Thanks list

Fireworks echoed from the mountainsides...

 It was a fabulous family Christmas that I almost didn't fully appreciate -- until I kicked my self-centered butt, woke up and smiled at the joy surrounding me.
I suspicion why I can get tied up tightly in paranoia, envy, anger and the like, but it no longer matters why. At some point in every life, why no longer matters.
Just what you do.
So what did I do when I got overwhelmed? I left. Removed my sad sack butt from the festivities and slunk off to bed where I woke up refreshed and ready for another great day.
Resolved to be happy that I could spend time with my beloved sons rather than rehash the reasons I was late/grumpy/whatever.
My thanks list for this morning -- the first of 2012 -- included: ailing Miss Kitty eating (thanks, universe); early Christmas morning alone with the WGG (thanks, Linda); way cool Freakonomics book (number two son); breakfast with both sons and one daughter-in-law (number one son); fireworks last night (thanks to me for kicking myself out the door to hike over to see them). I came up with it while hiking with the Meanderthals -- the peppy group who scale mountains in the Bow Valley and beyond well into their 70s & 80s -- this morning on their annual New Year's Day hike & lunch.

...and lit up the forest for hundreds of happy fans. 

Last night, after jamming my jeans over my jammies and hustling my butt over to Cougar Ridge, I was comforted by fellow revellers toasting in the New Year, splendid fireworks down on the valley floor and the pinot noir I'd brought with me. Had I stayed in the lounge chair watching the celebrations on television and feeling sorry for myself because I'd been cancelled as a New Year's Eve babysitter, I'd have experienced none of them.
You make your own happiness, and I started the year out just right.
It's gonna be a great year, 2012 is.
We can all make it great.