Year of the Monkey

               Bring on the new year, people.           Out with the old--in with the new!

Every year I am anxious to get on to the next. It's a little like changing your underwear--feels so fresh and good. Like showering off the grime. Like sweeping and mopping a dirty floor. Like changing sheets. OK, I'll stop. You get the picture.

The old year is filled with joys and accomplishments, but also with tragedy, disappointments, and sadness.

I love putting up Christmas decorations. I start right after Thanksgiving. I take down all Christmas vestiges Christmas day--usually. This year everything was gone by December 23rd. Bam! No more Christmas.

We went to the daughter's for Christmas and so I removed it before we left. It was so nice to come home to a clean, holidayless house. I am about ready to throw out the poinsettia too. Damn festive foliage.

We toured a Christmas village in Vegas called "The Magical Forest." It had seen better days because many of the scenes and rides were shut down. The wind was blowing 25 mph and it was COLD. Rick and I are both sick now. I blame the unmagical forest and the cold weather.

So lets go on to 2016--the Chinese year of the Monkey--sounds about right. We will have the election and all the ridiculousness that goes with it. But there is hope for better things and brighter tomorrows.

My brain is a bit foggy from all the Coldeze, Tylenol, and ibuprofen that I've been taking. I leave you with the simple message: "Happy New Year!"