Alison's Journal

Happy 2006!! We spent a lovely New Year's Eve with a group of old friends from my husband's grad school days, two of whom we hadn't seen in ages, and finally got to meet one of them's wife, 3+ years after the wedding! The evening featured a tasty roast beef dinner, wine, cheese, good conversation, a view of more stars than most of us had seen in years (our friends live on 20 acres), and a thought-provoking read-aloud session like we used to have. Meanwhile, the kids were completely entertained playing with our hosts' children, who are some of their favorite friends in the world. For our kids, we rang in the new year early--for ourselves, we threw serpentine at midnight. We stayed at our friends' home overnight and woke to a New Year's Day breakfast served on their screened-in porch on a beautiful, warm morning. After sharing a time of singing (with our friend Jeff's always-fabulous classical guitar playing) and a makeshift Sunday worship service while the kids enjoyed the freedom of exploring the property, we left our kids there for the rest of the day & night while we came home to do more preparation for our move. All in all, a great way to ring in what I hope will be a wonderful new year! 2005 had its good points, but unfortunately, for us they were few & far between. We are eager for a fresh start, and I so hope that this new year and our move to Florida will provide exactly that.