New things are fun and exciting. I don’t know why. They just are. It’s a widely accepted fact; people generally agree that it’s exciting to have something new. So, in the spirit of this almost-new year (it is four days old already), I thought I’d write a little list of some new things that I love.
New seasons. I’m not really a winterish kind of girl. In fact, I really quite dislike it. But I live in Canada, so I figure it’s better to just suck it up and accept it as reality rather than going on and on and on about how much I hate it. (Except for the part about young children in winter coats plus the five-point harness on their car seats. I have choice words regarding that conflict every time we get in or out of the van.) That said, the newness of winter is still exciting. That first snowfall! Not the fake first snowfall when there isn’t actually enough snow to be visible on the ground but it is somehow enough to make everyone forget how to drive. That first real snowfall – when everyone runs outside and tries to catch snowflakes on their tongue and make snowballs to throw at each other even though they didn’t bother to put mittens on – that’s exciting! Even the second day of snow is fun, when you realize it stayed cold enough for the snow to stick around and more is coming down and you can all go tobogganing or skiing (if you’re into that sort of thing. I’ll tell you my skiing story some other time perhaps). By day three, I’ve had enough and I would prefer that it just go away until next year. Then again, the fact that it sticks around for a few months makes the newness of spring all that much more exciting! We all know there are people who freak right out when they spot their first robin of the year. You either are one of those people or you make fun of one of those people. Either way, it’s exciting!
New jeans. Not the purchasing of new jeans. Definitely not the trying on of new jeans. Mercy! That part is wretched. Those mirrored cubicles of unfathomable torture known as change rooms…I’ve developed a nervous tic just thinking about it. The only thing worse is their eviler twins, the change rooms with the mirror on the outside of the door. Oh, the inventor of that heinous method of humiliation had better hope he never crosses my path! (Yes, “he”. Come on.) What was I saying? Oh right. New jeans. Let’s go to our happy place where new jeans just appear in the wardrobe and they fit perfectly and never shrink (neither by dryer nor holiday diet carnage).
New bedsheets. Okay, they don’t even have to be new, just newly washed. Oh how I love clean-sheet-day! I love crawling into my big, deliciously comfy bed every single night, but that once-a-week luxury of clean-sheet-day…that’s my favourite. Um yes, once a week. This just in: I’m not Oprah and I do not have staff to launder my sheets for me every day. Oh, there are some of you on the other end of the spectrum who are awed by such shocking frequency as every single week? It’s nice. You should try it. You might be less itchy.
New years. Every new year is exciting! That silly euphoric and blissfully unrealistic expectation of keeping your resolutions…facing that thrilling and almost insurmountable challenge of remembering to write 12 instead of 13 when you date anything…driving everyone around you crazy by responding to everything with “that’s so last year” (which, contrary to what you may have heard, will continue to be funny well into February)…drawing out the celebrations over a full week so no one is getting enough sleep and everyone is eating way too much sugar – that’s always a recipe for harmonious family holidays!
New friends. Awwww, here’s where I bring this to a tear-dabbing close. This past year marked the launch of the new church that we’re involved in and we are so blessed to have made so many new friends in the process. What an incredible group of people we get to worship with and serve beside and enjoy each other’s company!
And with that, I bid you all a Happy New Year! May you find blessings around every corner as you journey through 2013. (And, by the way, that doesn’t mean I expect the whole year to be all puppies and rainbows. But may your eyes be open to the blessings that are there to be found, despite whatever life throws at you.) Oh, and may your jeans fit perfectly, too.
ineedanewman 