Wishes for the coming year

I could say "Happy New Year" but that's just been done to death. My wish for each of you is creativity, contentment and satisfaction this year. I think if you have those three things, everything else just falls into place for you. Create! It keeps you young and curious and interested. Explore all of those techniques and materials and ideas that you have in the back of your mind for "some day." See where your talents and abilities can take you this year that you've not been before. Never close off that part of yourself.

Contentment with what you have doesn't mean you don't strive for more. It just means that if you don't achieve more you are still happy with what you have. I would love to be a better housekeeper, and I'm working on that, but if I never improve I'll still be content knowing I can find things when I need them and that it's just messy, not dirty. And I'll be content knowing my family and friends don't judge me by my house. (Damn good thing, too!)

Satisfaction is the tricky one for me. It's just the ability to not second guess yourself or push yourself to the point of unhappiness. If you drive yourself to the point of perfection in everything, you will never be satisfied with anything. Perfection is never achieved and if you are not satisfied with anything less, you will never be satisfied. I'm NOT saying to lower your standards, I'm simply saying make them reasonable and find that point where you are satisfied with your efforts. If you are never satisfied with anything, you can never be truly happy.

We had a wonderful anniversary dinner last night. My one night a year for lobster and it was worth it. My brother and his new wife dropped off a gift of champagne glasses, a mini bottle of champagne and a HUGE fireworks thing. We drank the champagne out of the glasses and made rude jokes about the fireworks looking (and sounding...it's called a "Lavender Ring") like a sex toy. Two friends of my oldest daughter drove down from Starkville and they did the 20-something stuff downtown. My son was in New Orleans with his girlfriend and a bunch of others for the gumbo pot drop in the Quarter and my youngest was at a party at someone's home. No late night calls from the cops or hospitals and no requests for bail money or auto insurance information, so I'm happy.