Wilsonworld

Yep..she's my daughter!

Today we spent the day giving the kids a little culture. We took them to the Windsor Art Gallery, and then to the Baby House. We had talked about going to the DIA but would have needed to get there first thing in the morning to enjoy everything there, so we have put that off to maybe next weekend.

SO while at the AGW, Bug decided that she needed to record all of her favourite paintings that she saw while she was there. Munch had brought a note book as well, but his was valid. One of the exhibits was on the History of War in Windsor, and he is doing a project on Chief Tecumseh. We started on the first floor with in the gallery full of the Group of Seven. While i can appreciate most of the history associated with this group, it is not a style that i am overly fond of. Bug was drawn to one painting in particular, so out came her note book....and she copied down the name of the painting and the artist. This ritual continued through the first gallery and then it was off to the second one, which was one Bug and went to alone. Keith and Munch headed up to the second floor, not being a fan of modern art.
Bug was in heaven. The second gallery was full of lithograms and silk screenings. Bright colours and abstract ideas. When i was finally able to pull her out of there we headed up to join the boys. An hour later was we stood looking at some historical documents from the war of 1812, i felt a tug at my sleeve.

"Mommy, if you don't mind i would like to go downstairs again"
"why Bug, we have already seen all of the prints down there"
"Yes but this is Non Fiction, and i would rather be downstairs in the Fiction section"

We headed back down stairs to the world of imagination and bright colours and left the boys to look at dead people and indians.

After the gallery we headed to the Baby house and spent a bit of time looking at Windsor's history. When Munch was small Nana and i would go there all the time, at least once a month. They had a great little tea room where we would sit and have shortcake and tea..and Munch would marvel at "the old stuff".
It was neat taking him back there today, watching him view things at such a different age. He told Bug about Walkerville and one of the exhibits was on old coins...he was in his glory.

I watched my children roam around  the museum, looking at  things from the past, and found joy in their amazement when they came across an object that we have in our own home. This is part of my joy in sharing history with them.The love of where you came from and the way that something from 100 years ago can still be part of your life today.

While it may not have been the most exciting way to spend a Saturday, i think it was the best.
I got to share the day with my family, each of us finding something special about where we were.

And of course the lesson i learned from Bug.

Fictional art IS so much better than the Non Fictional stuff....SO says the BUG.

Can't wait to show her the DIA. I better bring a lot of crayons. I have a feeling she is going to be very busy.

If i could turn back time.....(sorry CHER)

She asked "It's been HOW long?".

I was amazed as i read her list of events that happened "way back when".  I was prompted to write my own list, but she had already covered many of the same events that i would have mentioned...so i had to think of something else.
After all it has already been a few days since i last visited here and i do want to keep the one or two readers i have..and coming to a page that has not been updated is not a good way to do that.

So, i have made up my own "this is my life" list. 40 things about me, one from each year i have been lucky enough to have my feet touch the ground and wake up each morning.

Here it goes....

