The end of the year.

Ah, Christmas. It was lovely. It always is. I hope you had a lovely Christmas as well. On Christmas Eve we took our daughter on her first boat ride, a trip across Puget Sound on a Washington State Ferry. We spent some time in the town on the other side, eating lunch and walking around, but mostly the trip was just for the experience of the ferry ride. Our daughter loved it. She was enamored by the "bubbles" (foam) in the water; the trees that "fell down and broke" (driftwood); and the fact that cars could drive right onto the "big, big boat". It was a good day.

Christmas Day was beautiful as well. It took opening just one gift for our daughter to understand that, hey, all those packages under the tree have something fun inside! She was perhaps, um, just a tad bit spoiled. If not by us, then certainly by her other relatives. I may have been a bit spoiled as well. My husband surprised me with tickets the The Nutcracker. I have wanted to go for years. We went last night, and it really is as beautiful as everyone says it is. It's just...beautiful. The opening dance scene, all the guests and children at the party - wow. I wish I could find a painting of that scene, although I can't imagine that a painting could ever do it justice, since so much of the beauty is from the movement. It is, after all, a ballet. Thank you, Andy, for such a wonderful Christmas gift! One thing that took away from the serenity of the performance, but added greatly to the comedy, was the woman sitting next to me after intermission. She carried with her a heavy aroma of alcohol. A smidgen more and her aroma would have been an odor. Throughout the second act, whenever a piece of particularly famous music began (which is frequent in The Nutcracker), she yelled, "Yeah!" or "Yes!" (Think arm and fist pumping in the air.) I thought about congratulating her on apparently recognizing the music, but thought that might be rude. I am glad that she seemed to enjoy it so much. I know I did.

And now Christmas is over. We'll be taking our tree down this weekend. Now I am looking forward to 2008. I know that, in the progression of time, January 1 is arbitrary. There is nothing about the day that makes it different from any other day, no reason that we should start new habits or break old ones on that day any more than we should on any other day of the year. I know that it's psychological. I'm okay with that. Psychology is a powerful thing. January 1 provides a good measure of progression for our personal goals. It's much easier to remember how long we've been working on something when we begin on January 1 than it would be if we began on, say, August 19. (Unless that happens to be your birthday. It's not mine.) And so I have started my lists. Disciplines I want to develop, books I want to read, quilts I want to make, habits and values I want to instill in my daughter, skills I want to learn. They won't all become New Year's resolutions or goals. I make huge lists and then narrow them down to the things that I really want to focus on, a (hopefully) realistic number of goals.

2007 has been a year of much progress and some setbacks, much joy and some worries, much happiness and some heartache. In short, it has been a normal year, made up of the normal ebb and flow of life. I'm glad to have had the privilege of experiencing this year, both the good times and the bad, and I'm hopeful about what 2008 will bring.