If there’s one thing you can hold against kids (though, of course, you cannot), it’s they way that they, through no fault of their own, tend to dominate your thoughts,
conversations, jokes and writing material.

Would I like to write about the fact that my sister gave my kids “Texas Ranger” badges for Christmas, and four-year-old Rowland now refers himself as “The Texas Stranger?” That, after my husband asked the same child to put on a coat lest he “freeze his tushie off,” he replied, “If I lose my tushie, oh well…”

But I will resist. Instead I’ll take advantage of the season to consider a few highs and lows of Rosalind’s 2009. In no particular order:

HIGH: Discovering the beauty of flying over the Hudson River just moments before descending on the tarmac at New York’s La Guardia Airport. I can’t claim that the story of Captain Chesley Sullenberger’s heroic landing in the Hudson was on my mind, but I loved it.

MIXED: Going to Dallas for my high-school reunion. Loved seeing my own friends but was discomfited by the fact that after having lived there for the full 18 years of my childhood and adolescence, I recognized nothing except for my own school. A cab driver kindly gave me a “this was here, this was there” tour.

HIGH: When I was feeling particularly low one day, my new acquaintance Cecile let me invite myself to her house for the afternoon. Better still, she introduced me to TheOnion.com, which we watched for the better part of an hour. I may have been among the last to know about the Onion, but I’m now among its biggest fans. The more tasteless its mock videos and news clips, the better—and they’re always tasteless.

LOW: Learning a close college friend who shall remain nameless is about to publish her third novel. To be fair, the “low” is not that she is doing well in the literary world (or so I say), but that I can’t quite get over the envy.

HIGH: MSNBC. I love this network. “Morning Joe” is quirky, crowded and apparently less scripted than most news shows. And, I get a cheap thrill out of the sign off: Joe cues co-host Willie Geist, “If it’s way too early, what time is it?” Then Willie chimes in, “It’s time for ‘Morning Joe,’ and now for the ‘Morning Meeting with Dylan Ratigan.’” I happen to have a big fat crush on Dylan Ratigan.

(Re. MSNBC, I also love that on Christmas day they show mostly life-in-prison and unsolved-murder stories. That takes some chutzpa. And as we prepare for our Christmas guests, I am eating this stuff up.

LOW: Having my “fitness age” according to Wii rate in elderly territory—80. In my defense, my husband also earned an 80, and my eight-year-old Hugh hit 36. Still, the Wii does let me test again every 24 hours, and one of these days I swear I’m going to be closer to 39. Or at least…55? There you go: a New Year’s resolution for 2010.