• 40 years ago i was born. I was given last rites and baptized on the emergency room table where i made my way into the world. I was not expected to live. I had several blood transfusions and surgery over the first few days. But i am a fighter. And stubborn. Boy THAT explains a lot about me.
• 39 years ago i befriended a rat in the basement of my parent's brand new home. My mother found me on the floor with said rat on my lap. I was petting it and calling it Kitty.
• 38 years ago my little brother was born. I wanted a goat. I got a brother. I was not happy.
• 37 years ago i wanted to be a star. I wanted to be on Romper Room and so i practiced every day balancing on a broom stick in the kitchen, thinking that someone would come and find me and put me on TV. One day my mother had waxed the floor. I ran to balance on my broom stick and it slipped out from under me. I fell into the wall. Actually slid down the wall. Resulting in 50 stitches. They had to literally sew my mouth closed as i had split my face from the corner of my lips. Stitched my eyelid closed too. Split that as well. To this day my mother has never waxed a kitchen floor again.
• 36 years ago i started school. Early. It was the first school of 6 that i would attend BEFORE third grade.
• 35 years ago we had moved to British Columbia. School number 2 and three. We moved two times that year..a block away from each other.
• 34 years ago back to Ontario and moved in with my Godparents. School number 4 and 5 that year.
• 33 years ago school number 6 and the one i would finally stay at. We moved into the house my father still lives in today.
• 32 years ago another trip to the hospital resulting in over 200 stitches. I slipped while playing in the playground. I was caught by a boy named Gary Sleegers. The doctors said that if he had not of caught me i would have lost my leg.
• 31 years ago discovered performing musically...i had performed before this but i think that was the first time i became aware of how much it meant to me.
• 30 years ago spent much of the year traveling with my parents to dog shows across the country. This was one of the years we were gone 50 out of 52 weekends.
• 29 years ago my mother told my brother to go play in traffic. And he did. She was joking..he knew that and set out to ride his bike home. We lived on a highway. He was hit by a car. The doctors told my mother that the only thing that saved him was the giant metal back rest he had on the back of his banana seat.
• 28 years ago my relationship with my mother changed. She was an alcoholic and i was on the brink of being a teenager. We did not understand each other and i hated her. She hated me as well and told me so. This was the beginning of a very strained time for us..one that lasted until i got married.
• 27 years ago High school and boys. Need i say more?
• 26 years ago i was deeply immersed in Jazz and Drama. I willingly got up early during the summer to go to school when the rest of the kids were out having fun. I would not change this for anything. I met THIS person and THIS person.
• 25 years ago i wrote a lot in my journals about being a rock and being alone forever. Awww the heart of a teenager...
• 24 years ago i played at the Canadian Jazz Band finals held in Toronto. I got to hear THEM and HIM and HIM. I played a solo in one of our pieces and i will NEVER forget the feeling of being on that stage with literally thousands of people watching. NOTHING like it in the world.
• 23 years ago making choices about what i wanted to do with my life, my parents offered this advice...NO MUSIC. It was not a reliable career. I listened.
• 22 years ago one of the only times i can really remember my mother coming to see me perform. She told me that i was good, and that she hadn't realized i was that talented. BIG STEP for us.
• 21 years ago off to University. Met VVV and KIKI and don't remember much of that first year...except losing my Grandfather. I was devastated. I was angry. I said things to my Grandmother i had no right to say. She forgave me. I will never forget the pain that i caused her that day.
• 20 years ago i fractured my wrist in one of my classes. Actually my professor fractured it. It was an improv class and he and i were doing and improv together. We jumped under a table. We jumped over the table. The table did not appreciate this and collapsed on my wrist. I got an "A" in that class. The wrist had nothing to do with it. My father was NOT impressed. Wanted to know what kind of school i was going to.
• 19 years ago was involved in a "oh-not-so-healthy" relationship with a man who thought that showing someone love mean using harsh words and strong hands. He broke me down and i am convinced that i would not be here had i stayed with him. I made a friend who taught me that THAT was not the case. The friend became more than a friend. In fact I married him.
• 18 years ago i started dating the man i would eventually marry. Our first date was on May 31st and we still celebrate THAT day as our anniversary. We call it our Friendship Day. Also this was the year i was assaulted. I woke up to find a strange man in my bed..IT was NOT my boyfriend (someday to be hubby), but it WAS someone i knew. It was a long time before i felt safe again.
• 17 years ago i got engaged to Hubby. He has asked me after only a few weeks of "dating" and i had said no. He did not give up. He is like that. it is one of the things i love about him.
• 16 years ago we changed our wedding plans after Keith was injured in his truck. He lost the use of his legs and had to go through therapy to learn to walk again. I will never forget the fear in my heart when i got THAT phone call. It was a back injury. It still bothers him from time to time.
• 15 years ago i made a decision that was very difficult for me. I stopped going to school. It is a regret that i still carry with me. But we do what is necessary. It was the best thing for both of us at that time. OR so i thought.
• 14 years ago i married my best friend. In a decision that was very hard for me, we moved in together BEFORE we were married, as the BEST apartment became available and we did not want to lose it. We lived there for 4 years.
• 13 years ago i became a mother..six weeks early. I have talked about his birth before. It was the next stage in my life. I was a MOM and for the rest of my life i will ALWAYS be someone's MOM.
• 12 years ago i received my honourable discharge from the Canadian Armed Forces. Also Keith and i learned what it was like to stand up for your beliefs. This resulted in one of having a few "talks" with the RCMP and several members of the Canadian Forces Staff.
• 11 years ago i made decision to cross a picket line. It resulted in several threatening phone calls being made to my home. It also resulted in me joining management in the place i was employed.
• 10 years ago we moved into a home we thought we would grow old in. We started to make it our own. We loved that little house. it however was not meant to be.
• 9 years ago was a year of pregnancy dreams. It was not meant to be. Not yet.
• 8 years ago was a year of joy and sadness. Bug was born, even though the doctors told us we probably would not have any more children. They were wrong. I am so glad about that. It was also the year that Faith found a lump. She told us on Boxing Day. Her surgery was to happen a few weeks later. I wish the doctors had been wrong this time. They weren't.
• 7 years ago my year was filled with Chemo and worrying. And then great joy as the year ended and everything was looking up for Faith. She was going back to work. She felt healthy.
• 6 years ago and back to Chemo and doctor appointments. The cancer had come back and not only did Faith have lung cancer but several brain tumours as well. She made the decision to end all treatment and enjoy the time she had left. She died on November 13 2002. I held her hand as she took her last breath. I consider this one of the greatest honours i have ever been granted.
• 5 years ago Papa moved in with us and we realized that our little house was no longer sufficient for three adults, two children and a cat. We set out to buy a house.
• 4 years ago we moved into WILSONWORLD. We had bought our own home..we were grownups at last. And i quit my job.
• 3 years ago i started work for a local hospital. It was in their PR department, dealing with fund-raising and i loved it!
• 2 years ago i started another job as an assistant manager at a local store. i hated it, but it was a regular pay cheque and allowed me to be at home with Papa during the day. His mental health is deteriorating and we have him assessed for dementia and Alzheimer's. It is the start of a daily struggle of finding the balance between parent/child relationship. We are still working on that.
• 1 year ago i lost a good friend. He had been a fighter his whole life and his body was just tired of fighting. He passed away with dignity, the same way he lived his whole life. SO many people showed up at his funeral they were lined up outside the church. I cried nonstop for days. And am still prone to crying when i glance at his picture that is beside my desk here. He would not have liked that i cried. He was my kindred spirit at a time when my husband could not be and without him, and i am not exaggerating, my marriage would not be as solid as it is. He saved me in a way no one else could. And i miss him EVERY SINGLE DAY.
• NOW. Working in a job that i dislike at a time when so many others have no job i feel bad complaining. It is a great company to work for and my boss has the BEST respect and attitude towards his employees. But it is not a job for me. It will do for now. But i want more. I turned 40 earlier this month and i have come to realize that half my life is done. (i am not being morbid but realistic) I want more out of life. I want to wake up each morning with more joy in my heart. I want a job i love to go to. I want time to spend with family and friends. I want my life to have meaning..not only as a wife and a mother...BUT as a person. A woman.

