Are you ready for the New Year? I suppose it really does not matter whether or not we are ready. It is going to happen either way. I thought that for fun I would share some New Year’s trivia with you this week.

1. More vehicles are stolen on New Year’s Day than any other holiday throughout the year. (So does that mean thieves are having their last fling before changing their ways or are they trying for a big score to start the New Year?)

2. Always celebrate with friends and family, because the first visitors you see in the New Year will determine whether you have either good luck or bad luck for the entire year as the superstition goes.

3. The Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball was a result of a ban on fireworks. The first ball in 1907 was an illuminated 700-pound iron and wood ball adorned with 100 25-watt light bulbs. Today, the round ball designed by Waterford Crystal weighs 11,875 pounds, is 12 feet in diameter and has 2668 Waterford crystals.

4. The New Year’s Eve ball was not lowered in 1942 and 1943 because of WWII.

5. Top three New Year’s Eve destinations in the U.S. are Las Vegas, Disney World and New York City.

6. For good luck in the New Year you should eat black-eyed peas and ham or cabbage. To avoid a reversal of fortune, do not eat lobster or chicken.

7. Forty to 45 percent of American adults make one or more resolutions. Top resolutions are weight loss, exercise, quitting smoking and better money management. By the second week in January, 25 percent have abandoned their resolutions.

8. In Italy, people wear underwear on New Year’s Day as a symbol of good luck of the upcoming year.

9. People in some cultures; believe that if you eat anything that is round like a cake or donuts you will attract wealth.

10. In the Gregorian calendar, January was named after the God Janus who has two faces. one looking backward and the other one looking toward the future.

May you have all that you need, not all that you want. May your friends be good and true offering you the companionship that strengthens you day by day. May you have the comfort of peace through hardships. May you always remember to look to your heavenly Father with each passing day. This is the prayer I pray for you. I hope you have a blessed New Year!