I don't remember much of a tradition regarding celebrating New Year's Eve. Mom and Dad used to invite friends over to share a New Year's Day meal that was shared with friends. I remember playing board games and just having fun with everyone that was at the house. When my children were younger we invited folks over for a New Years day meal and played games. Now that the kids have moved out Gary and I are in bed at our usual time although I think we made it to 11 this year and woke up around midnight because of the fireworks. (This is the first year that you could buy fireworks - some anyway - in Arizona) The dogs next door howled, my beasts slept peacefully in their dog beds.
I remember when I was in my late teens and twenties I always dressed up and went to parties. That stopped when I became a parent and when my friend Karla died while driving home from a bar on New Years Day. I just didn't think that going out was that important on a night when folks where drinking and driving not to mention the fear of not making it home to my children like Karla.
I had a habit of making resolutions and never keeping them. Now I make plans that I know I can accomplish. One of my goals for the year is to learn something new to advance my genealogy at least once a month. I know this can be accomplished through society meetings, seminars, webinars and conferences. I plan on attending the Arizona Family History Expo in Mesa January 21 and 22. The event has a wonderful line up and I will be happy to see many of my good friends that will also be attending. Other learning experiences that I have planned on are two webinars being sponsored by Roots Magic - Sources, Citations, and Documentation with RootsMagic and Getting Started with RootsMagic. I have also signed up for a webinar sponsored by Legacy, Chasing Woman, Finding Your Female Ancestor. I also hope to figure out which software I am going to use, keeping two is rather time consuming. Julie Miller, C.G. will be presenting at the Green Valley Genealogical Society Seminar in February. There are quite a few opportunities to make sure I meet my New Years goals.
