m wood pen

should auld acquaintance be forgot…and never brought to mind?

i rang in the new year with stellar style: after depositing number one son and a stocked fridge to his city apartment, i lolled about a bit by sharing a festive holiday woodsy wisconsin cocktail with a jolly old soul, then dashed to favorite sushi spot for a ridiculously large tray of fresh delights.  back home, sent gussied-up college gal and her best pal off to a magnum-of-champagne party across the border, and set up the twin teenyboppers here with fake bubbly, a host of unhealthy snacks, and season one of ‘gossip girl’.  all the while aiming for a reflective, cozy quiet night at home, i next wandered over, inexplicably, to watch two episodes of ‘csi: svu’ with my adorable parents. (who, i might add, spent all of our teen nye’s out and about at raucous parties!) after nearly two hours, i’d had my fill of mariska hargitray, and bid adieu to the pair.

returning to my lodgey manse, fully planning to tuck myself into my room for some pause & countenance, temptation got the best of me. those teens looked so mirthful and merry!  before i knew it, i was literally sucked in to three back to back episodes of ‘gossip girl’!  a dizzying plot, vital backstories, lavish parties, insanely chic wardrobes for high schoolers, savvy nyc backdrop and more drama than i’d had in an entire year!  omg!  when the girls decided to take a tv break, i felt a wild jolt of serena/blair/chuck bass/guy from ‘easy a’ withdrawal.

my night had no sparkle, no champagne, no dirty dancing, no crush of crowds, no midnight kiss, no sequined dress, no gathering mob of liquored up strangers…but it did have absolutely everything i love the most.  my children, delightfully happy.  my parents, spry and healthy.  my friends, out and about and sharing their mirth in whatever festivities beckoned them.

coming down from the ‘gossip girl’ high, i aimed to my bedroom. i spied a shiny stack of new books and the remnants of my 2011 diary, perched beside my anthropologie-plush bed.  the indulgence swam all around me: this is perfect, i thought.  bidding an entire year adieu, in the most comfortable surroundings in the world, i created a mental montage of the last twelve months in cinemascope-style:  a fruitful year; thriving children; a few big feathers in my m. wood pen cap; emotional growth; old fractures sturdily repaired; the satisfaction that i did, time after time, take the high road; a tip toe or two into romantic waters; more feathers in my m. wood pen cap; the firm foundation of deep, loving friendships; and fabulously, a renewed batch of hope for the promise of things yet to come.

seconds before the stroke of nyc midnight found me dashing out of bed, joining the teenyboppers poised in front of ryan seacrest as we all watched the ball drop: my favorite quote of the night?  my daughters best friend, wearing a gandolf-like tall pointy new years eve hat, crying out, “let’s party with the tv!”

back under the cozy covers, diary in hand, my hour my day my year ended with the sounds of my world: laughter just around the corner, the ping zing of merrymaking texts from near and far, the slow, easy, satisfied breathing of my dog and my cat, and the hum of promise yet to come.

yes, things are just as they should be.