I know my mother goes through her Christmas cards and address book, updating addresses and phone numbers and crossing off the names of people who have died. I had a friend whose favorite day every year was when calendars hit 50% off. She'd go buy one for every family member and room of the house, and then spend hours filling in all of the birthdays and school vacations on every single one. Both of these habits baffle me since I am one of those poor souls who is hooked up to a machine for survival - that is, my computer and the sync-to-phone feature.
But the one thing I absolutely MUST do every New Year's Day or shortly after is a major cleaning of the refrigerator. It started with this post on the Organized Home website. It wraps all of my guilty resolutions - weight loss, money management, spending time together as a family, and organization and cleaning - into one big chore that feels like a major accomplishment when it is finished. Plus, unlike much housework, it really SHOWS when it is done right. People actually notice that you've been slaving away all day.
On top of the usual cleaning, I also go through all of my holiday cards and update the pictures on my fridge. If you send me a picture, you make the fridge. If you don't, you don't. I'm just sayin'.
So I'm trying to revive Melissa's meme of favorite things with this. What's your favorite thing that MUST be done every New Year? Please share!
Sorry I don't have photos. By the time I thought of this, the fridge isn't all that clean anymore and just doesn't do the post justice. You should have seen it last week, though. *~*SPARKLY*~*
Anyway, Grace has often taken me by surprise with her art, but the painting above was one of the first times that she really took my breath away. She was four years old when she made it in preschool for Mother's Day, and it was her first experience with oil paint. It isn't so much the beauty of the painting but how she described it in her little girl words. She said: 
