Happy New Year, everyone. I'm not sure if there is a weaker or more embarrassing common holiday greeting then “happy new year”, but I'll say the phrase anyway. No, maybe I'm wrong. The start of the year carries a sense of possibility, of rebirth, although the date seems misplaced in winter Wisconsin. Spring feels more like new year to me. But we're off of work and school, the boys are playing Xbox, and the Badgers play in the Rose Bowl later, so we're in holiday-mode.

I'm upstairs on the bedroom floor. A fan is running but I wonder if I should turn off the device because I was cold when reading on the bed. Yesterday the temps were curiously high, near fifty, unheard of for late Decembers of recent memory. Two years back I remember, when Shadow was fading, the heavy cold. But since the weather was walkable, and the fog kind of pretty, S and I drove down to Bayshore and walked around the mall. He found a Tom Brady calendar for 50% off. We weaved through the crowds but didn't see anything else worth purchasing so after an Italian soda (cherry/strawberry, for S) and double shot skim latte (me) at a busy Alterra's we stopped at Little Caesar's and returned home.

(Oops, sorry, a couple hours later, got interrupted by T so we could watch Mentos/Diet Coke videos.)

Last night I had every intention of staying up until midnight but I haven't slept well lately and the coffee I drank in an attempt to stay up late fucked with my sleep. So lose-lose, I guess, on NY Eve, including N kicking me about 100 times while sleeping next to me. This morning I made donuts. The donut making...contraption...is easy but I'm not convinced the donuts are that great. After that M and I worked out. The gym was lousy with resoluters. They'll give up soon. Later I read further into Ubik and opened the blinds to let the sun pour into the room. I should probably close the blinds soon. We're just past 3:30 and the lazy, taunting sunset signals another cold, windy winter evening. I'm ok. We'll watch the Rose Bowl and I'll read before, hopefully, turning in early. Tomorrow I might run outside, covered in cold weather gear, so I can hit mass at 8AM. Or maybe I'll sleep later and skip everything. We'll see. I could use a couple hours in a coffee shop, too. Stay warm. Winter's halfway over.