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Did you know that Jan. 1 has not always been recognized as New Year’s Day? Back in the day – way back in the day - depending on whether you were Assyrian, Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek, Persian or Phoenician, you could have been cooking New Year’s dinner anywhere between mid-March and Dec. 21.
Britannica tells us that it’s Julius Caesar we have to thank for declaring Jan. 1 as the first day of the new year, and had he not tinkered with the calendar, we’d actually be older than we are! According to History.com, the early Roman calendar consisted of just 10 months and 304 days.
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I’ve commented in previous columns that my life hasn’t turned out like I anticipated. In my younger years as a working grandmother, I think I did a pretty good job of juggling work with grandmother-hood. I used my vacation time to have the grandkids with us for the Bedias Baptist Church Vacation Bible School. We made other memories feeding cows and squirrels, baking, sewing, riding with Pawpaw on his tractor or riding around the pasture in his utility cart. This Houston transplant fully expected to spend her golden years in Bedias, quilting until she died.
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When I was teaching here in Navasota, we were allowed to have Christmas parties in our classrooms. It was always on the last day before the Christmas break and it was a half-day, to boot. Besides taking attendance and lunch there wasn’t much else going on academically. The kids were so amped up and ready to get out of school for a while all I could do was to keep them contained – and possibly entertained for a few short hours.
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Just about everyone has some pet peeve that drives them up the wall. For some it’s the sound of fingernails scraping across a blackboard or maybe it’s how ridiculously long your spouse stirred his cereal to dissolve the sugar. For others, it may be columnists who can’t seem to quit writing pandemic related articles! So, what sets me off so bad that I want to reach into the television and throttle someone? It’s the Houston Methodist Hospital commercials which run on Pluto TV!
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Certain things seem to remain consistent from childhood through adulthood. Remember waiting as Christmas day approached, the anticipation as it drew ever closer? Thinking to yourself, "What will Santa bring me this year?" "Was I good or was I bad?" "Can we not have stuffed bell peppers for dinner this year?" Those few weeks in mid-December seemed to crawl along like The 12 days of Abyssus (look it up, Copernicus).
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Like it or not, dear readers, we are in the 2022 Christmas gift buying season. I personally am not a big shopper in general, but I have my moments. Searching out and finally finding the absolute perfect gift for someone is very gratifying, but then I have to wrap it and wait. Most times I get the gift just right, sometimes I don’t, but either way I get to watch the recipient unveil the prize I selected just for them, which I truly enjoy just as much as they do. I mean, who doesn’t like opening presents?
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The 88th Texas Legislative Session is right around the corner as it runs from early January through late May 2023. Before it has even started, there are already hundreds of bills that have been pre-filed prior to the start of the session. I would always encourage everyone to stay on top of the updates as they come out. Leaders in both the House and Senate have already released their outlines of topics to look for in the upcoming session.
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Many Baby Boomers and older Gen Xers may remember the slogan ‘It’s not your father’s Oldsmobile’ from the 1988 Oldsmobile Cutlass TV commercials. While the ad was meant to attract a younger generation of buyers, it slapped its loyal base in the face. There’s a new twist on this old slogan nowadays and it’s meant as a warning – ‘It’s not your father’s weed anymore!’
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