Burn

New year’s resolutions—does anyone really like these? I have never been a fan. It creates pressure and stress for me, which eventually turn into some sort of failure. Who wants that hanging over her head? Not me. I gave up on resolutions long ago. There are things I would like to improve about my life and myself. I work on those things, but I don’t make them resolutions. Also, they tend to not be things that have an end. To me, resolutions are things you make for the year. I fully support resolutions for those people who they work for. That’s just not me.

Years ago, when I gave up resolutions, I embraced a new tradition. I call it “Burn, Baby, Burn.” We used to have an annual New Year’s Eve party that was always themed. There was an 80’s party where I dressed up as an 80’s mom and completely grossed out one of my in-laws. Oops. Oh, and my brother-in-law had the best costume that year. Check it out! 

Say Anything

There was the pajama party because, well, that just made sense. We had a “Very Swayze New Year” the year Patrick Swayze passed away. It was complete with classics like Roadhouse, Dirty Dancing, and Point Break. I also created a “Very Swayze” trivia game that we would play throughout the night. My personal favorite was the year we had a “Very Springer New Year.” People dressed up as Jerry Springer guests. We had a faux brick wall that people could have their picture made in front of. In attendance were strippers, hookers, and a variety of men from all walks of life. ;) We played a game called “Who’s Your Daddy?” I won’t go into details. If you were there, you know why! These were good times, and the partying was interrupted when I was diagnosed with cancer. I didn’t feel like much of anything during that time, and we just stopped hosting.

All is not lost, though! During all of these themed parties, we did have one tradition that I loved. We played “Burn, Baby, Burn.” Instead of resolutions, we would write down all of the things we wanted to leave behind that year. You could write down as many or as few as you like. Then we would wait until 11:59. Everyone would gather around the roaring fire we had built in the fireplace, and we would throw all of our nastiness into the fire and leave it behind. We started the year fresh. Baggage free! This doesn’t mean we still didn’t make it funny. In fact, even my dogs get in on the fun. Of course, I choose things for them because I don’t speak their language, and they have no thumbs to hold the pen to write anything down.

Funny dog notes

As another New Year’s Eve approaches, I am thinking about things I want to leave behind. Maybe some people? Maybe. As 2014 comes to an end, I will be Marching Fourth into 2015 with a few less things. Happy New Year, y'all!