What are YOU doing New Year's Eve?

When the bells all ring and the horns all blow
And the couples we know are fondly kissing.
Will I be with you or will I be among the missing?

Maybe it's much too early in the game
Ooh, but I thought I'd ask you just the same
What are you doing New Year's
New Year's eve?

Wonder whose arms will hold you good and tight
When it's exactly twelve o'clock that night
Welcoming in the New Year
New Year's eve

Maybe I'm crazy to suppose
I'd ever be the one you chose
Out of a thousand invitations
You received

Ooh, but in case I stand one little chance
Here comes the jackpot question in advance:
What are you doing New Year's
New Year's Eve?

Well folks, 'tis time to put another year to bed.  You all know i am a sentimental sort of gal, given to excesses of exuberance, excitation and extreme agitation.  I am also given to bouts of self-examination and I always like to take a moment to reflect back on the year that was.  I won't bore you with every little detail, but here for me were the significant moments of 2012 and I would love to know yours.  
I will keep it short and sweet!

1) The London Olympics/Queen's Diamond Jubilee Flotilla on the Thames

You know I love a spectacle.  The Olympics are always that for me!  My favourite moments:

Mo Farah winning the 10,000 metre race.

Sure, I liked seeing Usain Bolt win the 100 metre sprint.  But Mo Farah gave us drama and joy. 
and our good Canadian Women winning the bronze in soccer (football!):

They didn't make it easy for themselves, but they showed grit and heart and they took the entire nation on a rollercoaster ride with them as they did it.  Well done!

And as a student of history, even as I watched the Flotilla for the Queen's Jubilee, I knew I was watching something unlikely to happen again in my lifetime!  The little boats from world war II really choked me up.  How the organizers imagined it:



And how much better it was in real life!

And it appeared that every single person that CBC interviewed on the banks of the Thames was having a Pimms Cup for Her Majesty.  Or two or three.  Oh sure, they spent a lot of money on the old doll, as they like to say in these parts, but my God!  Those Brits know how to put on a show!

2) Paris

Oh many of you have been there before and know all about her.  I had even been to France and was feeling slightly blase..

But Paris sweeps you off your feet and around every corner is another beautiful spot or piece of history.  Paris, je t'adore!

3) My Blog

I went live on this blog in June of this year, pretty sure only a couple of people would stop by.  Imagine my surprise when people besides my husband showed up!

Oh I know - it is a quick pit stop in your day, and sometimes in mine as well, but it has become a place of real joy for me this year.  Everyone who pops in here, even those of you who read and are either too shy or disinclined to comment, are quite dear to me!  You have allowed me to natter on about all manner of topics, some fashionable, some definitely unfashionable, some glimpses into my life that you may or may not have wanted to see!  Some crazy thought I get in my head and just have to share.  But you have been so kind and funny and honest that you have become a highlight of my day,  You have also reminded me of how much I love to write and how much I love to connect with people.  So, thank you, thank you, thank you!

4) My Dad

This is related in great part to #3, but you all know that losing my dear dad (and last parent) has had a tremendous impact on me. 

What you can't see in this picture is that my dad is holding a pair of binoculars, is sitting beside me on a balcony overlooking the Gulf of Mexico and is drinking a glass of red wine.  He is well and truly happy. 

My dad's passing has been both sad and joyous.  I obviously miss him, but I was lucky I had him as a dad for nearly 50 years and he has left me with a gift that, for whatever reason, has really stuck with me: live your life now, not some imaginary future when everything will be perfect.  So starting now, that is what I am doing.  Oh yes - he also left me the gift of a good laugh and a good bottle of red!  And sometimes rum!  Your kindness during the week before and after he died, both online and in private emails to me, gave me so much courage and gladness.  I will forever be in your debt and hope to repay those debts through other acts of kindness!

5) My Body

Gotta end on a light note!  in 2012 I realized that I:

1) am short
2) have long legs for a short person
3) sometimes channel the Michelin Man
4) have no waist
5) have no bottom
6) have crazy hair that I am quite fond of

But most importantly, I realized that I was pretty. 

It turns out if you post enough crazy pictures of yourself you come to see the good stuff, too, and I always thought I took a bad picture.  Nope.  It turns out that you gotta take a bunch of pictures in life to have the good and the bad.  It is quite fun to be two weeks away from turning 50 and realizing that you are good looking in your own way.  And that dressing well makes you feel prettier! 

So that my friends, was my year.  I will not post about the highs of my family out of protection of the innocent!!

Any highlights you are inclined to share?  Do you have big plans?  We will be home with a bottle of Veuve Cliquot, a couple of games, fireworks and Ryan Seacrest and Anderson Cooper (I am a channel switcher!).  I will be wearing fancing pants and shiny shoes, however!

*****************

On the 7th Day of Christmas WMM gave to me:

An antique clock that doesn't tell the time

As you can see, this old clock, which has been in our family for well over a 100 years, no longer has its clock work.  It was set to a little after 4 pm by Barry and I a few years ago to remind ourselves that it is always 4 o'clock somewhere!  This clock has only chimed once in my lifetime and that was three years ago when it suddenly chimed.  We were all shocked and wondered if it was a ghost!  We then found out a few days later it was a mouse, which I thought was pretty impressive and quite Hickory Dickory Dock.

New Year's Eve is all about looking at the clock.  For some of us A-type personalities, it does us good sometimes to stop the clock and live in the moment.  I am reminded of my favourite scene in "Dead Poet's Society", when Robin Williams shows his class the display case full of pictures of long dead students:

They're not that different from you, are they? Same haircuts. Full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They believe they're destined for great things, just like many of you, their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because, you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it? - - Carpe - - hear it? - - Carpe, carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.

Sometimes, we have to get really still and forget the clock and decide what we want from our lives.  The turn of a year is a good time to take stock, but so is any other day, any other moment.  And those changes can be big or small, from loving ourselves and our families better, to deciding to run away and join the circus.  Only YOU know what you want from life and what is right for you.  For those of you already living that life, I applaud you and want to know your secrets!  Well done! 

For the rest of us: 2012 is done.  May 2013 bless you and your families and give us all the strength to carpe diem in our own ways!  You so deserve it!

And above all: stay safe out there!