How do you celebrate the New Year? By watching football games? Cooking special foods? Making New Year's resolutions to lose weight, to stop smoking, or to spend more time with your children?

However you choose to celebrate, you can bet the Internet has plenty of resources to help you along.

Did you know that the day celebrated as New Year's Day was not always January 1? Around 2000 BC, the Babylonians celebrated the beginning of a new year on what is now March 23. Visit New Year's--History and Customs, to learn the history of New Year's Day. Does the year 2000 start a new millennium? Click on the link at the bottom of the page to find out.

For delightful activities for children, visit Billy Bear's Happy New Year's Page. They can come up with their own New Year's resolutions by playing the Goal Making Game, or they can print out New Year's clipart, stationery, or a calendar. Play the New Year's Baby Game, or color and email New Year's cards.

If you'd like to send online greeting cards to celebrate the New Year, visit:

Blue Mountain Arts

Bristo's Free Online Greeting Cards

For recipes for both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, visit Cocktails from the Mining Company. Click on Cocktail Recipes A to Z, then scroll down to "Mocktails" for non-alcoholic versions of your favorite drinks.

Hoppin' John is a traditional Southern dish served on New Year's Day for good luck throughout the year. Visit Holiday Recipes to learn how to make this delicious dish using black-eyed peas and long-grain white rice.

ESPN.com offers an impressive site dedicated to the College Football Bowl Games. Find out when your favorite teams are playing and who is televising the games. Under Scores & Schedules, click on the different bowl games to find stats, bowl history, team roster, and news stories about the teams.

We certainly can't forget football recipes, so visit Crisco's Football Championship Recipes page for recipes like Football Field Sugar Cookies or Southern Pecan Bourbon Pie.

We'll close with a site dedicated to the Chinese New Year: Inside China - Celebrate Chinese New Year. This year, the Chinese New Year begins on February 7 and is the Year of the Ox.

Robin Nobles is a freelance writer who can be reached at robinnobles@robinsnest.com.

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