Or, perhaps at this point, happy end of 2009. It was quite a year, one of much uncertainty and unhappiness at times, but good things happened too. Many friends had babies, my brother got married, I found a new job and got to stay put in Maryland. I learned how to knit socks, gave away more baby hats than I can count, stayed in touch with old friends and made new ones.
Hopes for the new year? Happiness, healthiness, and continued good relationships with friends and family. I would like to get the quarter this year... we shall see what happens tomorrow, what the report is. See, it's a tradition in our family, a mere one week after Christmas, to gather for yet another large meal, on New Year's Day. We have been known to pack upwards of 30 people in the house for this meal (which is not unlike the crowd at Greek Easter, come to think of it). One feature of this meal is the finding of the coin for New Year's. Someone in the family makes a big pan of spanikopita (or another sort, we're not that picky). Underneath the bottom layer of phyllo dough goes a quarter wrapped in waxed paper. After it is baked, someone cuts the pita into pieces and then lifts them out of the pan one at a time, checking the underside for the wrapped coin. Each piece is "named" for a member of the family, from oldest to youngest. (Folks who are lucky enough to marry in get included.) The story goes that if it's your piece that has the coin, you get good luck for the year. I have never gotten the coin.
All-in-all, a thoroughly low-key New Year's Eve. Never a holiday that I have enjoyed tons, today spent working, doing a few crosswords, watching Hitchcock movies on TCM, and winding sock yarn into balls (yes, really -- I got a ball winder for Christmas, though do not own a swift, at least not yet).
No comments:
Post a Comment