The new year.

How did you spend your New Year's Eve? I thought I might spend it first eating Vietnamese food and then watching Leonardo DiCaprio debauch himself in shocking ways in The Wolf of Wall Street. Instead, we stayed in--me, the historian, Bruiser, and a big box of Kleenex. And a small box of DayQuil. We got take-out Indian food and watched a Modern Family marathon. Ta da! Happy New Year!

I've never thought it was so bad to spend New Year's Eve in (although I would prefer, if anyone's listening in the "What Will Occur Next Year" Department, not to be ill over the holiday break, or ever, really). There was a period of life when I wished there would be a New Year's party where people would go and be fabulous, and where I would be fabulous. Perhaps there are such parties and I am not invited to them? Or whatever. I remember one year, the historian and I happened to be watching television during the holidays, and one of the cable channels advertised that on New Year's Eve, they would be showing a twenty-four hour marathon of Law and Order: Criminal Intent episodes, the ones with Vincent D'Onofrio, which (and whom) I adored. The historian turned to me and said, "Don't you think we should do that for New Year's?" The people, this is just one of the thousand reasons that I love him. So we did. And it was one of the best New Year's Eves in history.

Well, the Eve is over and now it's the Day. Ordinarily, I would be busy cooking a feast for a big family party. Because of the sick, we have had to cancel and postpone the party. So now I am deep in contemplation, which may or may not be influenced by cold medications and cold symptoms. Be that as may be, I have goals and I have resolutions. One goal is to organize and sort my study. My grandson came in the other morning while I was reading on my laptop.

He looked around the room in concern. "Why is everything ruined?" he said. "Did Bruiser do this?"

I am laughing, but he is right--it is, if not a ruins, then an archaeological dig in process. I need to rethink pretty much everything about it. Perhaps when there are no more visitors at my house, that will be the first project: to restore the ruins into order. That would be a fitting beginning to a new year.

I hope you're waking up to a day that feels to you fuller of light and promise than yesterday. Cheers to that.