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Friday night is the biggest party night in the world. It is the night when people, even those who are not normally "party people" let loose. Unfortunately it is also the most dangerous night to be driving as well. If you are planning on attending a New Years Eve party, please have a plan. By that I mean have someone be a designated driver or call a cab. If you can not arrange either of those, try to stay the night. We already have way too many fatalities in our state, let's not have any more.

If you would like to do something special for New Year's Eve but would like to stay close to home, look no farther. We have some great restaurants that have some terrific New Year's Eve specials for you. Around our area, you can go as formal as white linen tables to great specials at a local bar and grill.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. I hope you got to spend it with family and friends. At our house, we broke a trend that has been going for 41 years. Normally we would be on the road both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. As a child, and seeing it as a parent, I always hated opening presents either on Christmas Eve or day and then immediately having to set them down because it was time to get in the car and drive to a relative's house. I remember staring at my presents (an electric race track is etched in my mind) as we closed the door thinking I will never get to play with it. That is why this year we bucked the trend and stayed home on Christmas Eve. It was so nice to not have anywhere to go. The kids just stayed in their pajamas and played until they got hungry.

We still had our Christmas with the family and it was wonderful, but to see how happy our kids were that they didn't have to leave their presents for a long car ride made it all worth while.

Our friend Lisa from Forest Lake Dry Cleaners (behind the White Castle) is at it again. She continues to provide those in need with warm, clean coats and blankets. If you have need of a dry cleaners don't forget Forest Lake Dry Cleaners. If you bring in a canned good for the food shelf with your laundry, Lisa automatically gives you a great discount. Thanks Lisa for thinking of the community in such worthwhile ways.

Thanks to all the great people who have donated to the Karen Nelson fund last week. Karen has suffered some extensive burns but is expected to make a full recovery. Her house and belongings unfortunately are lost.

If you would like to make a donation to the Karen Nelson fund, please send checks or gift cards payable to St. Francis Xavier Church, PO Box 234, Taylors Falls MN 55084, or to Lake Area Bank in care of the Nelson Family Fund.

Have you made your New Year's resolution yet? After thinking long and hard about my 2011 resolution, I came to the realization that it is probably safer for me to not have one.

Why not have a resolution? Let's see how some of my past ones turned out.

There was the year that my resolution was to lose a bunch of weight...I believe I gained 12 pounds that year.

Then there was the year I vowed to learn how to water ski with one ski...I spent half the summer on crutches.

One year I vowed to take a winter off and go work on the slopes in Colorado...I think I was a security guard in an office building in St. Paul that winter.

Oh, and how about the year that I was going to be a body builder...ummm, have you seen me?

One of very best was the year I vowed to grow my hair out for an entire year...man that was cool.

My best resolution of all time had to be when I vowed to learn how to play bass guitar, grow my hair and head to California to join a hard rock band and become famous...let's see, grew my hair, still can't play any instrument, and the farthest west I have been is Colorado...nice try.

I think I will keep it low key this year..maybe just spend more time with the family...that should be doable.

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