So there you have it.
40 years.
It was harder than i thought and there are somethings that i probably should have put in there but did not. Oh well...that leaves me something to write about when i do the next list...in forty years!

How about you guys....What things have happened in your life? What events have passed that make you go..whoa..it has been HOW long?

To Read..or Not to read (to listen instead)

So Linda made a comment on my last post about reading. OR the lack of it as seen by Steve Jobs.* It got me to thinking about the dilemma that has been going on in my head over the last few days. I am looking at getting an iPod Nano. One of the reasons i am looking at the Nano is because i want to be able to listen to books.
LISTEN TO BOOKS.
Here is my problem.
I love books. That is no secret. I love the feel of them, the smell of them. I love the way a book feels as you open it for the first time...the sound it makes as you "crack" it open. I love the feel of the paper between my fingers as i carefully turn the pages the way my Gramma taught me to.

But finding the time to read is getting difficult..and so i thought if i got the Nano i would be able to purchase books online to listen to as i travel to and from work ever day. (i have commute time of 1 1/2 hours every morning.)

But did i mention how much i love the whole "reading" the book?

SO for you book readers...what do you think about audio books?
I have never used them before, and I am hoping that by purchasing them i am not selling out the writers that i have come to know and love.

Audio books.
Yea or Nay?

*So here’s the deal: depending on how you interpret the numbers, one in four Americans didn’t read a single book last year or three out of four Americans read at least one book last year. This is taken from an article by Kassia Krozser on Booksquare . The question of audio books is brought up there, as well as in the comments section.

(Thanks Linda, I had no idea of what i was going to write about today...you helped "spark" the idea)

Early thoughts on one cup of coffee.

