Happy Friday. Last one in 2023 which is kind of hard to believe—weren’t we just scared of Y2K last week?
Time.
It sure does fly.
Anyhow, I hope those of you who celebrate had a great Christmas…and if you had to work this week, I hope that you’re surviving ok. Muscle through.
I’m going to come out of the gate with three feel-good stories I caught since I last wrote, in case a) you missed them and b) you need a pick me up stronger than my words today. (🤣🤣🤣)
Presented in the order I saw them:
I occasionally tip generously but this is next level. That said, if you have a little extra, pay it forward. It doesn’t have to be as dramatic as this, but what about kicking in an extra 10 or 20 per person if you think your server could use a little something?
Second things second:
This kid’s like “See something, say something, my ass. I’m gonna do something.”
Props to all the people out there who act selflessly.
And lastly (apparently a rerun but it was a first-time viewing for me):
How about that for building a legacy? Right?
If these stories don’t make you feel good, take your sorry ass out of Whoville and head right back up Grinch Mountain...now. (NOW!) (GO!) (GET OUT!)
In addition to these “shouldn’t be necessary but are” reminders of all the good out there in the world, here are some other things that have me feeling good as 2023 chokes out its last gasps:
Receiving unexpected holiday cards. There’s something about getting a card from someone for the first time. This year I got one…and did my heart ever swell! (Thanks, friend!)
The Pops night out, which was yet another “best ever.” Funny how that works. 🤣 The new restaurant was perfect (cute, good food, and fantastic location); my niece has at least one friend in convenient if not high places who gifted us her parking space right up the street from Symphony Hall—perfection; and the Pops program was a mix of old and new, solemn and peppy, expected and unexpected (also perfection).
Perfectly cooking my 12.9 pound standing rib roast on Christmas Eve.
Successfully baking way above my pay grade and delivering this Candy Cane Cheesecake to the table for Christmas Eve dessert. (Of course we did the cannoli dip too—that’s our old reliable dessert!)
My 24-year-old nephew fresh off a trip to Japan, proudly wearing a kimono on Christmas morning, all morning.
Another nephew gifting his sister (my niece) The Cure’s Greatest Hits album…like… vinyl. Seriously, my work here is done. (I have the CD in the attic, and a track off it will make an appearance on my Top 100 songs list, which I am still working on. It’ll be done soon-ish.)
Finding out that I’m kiiiind of a Boxbollen savant. Go figure. (We need to get it up on the TV, stat.) What is Boxbollen, you ask? Check it out:
Unwrapping a book of essays sent by a dearest—and reading words inside that have a fast pass to my soul. (Thanks, friend!)
A warmer-than-expected day that led to a longer-than-planned walk. I’m glad I took pictures. Because it was a day that felt like it was without color…what my eyes were seeing were completely muted tones and variance of shades—not the bright and contrasting colors of Spring and Summer…but despite what I thought, there was plenty of color there. (Also, I know what you may be thinking, and in my defense I don’t *always* post this picture. While you may have seen pictures of this view before, you have not seen *this* picture before. There’s a big and meaningful difference! Not semantics, not me being literal. (Plus, after my backyard it’s my second favorite place on earth.) But seriously, it’s like “you can’t step in the same river twice.” The picture is similar to others you may have seen here, but it also is completely different. (The reflection game was 🔥 too.)
Discovering that a section of the (beloved) pre-lit tree was not suffering from a blown fuse or other (potentially unsolvable) electrical issue. Wish I thought to jiggle that one plug when I noticed it Christmas Eve morning rather than just being annoyed by the dark space until two days after Christmas. (Lesson learned—always check the connection/plug first, and without delay. Wasted time can lead to wasted annoyance.)
Learning that we’re gaining about 30 seconds of daylight per day. The pendulum has swung through. Sayonara, self-diagnosed Seasonal Affective Disorder. Hello, Pool Season!
Sometimes it’s about the little things. And by “sometimes” I mean “almost always.” It’s cliche but often times the little things are the big things.
This time of year, with some foresight and careful planning we end up slightly relaxed, feeling like there’s plenty of time, and this year especially I felt it especially so…what with the early Thanksgiving and the weekend leading up to the holiday and all. That said, things inevitably culminated in multiple “oh shit” moments…but here we are, with Christmas 2023 in the rearview as we stare down 2024 sitting just past the front bumper.
Bottom line? I sit here happy as a pig in you know what, ready to open the door to a new year with its arms full of hope and promise and possibility.
Thanks for sharing part of your day with me. We’re all busy, I know, which makes me appreciate it all the more.
Happy 2024.
Love you too.
Happy New Year, Nicole! Wishing you the very best in 2024! Thank you for bringing us joy, wisdom, and laughs through your writing. I truly look forward to it every week! ~Kristin
Lots of love back to you and HNY!