Year-end

Is it December already? Geez - where did the year go!? And the last month of it usually rushes right by.

Of course with all the kids on holiday everyone tends to ease into lazy mode. Those who are at work tend to slack off (more than usual) - while everyone else simply disappears and goes to fry themselves on a crowded beach. The usual onslaught of northern visitors begins today - complete with maniac drivers towing caravans, beer-boep families blocking the mall as they greet people they last saw at 2005's invasion, and tourists who think they can do what they like because they're not from around here. Aaah... the holiday season! :-)

Of course for those of you from the northen hemisphere, our idea of Christmas is somewhat weird - no snow, no cold, no roaring fires and comfort food. Instead we hang around in a few clothes as possible, drinking iced things, braaing or picnicing outdoors, swimming all day, and catching the traditional post-Christmas cricket game at Newlands (gotta take the kid sometime!). The incongruous sight of "snow" and "reindeer" in shop windows always amuses me. But lately SA has kinda realized it's silly, and started to provide more African things to celebrate the season.

This is another of those years where we don't get a 13th cheque or even a whiff of a bonus - so frugality is the theme. Just yesterday I convinced my brothers and sis's-in-law that we can do something different - a mere R50 budget per person for gifts this year, and we can get as creative or kitch as we wish. Perhaps start a new tradition of coming up with things to give that take more thought and seeking out than credit-card splashing. We'll see how that one goes! :-)

It's been quite the ride this year. There's been fun stuff and terrible stuff, things I never thought I'd have to deal with, and things I've been very glad to deal with. Dreams fulfilled and dreams dashed brutally. Heart-damage and heart-healing. I'm not the same person I was a year ago - but I am also still the same person... if that makes sense.

As this year winds down, I find myself wondering with anticipation as to what next year holds. Anything can happen! And that's both exciting and scary. But I'm here for the ride and I'm going to live it with relish. Come what may, I'll still be living - and living well.