Happy New Year!

Tick tock…tick tock…tick tock…2008 is nearly gone. I am anticipating my first meal of the New Year; Hoppin John, boiled cabbage, baked ham and perhaps a donut or two just for good measure. I will spend most of New Years Eve cooking my delectable traditional feast so I can sit and eat some of it right after we pop off a few fireworks at the stroke of Midnight. Then I will pack some of my feast so I can eat it for lunch when I go to work.

Yes I am going to go to work on New Years Day. I read once that what ever you do on New Years Day is what you will be doing the rest of the year. I believe it too. For a few years it seemed like I spent all day doing laundry while Scott played games with the girls. I was inundated with mountains of laundry after that!

Last year I made the effort to have my house neat and all the laundry finished and folded neatly or hanging in the closets. Then I went to work.. That worked just fine for me. The laundry hasn’t been as overwhelming as in past years and I now have a great job. So I will keep that little ‘tradition’ going for me. I write birth certificates for all the babies born at Baptist Hospital North Mississippi. I can’t wait to see the first baby of 2009.

This year it seems that I will have to wait one extra second to ring in the New Year tho. It’s time for that pesky extra leap second to be added to the atomic clock. Those eager to put 2008 behind them will have to hold their good-byes for just a moment this New Year's Eve.

The world's official timekeepers have added a "leap second" to the last day of the year on Wednesday, to help match clocks to the Earth's slowing spin on its axis, which takes place at ever-changing rates affected by tides and other factors like solar wind and space dust.

The U.S. Naval Observatory, keeper of the Pentagon's master clock, said it would add the extra second on Wednesday in coordination with the world's atomic clocks at 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC. That corresponds to 5:59:59 p.m. CST (23:59:59 GMT), when an extra second will tick by -- the 24th to be added to UTC since 1972, when the practice began. The first leap second was introduced into UTC on June 30, 1972. The last was added on December 31, 2005.

So what does this mean for my New Years Feast? Well I will have to wait just one second longer to dig into my Hoppin John. Traditional New Year foods are thought to bring luck. Many cultures believe that anything in the shape of a ring is good luck, because it symbolizes "coming full circle," completing a year's cycle. For that reason, the Dutch believe that eating donuts on New Year's Day will bring good fortune. I’m not the least bit Dutch but I love donuts and I think I will have one with chocolate on it just for good measure.

Many parts of the U.S. celebrate the New Year by consuming black-eyed peas. The peas are typically accompanied by either hog jowls or ham. I love baked ham so that is on my menu. Black-eyed peas have been considered good luck in many cultures. The hog, and thus its meat, is considered lucky because it symbolizes prosperity. Cabbage is another "good luck" vegetable that is consumed on New Year's Day by many. Cabbage leaves are also considered a sign of prosperity, being representative of paper currency. In some regions, rice is a lucky food that is eaten on New Year's Day. That is why I love Hoppin John. That dish incorporates black-eyed peas and rice and I throw in a few jalapenos so I know that I can look forward to a rather lively 2009!

I gave up on resolutions years ago. I never could keep them so I resolved to never have a News Years Resolution. That is one that I have been able to keep. I do however have some goals I would like to attain. Oh now you didn’t think I was going to tell you did you? Rest assured that as I reach each goal, I will write about it.

For now, I am just ready to put 2008 behind and go forward into 2009. Yesterday is history and tomorrow is a mystery. I will live in the present and give it my all. Right after I have consumed my peas and ham and cabbage. Look out 2009! Here I am!
And a Prosperous Happy New Year to every one.