And, a Happy New Year!

Very best wishes to everyone for a lovely New Year's Eve - doing what you want with the ones you love best.

While we're at it, let's hope for more peace and tranquility in 2012; more troops stationed in North Carolina, Texas and California and many fewer in Afghanistan and Iraq.  (Yes, we still do have troops there.  Easy to forget them.)

Let's also hope for prosperity; an easing of the financial markets, more jobs, better pay and fewer people on unemployment insurance.  (It is insurance, not a giveaway.  All employers pay a portion based on their payroll.  If you've worked, you've earned your coverage.

And, how about a Congress that does something other than argue.  One that realizes that cooperation and collaboration are not dirty words.  One that remembers that they work for the people and not the special interests.

I'd also like to see a world  where it's fun again to fly.  Not thinking that will happen in 2012, tho.

And, finally, a world filled with flowers and the folks who grow them, arrange them, give them and love them.  If the mud boots fit, please wear them with pride!

Let's lift a glass [filled with the beverage of your choice, of course] to 2011. It was a good year, but one we have definitely worn out and used up. 

And then lift it again to 2012 - full of good food and flowers, and also full of hope, full of promise, full of exciting days to come!

Happy New Year!