New Year's sunglasses shimmer and shine.

I have been ordering New Year's sunglasses since Richard and I were married in 1999.  The first year was a fluke.  I was in New York for Christmas with my family and thought it would be fun to bring a pair home to ring in the new year with Richard.

The historian in me immediately decided it would be fun if, every year, we photographed ourselves wearing the glasses on New Year's Eve and then in 2049 or 2059, we had a great retrospective of fifty or sixty years of marriage.   Each New Year's Day, I slide the glasses, along with a photograph and a short paragraph describing what we did, into an envelope and file it away with the neatly wrapped packages from years prior.

Here is a peek at some New Year's Eve celebrations from the recent past:

In 2001 , for instance, I know Richard and I spent a quiet night at home.  We arrived home earlier that morning from a trip to New York.  We were living in Georgia at the time.

In 2004, we were in New York for New Year's Eve.  Early in the day Richard and I saw a Broadway Show (Wonderful Town) and that evening my sisters came out to my parent's house for a family celebration.

2005 wasn't great.  Richard and I didn't have any real plans, instead we got into an argument.  By the next day we were recovered and went to a colleagues house for brunch.  That year we bought an extra pair of glasses because Matthew joined our family.

In 2008, the year Jack was born, I spent the day getting a pedicure with my mother in-law.  That evening we hosted an early New Year's Eve celebration for our friends and their children.  We lowered a giant pink sequined ball in our living room at 8:00 p.m. and the kids blew horns and threw confetti as though it was midnight in Times Square.

Let's see.

How about last year?

2009.  I was in New York with Matthew and Pola, our German exchange student, until our flight landed at 4:00.  Pola invited some of her friends over and we all spent a low key night at home.  We served up Chinese food from P.F. Changs and played board games.

What will this year hold?  Tune in on Saturday to find out.

My small family tradition isn't going to change the world, but still, I think the idea shines.  It is a simple way to mark time and, eleven years later, it is already fun to look back and reminisce.

How about you?  Visit us in the Community Forum labeled, Today's Post and tell us if there is something fun you do annually to commemorate the new year.

Shining off until tomorrow...