Another Year? Already?

There is an old kid's TV show, Thunderbirds, that my husband introduced me to. One of the many things for which he will be made to answer someday. It's marionettes, and exceedingly strange. There is a scene where one of the characters is in the hospital, and another one enters. The dialogue meanders along, then the visitor says, "They're moving the Empire State Building." And the patient cries in surprise, "What? Today??" For some reason, that was hilarious. The idea that someone forgot that the Empire State Building was being moved.
But the new year has crept up on me, and I feel that same sense of astonishment that it's here already. I knew it was coming. I had things ready. I even remembered to write 2006 on the check I wrote today. But somehow it still doesn't seem possible that 12 months have passed since the last time we did this.

This New Years Day was a study in dissonance, anyway. There was no Rose Parade on January 1, and that has disrupted my ritual for beginning the year. You see, I grew up near Pasadena, and the Rose Parade has been a big deal for me since I was a kid. One year I went with a neighbor whose husband worked at the Marine Armory near the end of the route, and sat in the grandstands there. Dwight Eisenhower was the Grand Marshall that year, and he walked right past us and into the Armory at the end of the Parade. (Don't look it up, I don't want to know how many year ago that was!) Another year I lived five blocks from Colorado Boulevard. I threw a New Year's Eve party, my friends stayed over, and we walked to the parade that morning (those that weren't too hung over).
So, the Parade has been a big deal for me. When we moved away from Southern California, I always got up on New Years Day and watched the Parade. My husband doesn't care that much about the Parade. He's a great guy, but he has his shortcomings, and he'd rather sleep in. So I get up, make a pot of coffee and maybe some toast, and watch the floats and the bands and the equestrian units, and the Grand Marshall in the antique carriage. I love every hokey minute, including the Rose Queen and her court, things that would normally disgust me. But for that one morning, all the rules go out the window, and everything is magic.
But this year? The Parade is moved to January 2, and my entire year is now out of step. I'm coping, but it's just not right. I took Monday morning off work, and watched, but the whole time I knew I would eventually have to get out of my pajamas and into dress-up clothes, and head to the office. It just didn't feel right. But I am strong, and I will build a bridge and get over it. *grin*

So here I am, back in the "real world" of work and writing, and everyday life. I have writing projects that I hope I can talk about soon, and life news that I am hoping will be very good. The year is beginning with loads of possibilities.

I can't wait to see what all it brings!