Another New Year...

It is official. Holidays 2010 ended with my neighbors kids’ setting off bottle rockets just after midnight last night. We welcomed 2011 at my house the way my family has for generations… Cornbread, black-eyed peas, and greens swimming in pork fat. I may have adopted a vegetarian lifestyle, but my family will not be swayed. I am exhausted from endless hours in the kitchen over the last couple of weeks, but it was so worth the memories of another holiday season welcoming friends and family to our home for celebrations. As much as I enjoyed the rush of the holiday season, I am looking forward to the long, cold, quiet days before we welcome spring to the Smoky Mountains. There will be more time for writing, reading the work of some of my favorite authors, and the lazy snow days my boys pray for.

The last year was filled with blessings I hope not to forget during the struggles of the new year ahead. I often say I believe life is about balance, and realizing what goes around comes around. So this year when having a teenager in the house makes me doubt my sanity, or the weekly grocery bill gives me a stroke, or my mother makes me want to bang my head against a wall by telling me I am not the boss of her… I will think about my house being loud and crowded with family for our annual Christmas gathering and counting down to the New Year with my boys as the neighbor’s kid set off another bottle rocket. The blessings far outweighed the struggles in 2010, and here’s hoping the same is true in 2011.

Wishing you all a happy, healthy, prosperous 2011!