Happy New Year! (updated)

We're celebrating in Connecticut with N's sister and family. I've managed to lose my camera, so I thought I'd just tell about two of our traditions for celebrating New Year's Eve--
One fun game is Snapdragon. We take a pie dish, put in some raisins, pour in brandy, and light it. Then we take turns "snapping" the raisin from the flames. We pop the raisin in our mouth and make a wish for the coming year.

Instead of resolutions, we make predictions. We have a notebook that goes back about 8 years where we write down everyone's predictions for the coming year. After lots of champagne, we read through the previous year's to see who had the most come true. Then we make predictions for the new year--these predictions can be about anything--politics, world events, family news, big purchases, school stuff, potential pets, etc.

I like making predictions rather than making resolutions on New Year's Eve. For us, the time between Christmas and New Year's is almost too busy and festive to be contemplative. This next week--the second half of the 12 days feels a bit quieter. We'll be doing some cleaning out and organizing of many aspects of our lives until Twelfth Night when we'll have a burning of the greens and cast our fortunes and dreams.

So, Happy New Year! I'm off to lots of appetizers, fondue, dips in the hot tub, champagne, a puzzle, snapdragon, and predictions. Who knows if we'll stay up to midnight. It's just fun to be festive with this dear family.

Updated to add--if you try to play snapdragon--heat the brandy first!