss Emma Elizabeth Arnold, went to Edmond to pick her up, while others of us (Amy's mama and sister and our good friend Alicia) worked on decorations for the party.
Our friend Charley Taylor came to spend the afternoon with us. Charley and Amy share the same birthday so it was only fitting that we take the two of them out to dinner. More good conversation and a lot of laughs (as is always the case when Charley is around) were the highlights of the evening, along with some chinese food.
Because of the soup, it smells like New Year's Day. Because of the company and talk of news and resolutions, it sounds like New Year's. A shiny arrangement and our own rendering of the Baby New Year, make it look like New Year's.
If today is an indication, as it is said to be, of the course of the year, it will be a good one.