I had an absolutely amazing New Year’s Eve celebration!  Wow!  The Country Club really knows how to put on a good evening.  It was, by no means, a huge affair.  I could have done that anywhere.  My friend, Tomille, and I met at my house around 6:30 pm and then headed over to the club for dinner, dancing and a wee bit of drinking.  Tomille is my birthday twin.  She was born on the exact same day as me.  But, she is three hours older.  We have been hanging out more these days as we enjoy each other’s company quite a lot.  In fact, I’m going to see her today for a bit of bowling.  Here we are on New Year’s Eve…

Of course, we sang the song, Auld Lang Syng when the ball dropped at midnight (in New York).  A few days later, I heard Rod Stewart’s rendition of the song on Facebook.  Absolutely amazing! Wikipedia has these insights about the song:

“Auld Lang Syne” is a Scottish poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song. It is well known in many countries, especially in the English-speaking world, its traditional use being to bid farewell to the old year at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve. The song begins by posing a rhetorical question: Is it right that old times be forgotten? The answer is generally interpreted as a call to remember long-standing friendships. In Scotland, it is common practice that everyone joins hands with the person next to them to form a great circle around the dance floor. At the beginning of the last verse, everyone crosses their arms across their breast, so that the right hand reaches out to the neighbour on the left and vice versa.^[15][16] When the tune ends, everyone rushes to the middle, while still holding hands. When the circle is re-established, everyone turns under the arms to end up facing outwards with hands still joined.

Of course, as I listened to the song, I thought of all the folks I’ve loved and lost this year.  Those “old friendships” are not forgotten. Just know, my darling sketchy scribes, that even though we are no longer able to speak, I still love you.  Once I give my love to someone, I will always love them.  But I also understand that right now, we must go our separate ways.  I will always hope we find our way back to each other.  Perhaps this song will inspire you to step towards me again, at some point.

In the meantime, my violin lessons continue to go well.  I have discovered, through the help of my teacher that I am naturally gifted musician.  I can pick up patterns and melodies on the violin very quickly as long as they are not presented too slowly.  I need to hear the melody in regular time and then, I can figure out the rhythm and the notes pretty quickly.  I think I’ll add Auld Lang Syne to my list of music to learn for next year.

My New Year’s Resolution to lose the 30 lbs I lost a few years ago is going strong!  I bought a FitBit and in the first week, I’m already down 3.5 lbs.  It’s so cool using this device to track my steps and to journal everything I’m eating.  Losing weight really is a numbers game.  Since 1lb is equal to about 3,500 calories, I just use my FitBit to keep track of the calories I’m eating and saving. If I burn more calories than I consume, eventually I hit 3500 calories saved and another pound comes off.  The first week is always the easiest as most of the weight is really water.  The FitBit tracks your steps and how much water you take in.  And it’s as easy as hitting a button on my phone.