On unpacking, cleaning, and reading

If what you do on New Years really predicts what you'll do for the rest of the year, we're in for a comfortable--albeit not very exciting--2012.

1. Our New Years Ritual, if we have one, has changed a lot in the six years we've known each other and five years we've been together. This year, we snuggled on the couch, ate pizza, drank wine, and watched reruns of our favorite nineties TV shows. He still pushed me to stay up until midnight, though I was tired from the 12 hours we had driven, so that he could kiss me and tell me happy new year. I hope that never changes.

2. Cleaning through our house after a week and a half of being away to make room for all our new Christmas and birthday gifts makes me thankful for what we have and, even more so, thankful that I have someone to clean with instead of doing it myself.

3. We ended New Year's Day with dinner at our favorite sushi joint and snuggling on the bed while we each read one of the books we were given over the holiday (Just Kids by Patti Smith, for me; Cooking for Geeks for him).