Play us out..the new song begins in an hour. New Year’s Eve ending, sliding into another year..

IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE ‘16

THE BILE ON THE LAST DAY OF THE YEAR

My son got sick this morning, right before his final day of day care for the year..

As I write this, he’s watching Netflix on the couch and relaxing. I am home from work and blogging in between worried looks each time he makes a move, just in case I have to rush back to couchside to ensure the garbage can is secure while his body’s natural state does its deed to rid itself of whatever virus is running its course.

It somehow seems fitting. Ending the year with a few projectile dispatches.

Think about it..
New years is about cleaning out the mind, body, and soul. While a four and a half year old may not get the ramifications and meaning of calendar changes or balls dropping in Times Square, it’s almost like his little body decided to take part in a ritualistic cleanse..

Yes, maybe I am being over dramatic.
But my over-drama has improved since my son was born.
I fondly–sarcasm there–recall the very first time my son had a flu. He was about 2, and the vomit started occurring around 3am. And a lot of it.. in the midst of the cleaning, it almost immediately began happening to me. It was gruesome, actually. A mixture of awfulness. My wife got sick, too.. but not to the extent of dad and son.  The air was so bad we wanted to just move out.

Each time he got sick since, I was calmer each time.
That calmness may not last forever, but the years of training my mind to accept sickness as a part of life, and a part of the body’s actual defense mechanism to heal, has culminated with amazing senses.
Like this….
This morning when my son sat up, he looked funny. I was sitting next to him and saw something in his expression.. I knew. I said, “You okay?” A nod ‘yes’ occurred.. I didn’t believe it. I immediately held up the garbage can and, like an amazing 1990s Michael Jordan basketball shot, he projected refuse into the can. 3 points!
Live action dad hero.
Maybe the one time only in life that will happen.. but moms and dads get to be keenly aware of what each expression on their child’s face means.
I knew this morning what the worried look meant. “It” was coming..

My wife and I have dinner plans tonight with friends for new years eve. That may be called off now due to unforeseen bodily circumstances.  The first mission of the day is to effectively utilize Febreeze and Lysol where it needs it most. Already, every door handle was disinfected. Waiting on the current room until the dust settles..
The Twilight Zone marathon is on, too.
Not sure if my son will give a break from Netflix, or fall asleep for a bit, in time for me to tune in to a few amazing Twilight Zones on SYFY, but that’s life.
Life happens when you least expect it.

When you have dinner plans..
When the calendar changes..

So in the spirit of my son at this moment: Cleanse yourself of the trials, tribulations, and pains of 2015.  Sixteen is a brand new chance to get something right that has been going wrong for some time.  Only YOU know what is wrong. Or your body. And if it’s internal, get ready with a garbage can and some Gatorade.

May your travels be safe and your new years eve be the last day you to worry about the things you worried about in 2015.

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The entire earth has flipped the calender to 2013.

And with it, we know, you can’t turn back the hands of time.

No matter how much you try.

Let’s make it a great year

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

A ROCKIN' NEW YEAR WITHOUT DICK CLARK JUST DOESN'T SEEM RIGHT, DOES IT?

Welcome to the final minutes of the year 2012. Yes. Already. It was so looked forward to, and it is ending so quickly…

It’s minus Dick Clark this year, though. And that is notable. Fergie is showering ABC viewers tonight in the pre-game with Dick Clark related footage. Donna Summers is playing while the Doors are swaying. Yes, it’s a stroll down amnesia lane in the fast lane. Dick Clarkless 2013. No countdown with the master of Times Square this year.

The show goes on, of course. With Ryan Seacrest to help. Before Seacrest will be ‘out’ there will be a number of events that occur. A massive ball will drop in Times Square. Revelers will kiss their hearts out.. then race for port-a-potties and their hotel rooms. Maybe stop by a pub and have a cup of cheer..

All around the world, the events are taking place. Some places on Earth are already 2013. The Pope will have a homily about how peace could be achieved. Fireworks will fly high into the night sky.. People will embrace and raise their glasses of chosen adult or child beverage. And we will all be one (in a number of different time zones, of course.)

This is, after all, New Year’s Eve. It is a special kind of night.

Recall your fondest new years memories… I know you have them. It may be eating too much turkey in a bar somewhere in the deep dark mines of the Coal Region (the turkey was good. I swear).. or maybe it’s a quiet time in your own home with the people you love. Or maybe it’s working.. Hotels, bars, restaurants.. they are all open tonight. It’s a big night for the service industry… And depending on what services you’re looking for, and what services are being offered, maybe you’re even being serviced, I hope you’re all having a blast.

It seems like yesterday that 2000 hit us like a wrecking ball. Remember those days? People were worried computers would shut down. They stockpiled water and food. Sounds similar to the doomsayers of December 21, 2012, doesn’t it? The only difference is, back then, we partied like it was 1999. This go around we’ll be lamenting the late 90s and wishing they could come back all over again. Gas at a buck a gallon.. milk around 2.. life happy. But was it?

I don’t know.

After all, think of another fond saying people have on New Year’s Eve: “Out with the old, in with the new!” “This year will be better than the last!” 

Is any year better?

Is any year new?

It’s all relative, in a way.

It’s only a calender that tells us we’ve swung from one set of 365 to the next. But the events of the day are still stagnant. Reality doesn’t tell time well. We simply measure our existence in the boundaries of it..

But what is time? What are hours, and minutes.. and days and years? I don’t know much about what they are besides what I grew up knowing. And the earth, as it rotates into infinity, allows us to make certain that time is told.

Time is a magazine.

And it’s an enemy. 
So often.

And now, like we’ve done countless times before, we’re going to hold our lovers close, call the parents, and hope to keep a couple friends in the process. We have been down this road before. It seems very familiar to me, and I am sure to you.

As the clock ticks down the final minutes of 2012 here on the East Coast of the planet earth, let’s truly hope that 2013 is one that brings all those things we’ve wished for since we began wishing around this time of year: World peace, love across the continents, economy stability, good news, no storms, laughter, and memories to be fond of. 

What we may find, as we herald in 2014, is that ‘13 was a mixture of good and bad, positive, and negative. We’ll look back on 12 months of war and hate. It will be peppered with stories of humanity and love, perseverance and kindness. And that’s just life as we know it. Living in America. And at the beginning of the millennium…  (2013 still somewhat counts as a beginning, no?)

Since we’ve been down the road before of resolutions and hopes, let’s just calm ourselves down this go around and take it in stride. Don’t put too much pressure on a calender change to change your life. But certainly don’t give up trying to make it.

So happy new year. Raise a glass. Toast the past. Love always. Love deeply. Love actually.

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Here’s hoping your cup is full and 2011 brings joy and peace.

Fingers crossed.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

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The Sounds — Living in America

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

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Groove Armada, Richie Havens Hands Of Time Live

Perhaps the anthem of a dying year.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AJBFaAy9sA?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=http://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=500&h=281]

Here’s hoping your cup is full and 2011 brings joy and peace.

Fingers crossed.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)