Christmas, New Year's Eve and No Beginnings – Just Some Extra Umff for the New Year

So far into 2011, I can conclude that my brain still resides in 2010. Usually the atmosphere feels exciting. Like something big is going to happen that year and all my dreams are going to come true. I feel elated, excited and very hopeful about the future. This year is very different; I feel nothing. I am completely numb and almost incapable of grasping the fact that it is January again and have to remind myself every now and then.
Maybe that is what happens when the strike of midnight finds you tucked up in bed and fast asleep. I missed the transition into the New Year now my brain is struggling to catch up.

Christmas
Anyway, Christmas came and went so fast but it was a bit of a struggle keeping it together. Now that I look back, it was one of the greatest evenings of 2010 in spite of the flu.

I had the pleasure of hosting as the year before. This time, however,  I had everything planned from the aperitifs to what music to play and when to play it. I was going to make 3 layer cakes; velvet, coconut and chocolate. A cupcake tower, truffles and desert drinks. I had meat dishes and meat-free dishes planned.

This is what I had in mind...

Source of the picture

I had made lists of things to do and schedules – starting days ahead. I wanted Christmas dinner to be as perfect as possible so I never left anything to chance or at least I thought so. Then when it was time to start the preparations, four days before Christmas, my throat started aching. By the next morning, I knew this was no ordinary cold. My only hope was that it would be over by Christmas Day.

But it never did. I spent the days weathering a fever and a cough, on top of everything else that comes with the season. I was so weak most of the time but couldn’t find the time to sleep like I needed to. As a result I became slower; it was taking too long to get things done – time I didn’t have. I started striking items off my lists.
In the end I had only the absolute essentials left, like the turkey.

The turkey looked a bit dry but was well done

For desert, I decided on just one cake, the coconut layered cake. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to bake and though it didn’t turn out quite like I wanted it to, everyone enjoyed it and it disappeared in minutes.

... This is what I conjured up

I still feel bad for my family that I couldn’t pull dinner off as planned but it turned out to be a great evening. We had loads of fun and that’s all that matters, I guess. After desert was served,  I took the much needed nap but stayed away for not more than 20 minutes for fear of missing out on the fun.

My little brother and I, the face of illness.

New Year's Eve
By New Year’s Eve, I was still recovering. Midnight found me already tucked up in bed. I was awakened by the sound of the fireworks. From where I lay, half asleep, I thought it sounded like someone making popcorn from a distance. I didn’t fell like popcorn so I fell asleep again and woke up the next day to a sunny winter morning, the first of the New Year. I went on with my business of getting better as was the case during the days precedent to that morning.

Now, I don’t do New Year resolutions because I believe that every day is  a good day to make change. However, this year I made an exception. I made a resolution to do better – to put more effort into everything I set out to do; eat better, workout harder, run more races, make a better life for my family, etc. There are no new beginnings, just the same hustle and bustle of every day life, but with a little extra umff. That should make it easier for my brain to catch on that it is 2011.

So here’s to the New Year, hoping it’s filled with all such good things as health, happiness and prosperity – everlasting (one can always hope).

Black Bird
Before I sign off and just for the heck of it, let me show you who was cozying up on my balcony a couple of days ago.