New Year's Traditions!

I can’t believe it is almost time to say goodbye to 2011, and hello to 2012! This year seems to have flown by for me. I will admit that I use to make new year’s resolutions, but I quit when I realized I never actually kept them longer than a week! So, instead of sharing resolutions I thought it would be fun to see how some of the VBS team members celebrate the coming of the new year. Hope you have a safe and happy New Year!
Jerry: My grandmother always said that what ever the first thing you bring in the house on January 1 (that you didn’t take out of the house on January) will be brought in all year. So on December 31 everyone in our family hides a quarter outside and then tries to remember to bring it in first thing. Of course like all good Southerners we eat black-eyed peas.
Rhonda: My mom always cooked black-eyed peas and cabbage for New Years Day. Supposedly your wealth for the year was based on how much you ate of the peas and cabbage. I think it was a simple meal to cook after all the over-the-top rich food during the holidays! LOL!
Courtney: I usually just hang out with friends!
Melita: I always watch the Tournament of Roses parade on New Year’s Day… before all the football starts. Everything about the parade is so beautiful… the floats, the horses, the costumes. I’m always impressed by the creativity and the magnificence of the floats!
Joyce: We always gather to eat together as a family. A tradition that my mother started and I have continued is to serve black-eyed peas, cooked with a clean dime in the pan. (I rinse mine in Lysol and wash it off first.) Whoever finds the dime in their peas is supposed to have good luck all year long. (In her latter years, she would add more dimes so that more people could find them.) We also serve turnip greens cooked with hog jowl. (I leave the jowl whole and throw away the entire piece of meat when the greens have finished cooking.) Then we go around the table and tell one thing we hope to improve on in the coming year.
Lynne: My family gets together and we have black-eyed peas and cornbread. And if I’m energetic, I take down my Christmas decorations.
Candace: I celebrate New Year’s Eve with two of my best friends and their families. We eat, play games, watch the ball drop from Time’s Square on TV, and bring in the new year laughing.