New Years Eve

Well, here we are on New Year's Eve- my favorite recognised holiday of the year. (through some travesty Derby Day is not a nationally recognised holiday!) I love, love, love making New Year's resolutions, eating black eyed peas and making that fresh start. I know that the "new year, new start" thing is totally arbitrary, but it works for me. For some reason or another, I always feel more thankful for things on New Year's than I do on Thanksgiving, and more excited and happy than I do on Christmas.
It's because I feel so strongly (and superstitious!) about New Year's, I have chosen to welcome 2009 at home with my animals. I saw my family earlier in the day, and we enjoyed a nice dinner together- which was great. But afterwards, I just wanted to go home. 2008 was an absolutely INSANE year for me, and I am ready to let it go. And for whatever reason, I feel like I need to be alone to do this. This will be the first New Year in a long time where I am starting the new year in a relatively content state. I am not in knots over a relationship (more like excitedly optimistic!), I am happy with where I live, happy with my family situation, I am pleased with the decisions I have made this past year (no matter how difficult and earth shattering they were), and though most of my friends are far away, I still feel their love and support.
My friend Martha always says that animals are the embodiment of God- unconditional love in a living, breathing, tangible form. I sometimes wonder if I would have gotten through everything that I have this year without Kody's fur to cry into, Bouvre's purrs, Tabitha's kisses and headbutts and Luna's adoring looks. And on the flip side, I wonder how much of my drive to get through things was a direct result of needing to take care of them as much as I needed to take care of myself. Some people will never understand what the human-animal bond is, and I really pity them.
So anyway, that is who I am spending my New Year' Eve with; my network of unconditional love and support... all six of them! Lucky for me! :)
Happy New Year to all, and I'll see ya next year!