I know why I believe, Frankie Laine. (And Perry Como. And Tom Jones.)

It’s snowing.

I would show you a photo of the snow, but it seems that you’ve seen so many of those lately. The snow on my street is no different than the snow three streets over, and our current snow is actually pretty ridiculous when compared to our 2011 snow.

Nine inches and it's still coming down.

So here we are. New Year’s Eve. Again. New Year’s Eve used to be bananas—fourteen people on the roof of our house ripping apart a (cooked) turkey with their bare hands and singing Tom Petty tunes at the stroke of midnight. This evening we’ll be splitting our time between a friend’s house and Wii/Pajama/Hot Chocolate Night in our own family room. We will have macaroni and cheese. We will bust out the marshmallows. We will watch Ryan Seacrest, but we will be thinking about Dick Clark. Fondly.

As far as resolutions go, well, I tend to not make them.

With that said, my list from 2008 was pretty good.

This was my list of plans from last year, and I think I did everything except for 5, 10, and 12. Also, I still haven’t held a baby monkey.

In 2013, I’d like to get started on this sweater, and I’d like to knit it with this yarn.

I’d like to write one letter each month.

I’d like to avoid taking the low road when I don’t completely understand something. I will try to not puke up political sludge onto my wall unless I’ve tried to understand both sides of the WHOLE story, as well as my own intentions. (At this very moment in time, three Facebook friends of mine have posted links that essentially cover the same story. Two of the friends posted articles from a conservative publication. The other posted an article from a liberal publication. Same story. Wildly different take. AND, I can’t figure out why these people are posting these articles. Is it to educate? Probably not. Is it just another ploy to stretch out the Us vs. Them thing? I think so. To me, Us vs. Them for the sake of Us vs. Them lacks creativity. Using “funny” to mask hatred lacks creativity. Drinking Red Bull lacks creativity. (Unless you’re in London at an Aimee Mann show and you’re really feeling the time difference between here and there and Red Bull is your only hope to make it to the encore.))

We all know where I stand. I don’t eat meat, but I don’t mind if you do. I voted for Obama, yet some of my favorite people in this world did not, and I understand why. I will never carry a gun, nor will I ever send my kids to a school where teachers are encouraged to carry guns, and I’m trying really hard to understand both sides of this debate, because I know that Never is a big word.

This is what I believe.

I believe we should all take care of one another.

I believe we should focus less on why we don’t LIKE one another, and focus on why we LOVE one another.

I believe we should devote more time to pleasant surprises.

Less processed food.

More music and candlelight.

Less time looking at screens.

More time watching snow.

Pudding Family 2012

Happy New Year from The Puddings. ‘ ‘ ‘text/javascript’>

20 thoughts on “I know why I believe, Frankie Laine. (And Perry Como. And Tom Jones.)”

  1. A beautiful post to complete the year. You so inspire me, make me laugh or hungry or thoughtful. Thank gob you don’t make me want to go running. At all.
    Confirmation bias (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias) — this is what I think about when I read political stuff of FB (and am usually conscious of it when I post something, but I’ve been know to forget and believe my powers of persuasion exceed my high-school-oral-interpretation team-gleaned skills).
    XXOO to the Puddings!

  2. Hey! I saved that very pattern a week or so ago. I know I won’t knit it. I can’t make it through a scarf lately. I hope you knit it and post pics. I’ll live vicariously.

    Today is the day to get the goals down isn’t it… I guess I need to lock the child away in another so I can think for a few consecutive minutes. Writing it down does help.

    Happy New Year to you too. :)

  3. Happy New Year to the Puddings!

    I would like to make the same sweater myself, but I have yet to decide on a yarn. Okay, I really want to use madtosh something in Steam Age, but it’s hard to find a Kara-sized sweater quantity of that color in stock anywhere, so I’m trying to find another lovely color that will satisfy my sweater making needs. (In the meantime, I do have 2 sweaters on needles – one is a partial re-knit, the other is Dark & Stormy out of a lovely fuschia from Plucky Knitter.)

    I’m rambling. But sweaters! :)

  4. No resolutions for me either. I will follow with the same mindset and feelings from my heart that Mother Teresa has so perfectly modelled for all of us.

  5. I think in the end it all comes down to love. Love, and memories. Your Pudding family has a really good start on both those things, Angie. Merry everything to you and yours!

  6. I know why I like you AND why I love you.
    Can we be Facebook friends please? (It’s okay if you say NOWAYJOSÉ!)
    My name’s not José.
    I’m probably more liberal than you; a lot of the time, I feel like I can’t explain myself to anyone around me.
    “I believe we should all take care of one another.”
    Yep, ALL. Take care of EVERYONE.
    I can’t explain myself except in my religious/spiritual terms.
    God loves and made everyone.

    Merry New Year, Puddings and FP readers. <3

  7. Happy, Healthy New Year, Puddings! I am going to do many things but they are more “get back to me” things than resolutions. This was a year of weight gain and impatience for me. I’d like to think it was just hormonal, but that’s a cop out. have the best year ever, Puddings!

  8. I really appreciate that “focus less on why we don’t like each other and more on why we love each other” goal. That’s one I think I might use for my own this year. In 2012 I felt myself settling more in to my own opinions and realizing that my feelings don’t have to be yours and we don’t have to agree in order to be kind to each other. Not exactly revolutionary but a lesson that I think gets ignored too often as we’re yelling about our rights and our opinions.

    Happy 2013 Puddings. I hope it is a brilliant year of wonder and awesome.

  9. Great post to start off the new year.

    That will be a lovely sweater and that yarn is just stunningly beautiful. Do it and show us a picture of you in it.

    In addition to all the things you hope to do and believe and all that, one of the very best reasons to like and love you is that your New Year’s family portrait is the best ever. Anyone with a family like that is on my list of favorites forever.

  10. hear hear.

    I like your list. A part from the hug a baby monkey part. Monkeys scare me. They’re too human. And humans can be scary enough.

    I started writing a list and got as far as ‘clear the sink at night before going to bed’ and then I got side-tracked by something I can’t for the life of me remember… not a good start.

    But I will write you a letter if you want… just let me know.

  11. Oh! Fabulous family photo. And excellent sentiments with which I heartily agree. And that skein of yarn is gorgeous.
    Have you seen the new book Knit With Me? Patterns for moms and kids to make together, one big item, one smaller. (I noticed the pattern you cite has a child’s version.) Happy New Year!

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