Well, the only thing that went wrong for us, which wasn't really any problem, was that for some reason I thought DH's family get-together, which I was doing the bulk of the cooking for, though it was being held at SIL's house which is more convenient for everyone, was to be at lunch time on the 24th. So I knocked myself out the day before doing most of the cooking and prep, including roasting the turkey and slicing it up so it just needed reheating, so we could pack it all into coolers and drive down to overnight at SIL's before having a fairly cruisy morning getting lunch ready. As it turned out, on arrival we found out it was to be dinner the next day instead of lunch ("It's ALWAYS dinner!"- don't know why I have memories of lunch )), but no hassle, meant for an even cruisier day :-) I even got to go shopping and got some awesome cheeses which I will celebrate New Year with! I elected to cook this year as SIL indicated last year she was kind of over it, as she had taken up the slack from MIL as MIL is nearly 80 now and while a competent cook, doesn't really enjoy it. I also wanted to shake it up a little, as the SIL who has been vailantly cooking all these years has felt she had to conform to DH's family norm, which isn't her family's style, and I think she misses it. So I felt confident enough to unilaterally declare we would have an amalgamation of styles, and it would be a buffet to avoid the aspect that has driven me crazy for over 25 years, of us all sitting dutifully while FIL carves miniscule slivers off the turkey and places a few on each plate to pass, meanwhile everything's getting cold... Also one could have as much or as little of anything as one liked, instead of feeling like a gannet for asking for another sliver of turkey :-) So, we had turkey with gravy, cranberries and bread sauce, really crispy roast potatoes (I was pleased with them), brussels sprouts (at other SIL's insistence, which rather surprised me as she's a picky eater), carrots, my SIL baked a ham, we had cold jumbo shrimp with homemade shrimp sauce, coleslaw, kipfler potato salad, olives and sundried tomatoes and some scrummy pickled pineapple that glenda_al posted the recipe for over at the KT. DH loves that pineapple! Dessert was my MIL's trifle, which I love, and my BIL's Czech fiancee brought the rest, she made the most awesome individual flans, poppy seed strudel which I also love and isn't very common here (we don't really have the ethnic mix that goes for poppy seed sweet things here and I miss that as I grew up with them so it's great having V in the family!) and apple strudel. We could barely waddle away from the table :-D Christmas dinner was just DH and I as DD went to Noosa to be with her best friend and best friend's partner, where they were joined yesterday by DD's boyfriend who had to work for Christmas. It was our first Christmas without her but we accepted long ago that as an adult she would have other Christmas obligations and we weren't going to guilt her into always coming here. My mother did that and I hated it as with DH's job it was often astoundingly inconvenient bordering on potentially lethal as we juggled driving two hours each way combined with physical exhaustion due to DH having to be at work at 3am... I roasted another turkey (which we have just finished :-) ) with all the trimmings and we ate ourselves to a standstill and then fell alsleep on the couch :-D BTW the temperature here the day before yesterday was 47C / 116.6F :-)

I think its important as a single person to just get "out and about". I too enjoy my freedom yet would love a healthy, close relationship. My goal this year, for the first time in my 51 years of life, is to seek people out, to feed my need for belonging. I truly enjoy my own company, but we all need to get out and socialize... I agree that our New Year's resolutions should be processes...baby steps!

Flowering now is an unknown Hamamelis intermedia cultivar. Starts flowering around Christmas and if the weather is good (i.e. not too warm) does so till late January/early February. Another one in flower right now is Chimonanthus praecox but the flowers have suffered from the cold spell we had last week. Unlike the flowers of Hamamelis the flowers of Chimonanthus hardly tolerate any frost. Luckily many buds still have to open so the show can continue for some weeks to come.

My favorite New Year's Eves happened when we were young. We went to a very fancy restaurant with another couple every year where there were just 2 seatings, and we took the early one. The ladies were given little red footstools for their feet if they were short, and we all sat in red velvet upholstered wing back chairs. The menfolk would end the leisurely dinner with cigars dipped in brandy. However, our friends moved back east, and my brother and his wife joined us one year. But now we just stay home. DH is in bed by then, and I can catch the celebrations on TV if I am interested. But these New Year's Eves at the now shuttered Chez Cary were our very favorite.