Friday, January 1, 2010

The Great Resolution Exchange


If I may be excused for one more day on the stocking stuffers.... I thought instead I'd mention a little New Year's tradition we have at our annual New Year's parties. It's called the Great Resolution Exchange. Before midnight, we circulate little slips of paper and ask that people write down a resolution, whether silly or serious. They all go into a bowl, and at midnight we toast with champagne and sparkling juice, then each draw a resolution and read it aloud going around the group. Theoretically the one you draw and read is the one you're supposed to keep for yourself for the new year! Of course, I'm sure it doesn't always quite work out that way.....

This year it was a little more involved. The theme was the Evil League of Evil from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, so everyone was supposed to come as their evil alter-ego. Some folks wore elaborate costumes, and others didn't wear costumes but still invented a persona. We had Nurse Wretched, an adorable Dust Bunny who plotted to take over the world from underneath the bed, a subprime mortgage lender named Cha Ching, and so many more. So this year, when it came time to read resolutions, we had people introduce their alter-ego persona formally, then read the resolution, then read who the person writing that resolution had voted as Best Candidate for the Evil League of Evil. The winner was a fabulous Ming the Merciless.

We even have a resolution that has been recycled from year to year. A few years ago, an attendee took home the resolution he'd drawn and saved it all year, then brought it back the next year and added a note saying that the resolution was to be passed on from year to year. It's had three recipients so far, and back it will go on my bulletin board to save it for next year.

And now.... I am exhausted -- but happy! The last of our 67 (!) guests left at 4:30 a.m. (we had two out-of-town guests staying overnight who were already asleep.) We finished cleaning up the food at 6:30 a.m. One of our cats, who did not enjoy being sequestered all night, cried for an hour so I didn't get to sleep until 7:30 a.m. Then I got up at 10:00 a.m. so we could go out to breakfast with our house guests, and after that we got together and hung out with our other two out-of-town guests who had stayed in a nearby motel. They left at 4 p.m., and at 5 p.m. I went and took a four-hour nap. But I'm still not going to have any trouble sleeping tonight, I can tell you that!

I love New Year's -- it's my favorite holiday. Here is to a bright, happy, and healthy 2010 for everyone!


1 comment:

Lorraine said...

That resolution exchange sounds like fun. I was looking for something our guests could do and the best I could come up with was a Left and Right Puzzle story as we passed around scratch off lottery tickets each guest brought. We had three winners (out of 9) - not big, but winners nonetheless.

Have a great New Year!