So after love biting me yesterday...and growling at me when i threw away the lovely fresh kill he left for me on the porch this morning...I can only assume that Lord Stanley is a Klingon reincarnated.* At least the mouse was dead this time...but at 5:30am...NOT what i needed to see. I am pretty sure that if he could talk, well, i would not be able to print what he was saying to me as i threw the mouse..er..disposed of it in a respectful manner. He walked away growling. Yep..Growling...like a dog.

I got to play with a new MacBook Pro last night. It is pretty. And shiny. And had to go back to its owner this morning. Did i mention how pretty is was. NOT as pretty as THIS..but i wouldn't complain if some loving husband who wanted to make up for the whole birthday thing dropped one in my lap. Just saying..it would be nice (i firmly believe that one should NEVER give up on their dreams..and i KNOW i am dreaming in this case.)

I lost a day this week. Tuesday just did not happen.

In my work schedule, i work 4 days on, four days off. It is like having a mini vacation every week. But i work midnights. SO in order to turn in to a "day" person for the almost 5 days I am off, i find myself having to stay up on the first day off. SO on Tuesday morning, i got off work at 8am. Made my way home after doing a bit of grocery shopping (really the best time to go, no one is in the stores, and the clerks are really friendly as no one has pissed them off yet.) and set about putting supper in tot he slow cooker so it could simmer all day. Sweet and sour meatballs, just in case you were wondering what the great smell was all day on Tuesday.
I played a few games of Scrabulous with some far away friends, did some laundry..anything i could do to stay awake.
The kids came home at 3:30pm. I know the time because Sugar was on the tv. We love that show. I could not tell you what Anna was cooking...I apparently spoke to the children (or so they tell me). This is my last thought. Until i awoke at 3am.

I had fallen asleep on the couch, apparently in mid sentence to Munch. I was telling him what was for dinner, but never finished.
They figured it out.
The three of them had supper, and went about their evening, around me as i slept on the couch in the living room. I heard nothing.
They could not wake me.
SO they covered me in a blanket and left me there.

I was really confused when i woke up at 3.
Wide awake.
At 3 am.
Did you know there is nothing on tv at 3am.

Having slept for almost 12 hours, going back to bed was not an option.

Made for a very long day on Wednesday.

But i did get to sleep like a real person last night.

Until the Klingon cry woke me at 5:30.

Wanting to share breakfast.

He is knocking at my window as i type this.
He really knocks.
He uses his head to bash against the nearest window that he can see you in.

Yep...that is my cat.
I'm so proud.

I need more coffee.

*Yes i linked to Wikipedia...it is early. Deal with it.

Baby steps aren't too scary.

This is the year.
The year that i am not going to let myself chicken out just because i "might" fail.
Until today i was not sure how i was going to do that, but i did what just comes naturally. I opened my mouth and started to talk about something that i am passionate about.
I just happened to do be talking to the right person.
And that is how i have found myself having a meeting with on Monday to discuss an idea I have.

It wasn't scary at all.
Now Monday is a different story.
While talking to this person informally was easy, I am not too sure about talking to her in a "professional" setting. It really shouldn't be any different, but of course now that i have time to think about it..well..i am THINKING about it.

Maybe that is the problem.
Maybe i should just stop thinking and just do.

While this meeting will not change what i do today, it could help me tomorrow and the tomorrow after that.

Baby steps.
Not so scary as long as i just take them one at a time.

Learning the answers...

While i do not believe in New Year's resolutions, i do believe in taking a look at one's life and seeing where improvements can be made. I started this look back at myself on my birthday, and have been looking long and hard at places i need to improve. First and foremost is obviously health. Now correct me if i am wrong, but i am pretty sure that this is usually the first place that people decide they could improve. We ALL know that we should be healthier and make better choices for ourselves, but why is it so hard to do that.
For me, i am pretty sure it has something to do with the fear of failing.
I do not like to fail.
Of course no one does.
But in looking back, i think it is deeper than that.
I have gone about my life without a lot of failing (and i am not tooting my own horn, but it just seems that way.) I do not do things that i know i will fail at. Which means that i have not grown as much as i could due to the fear.
Why do i not try harder to write.
Why do i not try harder to lose weight and lead a healthier lifestyle.
Why did i stop going to school
Why did i give up on my own dreams
Why did/do i settle for a job that i really do not like
Why did i not audition last year like i wanted to
Why do i find myself shutting doors and closing off friends and family

In looking back over the first 40 years, i can see so many missed opportunities. What is it that holds me back. I am trying to teach my children to dream and reach for the stars, so why am i having so much trouble finding my own star?

