Happy New Year

Well, it's a new year. Quite literally, in fact - it's only 21 minutes old as I'm writing this. So far, so good. No one's been sick all year. We haven't had a single unexpected bill yet, and the car hasn't presented any new problems (it's still in the driveway clinging to life with half a front bumper, though).

Normally my husband and I have a tradition of spending the evening together alone (it actually started one year when we both had the flu - how romantic). We either farm out the kids or we send them downstairs to play, watch a movie and eat something that doesn't require our presence to cut, blow on, spoon feed or micromanage. Then we have a nice adult meal upstairs, play a game or watch a movie, put the kids to bed, and ring in the new year basking in the silence of a still house. Yep, we're regular party animals.

This year, however, he's on a mission trip with some of our youth (not all of them, mind you - 10 of them backed out at the last minute costing us - let's just say - a lot of money per kid....but I digress....). So I'm here with the boys, alone. We did have a special meal - we loaded up and went to Chic-Fil-A where they split a 6 piece kids' meal and I ate a chargrilled chicken sandwich. I know, not exactly springing for a nice meal, but $8 was enough on the budget and they got ice cream and a play place. They got to stay up late (really late for them - 10:45), and we only had one little disagreement about bed time. Then we read "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" (a compromise in the face of really wanting to read "Green Eggs and Ham" for the 30th time), and said our prayers together before turning out the lights.

I had visions of doing something really profound at midnight. I took out the trash and ate a "Creamy Milk" flavored LuLu Bear (I have no idea...they were marked down to $.90 a package at Wal-Mart today. They're like bear-shaped Twinkies, only they're organic, full of Omega-somthingorother acids and they're from France. Who can go wrong with Twinkie bears from France for $.90 a package? AND they come in Chocolate cream too!). Then I came back to the computer room and weighed my options. I could have written as the calendar turned over - symbolizing what I hope is going to be a great start in a new career for me this year. I could have prayed, journaled or read my Bible. There were so many great options, I just couldn't decide!

At 11:45 the phone rang - it was my husband calling to wish me a happy new year a little early. We talked for about 2 minutes, then he had to hang up because they couldn't find their car in the parking lot of the stadium in Atlanta where they had just attended the Chic-Fil-A bowl. With time ticking down, I somehow made a decision about what to do. You know what I was doing when the moment finally arrived? I was playing (and eventually beating, thanks to passwords) "The Idiot Test" on armorgames.com. I'm happy to announce that I am, in fact, a genius, nevermind that I just had to spellcheck to make sure I spelled that word correctly.

So I suppose I'll never forget that I started 2008 proving to myself that I'm not an idiot. Come to think of it, I guess it's kind of self-defeating, though, isn't it? If I have to waste the time to take a test to prove I'm not an idiot, doesn't that in itself make me an i-.... Hmmm. I think I'll go have another LuLu bear.