Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve started out as another Christmas. We ate scones and cookies at my mother-in-law's house and opened presents from her and my brother-in-law's family.

We were invited to a New Year's Eve party this year, with the same people who had the Halloween party. It was nice. The highlight of the evening was fireworks at midnight. It's the one time per year where the usually safety-obsessive Swedes abandon all common sense. Kids light fire-crackers and mini-rockets in their hands then throw them at each other. This year's ads for fireworks featured things like safety glasses and hearing protection for kids, which is definitely a step in the right direction, but a lot of the rockets seem just plain dangerous. Even if you do manage to pound the things into the frozen ground sufficiently, misfires seem to be fairly common, and a rocket going any direction other than up is bad news. To me, the fountain style fireworks seem a lot safer than the type that shoot high into the air.

So anyway, we were outside at midnight where it was -8 C (18 F). We toasted each other with champagne and sparkling cider. I chose the cider, but I didn't drink it fast enough, and it froze in the glass. The alcohol in the champagne functioned as antifreeze to keep it liquid. There was still a little snow left from before Christmas, and it had been supplemented with a powered sugar dusting the night before. This evening there was a rim frost which covered not only the grass and cars but the trees as well. Add the full moon, and the fireworks, and it was a very bright and beautiful night.

I realize now that it's been 10 years since we were last invited to a New Year's Eve party. It was the big 2000 party, and I remember it fondly. It's also weird to think how much has changed since then. Our friends who hosted the party have divorced, moved away, and remarried. Other friends who seem to have had kids forever did not have kids yet, and neither did we.

I'm not much for new year's resolutions, but I'm setting a goal for a happier and healthier year. I'm going to focus on the positive and not dwell on the negative. I'm also going to try to exercise more and eat better. Sound familiar? At least I'm not resolving to lose weight.