happy new year to me

it's just three days in, and optimism hovers dangerously over me.

i woke up yesterday morning with a smile on my face. what? how bizarre. while in the shower i tried to think of what i possibly could be (subconciously) so happy about. i decided that it was the nice new year's day i had, meeting people and doing something different for a change. the smile was from happiness and relief, knowing that they ARE out there-- possibilities and potential for remarkable change. things don't always stay the same. the optimist in me says they could change for the better. yeah, she would. still, it was a nice 1/1.

waking up on 1/2 i felt hopeful and silly. silly in a good way. i wasn't sure whether i had been dreaming those tornado sirens i heard so faintly at 0512, but they were gone and it was time to get ready. (they ended up being real indeed. whoops.) i trucked in to work, and heard only songs that i like on the radio. how odd. and these weren't current songs. it was a mix of old and new. lucky me. at work, only four babies awaited my care. there were-- get this-- NO laboring women in the hospital at the time. oh, and no scheduled c-sections. all this is highly unusual, even for a "holiday". i guess there was a rush to have babies on or before the first. whatever, i'll take it! so i after i took care of the babies i camped out in my little room and watched cartoons.

at the end of the shift, i checked my e-mail and messages to learn good and significant and rare consequences had come of the events of the day before. sort of surprised and sort of not, i had to send up a "thank you" before swinging by the store to get the last few material items i could possibly think of needing on my way home. i lounged all evening, the perfect way to end any day.

today the weather is just as gross and cloudy as that of the days preceding it, but it remains relatively warm (40's-60's). it therefore promises to be another benign sort of work day (a sit-in-the-cubicle-and-wait-to-be-called day, with no flights in this weather). and tonight there shall be more chillin' at home. no responsibilities. the rest of the week? orientation for the special event i'm volunteering for this weekend and next week, which should prove to be exciting.

so a happy new year it has been indeed thus far. by the way, have you ever thought it odd how we wish each other "happy... " this and that? i mean, "have a happy..." whatever makes perfect sense, but now that we've used the sentence fragment form for so long it's taken a different meaning of its own. as a result, people instinctively try to stick the word "happy" in front of everything to mean "i wish you well". for example, a baby was born of some people at church. trying to come up with something more creative to say than "congratulations", people said "happy... uh, happy baby?!" instead. oh! and so why is it we americans feel uncomfortable using that word in front of christmas? no. in that particular case it has to be "merry". why? does anyone even know how to be merry? is anyone ever feeling merry or behaving merrily outside of the christmas season?

just wondering.

happy new year, everybody.