Thanks Cathy ..........................

Yes ... us Aussies do have our New Year before yours, although our Kiwi friends (hi Amy!) ... have theirs just before ours! D'oh!

We have local fireworks in Albany. One lot at 9pm and the other at midnight. Last year the sky was clearer and we could see the tops of both lots of fireworks from the front of our house ... standing on the brick mailbox! This year ... the sky was grey and murky ..... and all we could see was a haze of light but no fireworks! The boys weren't interested in driving into town to see the fireworks more clearly ........ but we watched some on TV and we heard the loud bangs from the local ones. So did the neighborhood dogs!!!!!

Rather than worrying about what may or may not happen in 2014 Cathy ..... why not find a lovely box or glass jar and find some pieces of paper (brightly coloured or not). Whenever something really good happens ... or something that makes you feel happy ... write it down on a piece of paper, fold it up and whack it in the box or jar. Don't read them again until this New Year's Eve. That way instead of worrying about the potentially sad things ..... you'll be able to remember all the happy, brighter things. We often forget those when the sad things cloud over the good things! Just a thought.

"Life is too short to spend with people who suck the happiness out of you!"