The year to come

Being the child of Southerners, there are some superstitions that I have not been able to escape. Many of them center around New Year's Day.

Last night I did not make it to midnight. I was bone tired.

See, when I realized that I was going to have to run all those errands for my mother, I decided that I may as well load the laundry basket into the car. I like to do laundry in El Cerrito so that I can multitask. Throw the clothes in the washer. Walk over to Trader Joe's. Throw the clothes in the dryer. Walk to Lucky. Then there was a stop at Andronico's on the way home. (I needed olives and only their olive bar would do.)

I arrived home with groceries and clean clothes -- and a messy apartment. So I set to cleaning the kitchen. I mean really cleaning. The bathroom didn't require as much work. But the living room? A hot mess. And how I could I put my clean clothes away when there were all these clothes I no longer wear? So in the midst of cleaning, I did a wardrobe purge. Fresh linens for the bed. And by eight, I was able to settle in with my tray of food.

Why all this activity? Because I was determined to wake up today to a clean apartment. My mother told me that whatever you do on New Year's Day sets the tone for the rest of the year. So I was able to get up and dine on leftover crab, salmon, pate, cheeses, and olives. And to watch TV and read books. All the while I didn't have the feeling that I really should be doing something else (like cleaning).


This was the best part of it all. I was adamant when I was apartment hunting years ago that it had to have a tub. I rarely avail myself of this pleasure though. Just always feel too rushed. Too many other things to do. Not today. I used the unscented bubble bath from Body Time and add my personal blend of essential oils to the water -- jasmine, rose, ylang ylang, and musk. I keep the oil blend stored in a cobalt blue glass bottle. Don't ask me for proportions. Years ago I used to measure but now I go by smell. And that reminds me. I must remember to pick up one of those overflow covers from Body Time so that I can put more water in the tub.


The other thing I have not been able to give up is my combination of black eyed peas, greens and pork. (Yeah, I know that most folks have rice and cornbread as well. Guess what? I don't really like rice. And I didn't have any cornmeal around.) There have been years that I have missed out on getting my requisite combo at the start of the year. I try not to remember those years. And although last year had some definite low points, the high points were exceedingly so. Now that things seem to be back on-track, I just don't want to tempt fate.

2009 is already starting to look better.