The Last Day of this Decade

It seems we are on the cusp of a new decade. I didn't quite connect the dots between the coming new year and the imminent new decade until I read it somewhere and thought, "Oh. Of course! 2020!" I remember being much younger and calculating how old I'd be in 2020. Harmless fun back then but it seems that I'll be forty-eight this coming year. That snuck up on me too!!

My new  and flowery 2020 planner.

Although clearly of significance, both the beginnings of the new year and the new decade, I have not given much any thought yet to this new year to come. I tend to forget which day we are up to during holidays times so, here it is New Year's Eve, and I've set no great goals and made no grand plans. I do have a new yearly planner though but I've not added anything to it. Yet!

An abundance of sunlight but not a lot of hot water.

There are things, as there always are, to do around our home. We need to get our hot water fixed. Since a brief, thundery storm came through here on Xmas Eve, we've had lukewarm water which is not a problem on our hot Summery days. I would've been chasing up an electrician much more enthusiastically if it were Winter.  I don't think that counts as a goal though, more a necessity...eventually!

Sparklers are pretty but they can't be recycled.

I do have sparklers for midnight twirling tonight. One of our much more organised friends has invited us to see in the new year with them. Our host requested we bring sparklers which I braved the shops to find yesterday. There's been a bit of a debate about whether fireworks are appropriate given most of our country is on fire but I found myself having a mental to and fro over sparklers. A quick google in the supermarket aisle informed me they are definitely not recyclable so my plan is to collect the wire and re-use it to make something like this glass bead garden sparkler. I really don't want to add to the world's waste within the first minute of the new decade. That's not a new goal either.

A wombat we saw on holidays in Tasmania.
(I 🤎 wombats so I'm okay with being a muddle-headed one sometimes.)

It is inevitable that I will fall asleep well before midnight tonight. I am one of the world's  early-to-rise and early-to-sleep people so staying awake for so long just sees me become like a muddle-headed wombat. (Luckily, my friends know this about me and even if they did have a laugh or two at my quiet snoring, I am oblivious anyway. 😉) Someone will wake me up a minute or two before midnight so I can join in the count down and twirl one of the above-mentioned sparklers. So no plans to stay awake 'til midnight. It's beyond me!

Our best mate will ensure the first day of 2020 starts early.

Tomorrow, on the first day of this new year and decade, the punctual Sir Steve dog will wake me up (again) around 5:30 a.m., as he always does, for his breakfast as in this he is more reliable than an alarm clock. And, so, the day will properly begin then, not with fizzing sparklers but with the dance of a Labrador's paws on our floorboards and an insistent bark (right next to my ear)  should I not move fast enough. After breakfast has been served, we'll take a stroll together around our leafy and friendly neighbourhood. This is how my everyday days begin. This coming New Year's Day, albeit the beginning of a new decade, will be no different. And in that, I am most glad.

However you prepare for it and however you celebrate it, I hope you have a very happy beginning to your new year and the new decade. 

Meg