Truth in Advertising

Caveat emptor.
Or maybe more accurately, "Careful what you wish for."

The little jar of advanced formula eye cream promised me the world.
Ok, it promised me less noticeable fine lines & wrinkles under my eyes.
And, being a woman of a certain age (I'll address THAT little phrase another time) & more than a wee bit prone to both fine lines and vanity, figured, "Oooh, now that would be lovely!"

Well... I started the New Year with a whole new look.
Yes, the fine lines & wrinkles were much less apparent.
The whole problem with that was the reason they were less noticeable.
Unfortunately, it was, um, not exactly the look I was going for.

Think Darth Vader's eyes when Luke removes his mask during the death scene in Return of the Jedi.
(Hey, even geeks worry about their appearances.)
Think four movie chick-flick crying jag.
Think, I don't know, "What did the other guy look like?!"

Not only was the area under my eyes bright red, puffy & unbelievably irritated, it hurt like the Dickens!
On the up side, you hardly noticed those fine lines & wrinkles!

The fault, I'm thinking, was not so much with the cream, as I had used it before. More probably, it was the combination of things I had slathered on the night before in hopes of greeting the New Year with a fresh, young look.
You know, if one cream can promise results, think what might happen if you add in a little serum promised to give you a fresher, younger appearance! And maybe a few rolls of that anti-puffer stuff.
Apparently, I had started quite the little chemical reaction; a little "Dr. Jekyl" potion of my own creation with its own vile results.

Luckily, I also own lotions with the gentle words "hypo-allergenic" & "fragrance-free" on the labels.
A day of cold water compresses & tender application of soothing ointments calmed my Darth Vader look & made me fit to greet the world again, best face forward.

Well, best face with some noticeable fine lines & wrinkles.

And the sad thing is that, given the quick recovery, you know it won't be long until I try something else equally misguided again.

Letting go...

And thus, begins the New Year.
It is already different from the year I just put to rest.
It... is white.

Yep, snow.
Waking to a brand new year & the first words out of my mouth were, "What the heck?"

That can't be a good thing.

Not so much that there is snow, I suppose it is to be expected.
In Wisconsin.
In winter.
I just didn't know it was coming.

I'm just sort of wondering how getting caught off guard first thing bodes for the New year.
Seriously.
Does this mean that 2012 is going to be a year filled with surprises?
A year that holds things I didn't expect?
Or didn't see coming?

Or is this a sign that I need to pay more attention?
Keep on my toes?
Be better prepared?

Of course, it just may mean that I should tune in to the news more often or check the weather app on my phone.

I suppose I should be sitting here in the quiet of the morning, with the candlelight... my coffee... the stillness... and be looking forward to the year ahead.

Instead, my first thoughts are of my kids who, due to choices to keep them off the roads in the wee hours of the New Year's morning, will now be driving in the first snow of the season.
Not with the drivers who made poor choices to celebrate a bit too much & get behind the wheel while impaired, but drivers who forget that significant physics is involved when you combine snow + pavement + a car/truck/SUV.

And that may be my lesson for the New Year.
That no matter how much I try & protect my kids, to watch over them, to help them make choices that will protect them & keep them safe, there will always be unforeseen circumstances when I need to let go, trust them, & believe that all I have attempted to teach them will kick in to guide their way.

I believe it is referred to as "letting go".

And that, my friends, will most likely be the theme of the New Year for me.
In a good way.

Happy New Year everyone :)

And... I'm done.

Yesterday, as I had to keep typing 2012 over & over (& over), I kept saying, "I'm not ready... it can't be the New Year. I'm not done with the old one."

And then, this dawn of the day of the eve of the same New Year coming, I looked at the Christmas tree still standing & thought, "OK, I'm done."

Done as in finished. Completed. Finalized. Wrapped up.
Ready to put away the old, carefully wrapped in a sheet of memory bubble wrap, & forge ahead.

2011 was... odd.
Ups & downs; triumphs & frustrations; accomplishments & utter failures.
And change. Some welcome. Some painfully thrust upon me.

And in the end, it was just another collection of 365 days run together in a seamless passage of time.

I don't do the resolution thing, rather I'm kind of on a "continuous improvement" program. And I don't get too caught up in the whole "brand new year" idea. It's all just days anyway. Lumped together by someone who thought we needed to keep accurate track of our time spent circling the sun. (Don't get me wrong, calendars come in handy. Lots. But I seldom have a good grasp of what the actual "date" is.)

But for whatever it's worth, I'm done with 2011 & ready to move on.
Maybe it's just because I like the pretty pictures on the new calendar.
Maybe it's because that same calendar is already filled with milestone dates of lasts, & firsts, & ~sigh~ more change to come.

Maybe it's just because I have a nice Cava chilling for the Ball Drop :)

Happy New Year!

Why start over?

Facing a brand new year, & challenged once again by the "what are you going to do with it" thoughts, I figured I'd go back to the days when I attempted to post something almost every day.

I could have started yet another brand spankin' new blog. Then I realized that, in spite of the fact that it has been almost 2 years since I wrote anything at all here, people still checked in.

Daily.

So, I'm back. For what it's worth. Sure to have a whole lot more mindless rambles to add to the etherworld.

It's a brand new slate, not looking back :)