"Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one." ~Brad Paisley

Approaching the end of 2018, I was amused the other day reading about yet another day to commemorate. Friday, December 28, 2018 was "Good Riddance Day." I don't really recollect hearing of that one before, but according to what I read on www.shred-it.com, it was the 12th Annual Good Riddance Day. The purpose is to help folks destroy "any unpleasant, embarrassing, and downright unwanted memories from the past year." In Times Square in NYC, Shred-It provided a large shredder where people wrote down what they wanted to forget about or get rid of, and it was shredded and permanently destroyed. People not in NYC could submit via Twitter and Instagram, and these would be shredded for them. Interesting concept.

Actually, the whole idea has roots in Latin American tradition. On New Year's Eve, revelers put artifacts and bad memories into dolls that are set on fire in the streets. It's called "Burning the Muneco." Many burning dolls created hazards on the streets and in the air from all the smoke and fire. For environmental and health concerns, the practice is now discouraged or prohibited.

I think New Year's Resolutions help people bid good-bye and look forward to improvements in the year ahead. Written or mental, the bottom line is hope for the future. Of course, none of us really has any insight to what the future will actually hold. We can make our plans, but there are many things we just don't know or have any control. But we always have hope! And we can do our best with what comes our way.

So as midnight approaches, and we leave 2018 behind, my hope for you is a happy and healthy 2019!

"Black Friday is not another bad hair day in Wall Street. It's the term used by American retailers to describe the day after the Thanksgiving Holiday, seen as the semi-official start of Christmas shopping season." ~Evan Davis, English economist and journalist

Early last December I shared some personal thoughts about Black Friday and Cyber Monday. (12/4/17 - Post-Thanksgiving Ponderings) You may remember I do not do Black Friday! But I have become increasingly conscious of all the terms that seem to have grown around the Christmas shopping season.

Yesterday I noticed many emails announcing "Green Monday" deals from several retailers. Green Monday? What's that? So I did a search. In 2007, eBay coined it. I never noticed it before. It's described as the best sales day in December, usually the second Monday of December.

So I made a list of all the hype terms I knew, or recently discovered:
                  Black Friday - which seems to start on Thanksgiving Day for some retailers
                  Black Friday weekend
                  Black Friday week
                  Small Business Saturday (I do patronize small businesses)
                  Cyber Monday
                  Cyber Monday week
                  Giving Tuesday
                  Black Friday extended
                  Cyber Monday extended
                 Super Saturday/Panic Saturday - the Saturday before Christmas

I even discovered "Buy Nothing Day," organized in 1992 as an international day of protest against consumerism. It happens after the United States' Thanksgiving, sometime between Black Friday and the last Saturday in November. Something I never heard about. Go figure!

We are just two weeks away from Christmas Day. May your days be merry and bright, and may your focus be on the reason for the season.