Happy New Year

Here we are the start of a brand new year: fresh, innocent, untainted, and full of hope. It's a time for new beginnings, a time to look back at 2008, and a time to promise to do better in 2009. (Isn't that how it goes?) After all, we promise ourselves, next year is going to be different. All talk of Christmas, which has plagued us since October, is now, thankfully, out the window.

Here are some things I love (in a cringe-worthy kind of fashion) about New Year's:

• Drunk txting. Somehow, it's acceptable for your friends to txt you at ungodly hours for just one night of the year. Someone I knew from my school days, and whom I had met up with once in 2008 after connecting again via Facebook, was obviously revelling in the novelty of having a babysitter for her three kids this New Year's Eve, and celebrated by sending drunk txts to everyone in her phone book.
  
  
• Starting the year either hungover or still drunk. As a non-drinker, I find this ritual hilarious. Barbeques and parties on New Year's Day are somewhat quieter affairs than their predecessors the day before.
  
  
• New Year's Resolutions. I can tell who has made them; they're the ones who start their lawnmower/weed eaters/other noisy outdoor appliances at 9am on New Year's Day while the rest of the world is still sleeping. You can also spot them walking/running/cycling/out and about for the first week of each new year. They're harder to spot in February.
  

Happy New Year everyone! Buon Anno a tutti! Café Chick is looking forward to your company again in 2009.