New Year's Eve....

I'm so glad these aren't the good old days, when I would have been at a party until way after midnight, drinking too much and ringing in the New Year. Witnessing at least one fight between rednecks (or possibly their women) and at least one marital squabble. On one such occasion I drank an entire bottle of peach Schnapps all by myself, and I had to play the piano in church the next morning. I kept getting up during the service to go throw up. I was afraid the last song was going to have to be sung a capella. (Luckily it was a Presbyterian church, and they neither asked me to resign nor held an intervention in which I had to publicly confess my sins.) I am mortified when I look back on that now.

Thankfully, those days existed in a previous wifetime, and I much prefer the more laid-back lifestyle hubby and I have now. It could be the fact that we CANNOT STAY AWAKE until midnight. In our eleven years of marriage we have never been awake to ring in the New Year (hubby says he doesn't think he's EVER stayed up until midnight on New Year's Eve, but I just reminded him of the year before we married and we stayed at the Blue Rose Lounge* and the band counted down the seconds until midnight), and it has so far gone on quite blissfully unaware of our absence. It will be so again tonight. Hubby has to work tomorrow (on his BIRTHDAY, no less), so staying up until midnight is out of the question. We will be awakened briefly by the neighbors and their fireworks (they've already been practicing), but we'll probably abide by our standard 8:30 bedtime.

Waking up on January 1st from a good night's sleep WITHOUT a hangover is the happiest way I can think of to start off the New Year.

However you celebrate it, HAPPY NEW YEAR, y'all!!!!
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*The former Blue Rose Lounge is now a tire store. That should give you some indication of the classiness of the place.