Last night i sat in the living room, after everyone else had gone to bed, and listened to the rain.
As it fell, i became aware of the sounds around me- my breathing, the clock ticking and it became apparent to me that i was listening to life pass me by.
With each tick of the clock, there went another minute that i will never be able to get back.

Keith and i talk about how good we have it compared to others in the world. We can sleep at night knowing (or being pretty secure) that we have a roof over our heads, food on the table and shoes to put on our feet. We have two beautiful healthy intelligent children, who we are very proud of. We have people in our lives who we love and who love us.

So why is it that i am uncomfortable?
Why is it that when i look in the mirror i do not like the person who is looking back.

She wants more.
She deserves more, even if she doesn't know it-or believe it.

She just does not know what to do about it.

But i do know that she needs to fix it.

But where do i start?

In which we visit 40..and decide that it can stay.

Is it not amazing how a day can start out feeling like it was your worst, and end up being one of the best days of your life?

I was in the middle of a self pity party (come on you all know you have them from time to time) when the phone rang and the some one knocked at the door at the same time. I heard Keith head to the door, and Munch answer the phone. Seconds later, my bedroom was filled with brightness as the largest ever bouquet of flowers i had ever seen made its way through the door. I looked at Hubby, knowing full well they were not from him (he had decided due to financial reasons that my birthday would occur later this month). It was full of roses and lillies and flower that i do not know the name of but were oh-so-pretty-and-bright. I looked on the card. They were from my room-mates. The ones from The Great Sleepover 2007. I had no idea they were coming and the flowers truly brightened up an otherwise dismal day.
Then the phone rang.
It was Kiki (one of the roomies). We talked for a while, and her cheerful voice was the best medicine there could have been for a middle aged woman going through an identity crisis.
Or so i thought.

I got myself out of bed hopped in the shower and started my day (yes, it was already 2 in the afternoon...i worked until 8am..deal with it). I had just taken my first sip of coffee when i heard a voice bellowing through the front door. "Doesn't anyone lock their front doors in this city?"

It was my other roomie VVV. She had driven down here to kidnap me and take me out to help me remember what it was like to just be Kimby.

I do not remember the last time i had that much fun.
She brought me a tiara and a wand, which i wore out on our excursion to the mall.
One of the things you need to know about her is that she taught me how to shop. I taught her to read. She is new shoes and Tiffany's while i am libraries and old books.

For my 40th birthday, my VVV took me shopping...and i was to pick out anything i wanted for myself.
DO you know how hard that is to do?

As we wandered though the store, for one brief moment I was no longer someone's wife or mother. I was just Kimby. I had forgotten what that feels like. This was the greatest gift that anyone could have given me. A few hours with and old friend, lovingly caressing 600 thread count sheets and just...Being.

At the end of our shopping spree we ducked into Moxy's and had a martini. We toasted 40 and told it to "Bring it on". We toasted those who did not make it this far,sadly there are many.

We finally decided on a ring.
Something else you should know about V, she was a history major...with a serious love of OLD Hollywood..movies in general..and all things Kennedy.

In "The First Wives Club" the roomates are given a string of pearls upon graduation. The women go on with their lives, but whenever they see the pearls they think about the young women they once were..and  well i am sure you know the story.
We decided that Pearls were definitely needed.
And something sparklie.
Something that would remind me of the women we were and of the momentous day when the pearl came into my life.
So we have decided that the three of us will have pearls and diamonds.
Each of us on your 40th will get something with pearls and diamonds.

And i started it off.

V bought me the most beautiful ring..a beautiful pearl with two diamond on either side.
I am not a jewelery person, but it is one of the most beautiful things i have ever seen.

And i got my pearl, from a sales woman named Caroline.
Pearl=Caroline=Kennedy

It was meant to be.

And it was good.

We returned home to a wonderful dinner lovingly cooked by Hubby, who of course cannot cook...apparently we had come home just after the doors and windows had been closed after letting out all the smoke.

It was a great day, full of surprises...from the bottle of wine dropped off from a neighbour, (one that has recently moved away and just happened to be back in the city for a visit), to the dozens of emails and phone calls wishing me a Happy Birthday.

