New Year Plans

New Year's Eve has never been really a big deal in my world - I figure if you want to make a change then you do it today, if your life needs the proverbial kick-in-the-pants, then why wait until December 31. And yes I am working again this year (as I said, it is no big deal).

In floating 'round the good ol' web, I found an article that was promoting various NYE activities in Canada but the introduction got me thinking..

How will you plunge into 2008?

Joanne Sasvari, Special to the Sun

Published: Thursday, December 27, 2007

In some cultures, people burn effigies of the old year.

In others, they eat special foods for luck -- noodles or grapes, doughnuts or cabbage, beans or marzipan pigs. And then there's those who carry suitcases, leave shoes by the fire, set off firecrackers or seal their doors and windows shut to keep out any wandering demons.

In all cultures, however, the way people see off the old year sets the tone for the new.

An old friend of mine was insistent that if you had no cash on hand on NYE, you would be broke for the rest of the year so she was stuffing her wallet with as much cash as she could. I know of another friend who checks her lists of resolutions from the previous year and does an inventory of life, including planning new resolutions. And another was determined to have sex on the night because somehow that augured well for romantic possibilities in the following year. And, coincidentally, I was just reading the Botswana newspaper and they have a recipe for black eyed peas which apparently 'everyone' eats on NYE because of their promise of good luck.

As I said, it has got me thinking ....