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Well, welcome to 2007. To be honest, it really doesn't feel a whole lot different to 2006. (yet) All it's doing right now is reminding me of just how quickly time is going by!
But, I'm not going to dwell on that. I've heard enough people complain about how fast kids grow up, how fast time flies as you get older, etc. etc., (and yes, I'm one of those people!), that I'm just not going to do that here.
There are 2 big things people do at New Years: evaluate last year, and make resolutions for next year. I'm really not sure I want to do either! I don't want to depress myself by going over the list of things I originally wanted to see accomplished last year, nor do I want to set myself up for further depression by making resolutions which, in all likelihood, will fall by the wayside within weeks, if they even get off the ground in the first place.
Why put myself through that???
Then again, there is the age-old truth: "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it" Having earned a history minor in university, I've seen that truth demonstrated time and time again. I guess it's all how you approach a retrospective: drag up past failures and disappointments for the sake of berating yourself? Or, look at what you could have done differently, learn the lesson, and move on? I think I like what's behind door number 2...
But before I get to all that, it's been an interesting New Year's. The Rayment Band Widows have banded together for the weekend, I've been staying at my mom's for the last couple of days, and we're off to have supper with Sarah and the kids in a little while. The guys marched in the Tournament of Roses Parade this morning (also known as "the Rose Bowl parade"), and our guys in our band made it through ok. Apparently, there was one CSB casualty along the way - a certain horn player from NYT gutted it out with a bad ankle, but had to drop out just past the grandstands. (discretion is the better part of valour - the parade itself is 5 miles long, not counting the lead-in and lead-out...) We managed to catch Phil and one of the other CSB horn players on camera, but Doug and Dad were buried in their sections with the bells of their horns blocking any view of their faces. Thankfully, we recorded the correct TV coverage - ABC did a nice job of catching the band, but the twits at NBC signed off their coverage about half-way through the parade, before the S.A. band even got there! Oh, well, at least they got some camera time this year; there was one year when all three networks covering the parade went to commercial just as the band was coming by the cameras!! (I think a couple of networks heard from certain S.A. organisers -- it hasn't happened since!)
Well, it's back to the grind in a day or two. Work will be back in full swing, as will corps activities, and we'll be back to our ridiculously busy selves. What do I want to do this year? Actually, I had already made a few decisions regarding changes I want to make, and have been striving to make, before the new year even got here. For example, one of the by-products of my move to Toronto has been that I've lost contact, or at least had much less contact, with my friends and family in the Hamilton area. I want to change that. My new friends in Toronto are wonderful, and I'm so glad to have them. But, I really need to hang on to the friends I've had for many years.
I don't want to officially list any "resolutions", because that's just asking for failure and disappointment. What I will say is this: I'm going to continue doing what I've been trying to do all along. I'm going to do my best to live according to the One who loves me more than anyone in this world, who's grace and mercy is available to all who ask for it, and who taught us all how we should live by living it Himself.
If I can do that, then I can call this year a success. Everything else just doesn't matter.
But, I'm not going to dwell on that. I've heard enough people complain about how fast kids grow up, how fast time flies as you get older, etc. etc., (and yes, I'm one of those people!), that I'm just not going to do that here.
There are 2 big things people do at New Years: evaluate last year, and make resolutions for next year. I'm really not sure I want to do either! I don't want to depress myself by going over the list of things I originally wanted to see accomplished last year, nor do I want to set myself up for further depression by making resolutions which, in all likelihood, will fall by the wayside within weeks, if they even get off the ground in the first place.
Why put myself through that???
Then again, there is the age-old truth: "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it" Having earned a history minor in university, I've seen that truth demonstrated time and time again. I guess it's all how you approach a retrospective: drag up past failures and disappointments for the sake of berating yourself? Or, look at what you could have done differently, learn the lesson, and move on? I think I like what's behind door number 2...
But before I get to all that, it's been an interesting New Year's. The Rayment Band Widows have banded together for the weekend, I've been staying at my mom's for the last couple of days, and we're off to have supper with Sarah and the kids in a little while. The guys marched in the Tournament of Roses Parade this morning (also known as "the Rose Bowl parade"), and our guys in our band made it through ok. Apparently, there was one CSB casualty along the way - a certain horn player from NYT gutted it out with a bad ankle, but had to drop out just past the grandstands. (discretion is the better part of valour - the parade itself is 5 miles long, not counting the lead-in and lead-out...) We managed to catch Phil and one of the other CSB horn players on camera, but Doug and Dad were buried in their sections with the bells of their horns blocking any view of their faces. Thankfully, we recorded the correct TV coverage - ABC did a nice job of catching the band, but the twits at NBC signed off their coverage about half-way through the parade, before the S.A. band even got there! Oh, well, at least they got some camera time this year; there was one year when all three networks covering the parade went to commercial just as the band was coming by the cameras!! (I think a couple of networks heard from certain S.A. organisers -- it hasn't happened since!)
Well, it's back to the grind in a day or two. Work will be back in full swing, as will corps activities, and we'll be back to our ridiculously busy selves. What do I want to do this year? Actually, I had already made a few decisions regarding changes I want to make, and have been striving to make, before the new year even got here. For example, one of the by-products of my move to Toronto has been that I've lost contact, or at least had much less contact, with my friends and family in the Hamilton area. I want to change that. My new friends in Toronto are wonderful, and I'm so glad to have them. But, I really need to hang on to the friends I've had for many years.
I don't want to officially list any "resolutions", because that's just asking for failure and disappointment. What I will say is this: I'm going to continue doing what I've been trying to do all along. I'm going to do my best to live according to the One who loves me more than anyone in this world, who's grace and mercy is available to all who ask for it, and who taught us all how we should live by living it Himself.
If I can do that, then I can call this year a success. Everything else just doesn't matter.
oooh, I'm just so annoyed. We got ourselves up and over to moms (since we don't have cable) JUST so I could watch, and wouldn't you know....we were watching the NBC broadcast....and when I asked if any other station was covering it, everyone said, 'no, no....', and so we missed it!!!
GRRRR!