It really was the best day.
And i thought it would be the worst.
So as i pass into that phase of "middle-age" I am counting my blessings...

I am the luckiest woman.
I have friends and family who love me
I am able to wake up each day, put my feet on the floor and be surrounded by those i hold dearest in my heart.

Bring it on 40...I am MORE THAN READY!

Sleepy Ramblings...nothing to see here.

• It took me a whole five minutes to read the paper on my lunch break at 4am this morning.It amazes me how much coverage the Iowa Caucus gets here...and since trying to wrap my head around the American political system is painful when it isn't 4am...i finally just turned to the comics.
• For the first time since October, i actually caught the connecting bus downtown on my way home. This is a big deal as it cuts my traveling time down by 45 minutes. And it was COLD outside.
• I officially ended my probation at work...Yeah me.
• The coffee i am now drinking is doing nothing for me. I am still sleepy.
• I am not doing anything today but sleeping...have to work tonight.
• The kids were already up when i got home from work this morning....and apparently think that i am some sort of social planner. "What are we doing today? Can we go and spend our gift cards today? We are bored..there is nothing to do"

The coffee didn't help then either.

I am off to bed.
I DID tell you there was nothing to see here...i warned you.
Come back tomorrow when i post about how i am freaking out because in 24 hrs i will have entered a whole new demographic age wise.

A natural.

Since Bug was small..ok smaller than she is now....she has been fascinated with patterns. She sees patterns everywhere, even where no one else can see them.
I always thought this was a bit annoying..as in "Mommy-can-you-see-the-pattern-that-the-blades-of-grass- are-making...dark-green-light-green-greenish-brownish...and-the-patterns-on-the-tree-over-there-and- oh-look-at-the-patterns-that-the-lines-on-your-face-make-when-you-wrinkle-your-eyes-like-that.." Get the idea?

But i have found a use for it..and i am now counting on Bug as my new retirement plan.

She can see patterns in cards.
As in playing cards.

Yesterday i set out to teach the kids how to play cribbage. It was one of my favourite games as a child and one that we would all play down on the flats in the fall when we were fishing. Santa brought me a cribbage board for Christmas, since he knew that i had been wanting to play again. Now i have not played in many many years, and it took a bit of remembering on my part as to how to score/peg points. I went online and played a few hands just to help the old memory. Bug sat with me and watched. She even played a hand or two. Then we headed into the kitchen and started out with our own board. And that is when it all made sense. After the first hand, i attempted to help her score her cards...but she had already done it..and had found combinations that i had missed. I thought it was a fluke, until she did it again..and again...until the game was done and she had kicked my butt.

We played again, this time with Munch. Although i actually won that game, it became apparent that Munch and i were at a disadvantage. We just could not keep up to Bug and her patterns. She was scoring our cards faster than we could. And doing it correctly.

So....apparently i have a card shark living here. And she is good. And i am thinking that i should teach her to play poker.Or at least have her look at my lottery number choices....maybe she could see something that i don't.

RSP? I don't need it. I have BUG.

(and no i would NEVER really have my minor child take part in any sort of gambling...but someday she will be nineteen...right?)

I really wasn't making it up.

On New Year's Eve Day, i had mentioned to the husband and squibs that we had to get all of the house work done, as there could be no work done on New Year's day. I would not be washing dishes or laundry on that day, as it was considered back luck.
They all stared at me like i had two heads.
No, I explained, it was not some sort of "mom" ploy to get them to help me with the housework, these were superstitions that i had grown up with (although a few years ago i had forgotten about the no laundry deal...and was reminded by many people).

What struck me as odd was that Hubby, having grown up with a father who was much older than other parents, and who had grown up in Scotland, did not recognize the importance of such superstitions. There was another one, that Papa remembered about having a dark haired man be the first one to cross your doorstep in the new year (or Hogmanay as he knows it as). The rules about the "first footer" are clear...NO women, blondes or red-heads should be the first to cross your doorstep, lest you be plagued with bad luck for the coming year.

They did indulge me, and by midnight on the 31st there were NO dirty clothes to be found. Everything had been washed, although there were still a few loads to be dried.* And no house work was done on the 1st.  In the process of explaining the superstition, i came across this website with all sorts of New Year's superstitions....

SO...what, if any, superstitions do you follow on New Years?
*(the down side to this is that now i have twice the amount to do today...but i was not tempting fate..i need all the good luck i can gather)