Kevin's Watch

Me and my family ring in the new year virtually the same way every time. We aspire to many things on New Years Eve but rarely manage them. Thanks to the Sci Fi Channel there is the annual Twilight Zone marathon that we try to enjoy and since it is only we three there are only a few things to occupy our time until the big moment. Sometimes we just sit and watch the marathon. Other times we play board games etc. But one thing is a certainty.
Around 10:30 or 11:00 pm both my wife and my daughter will likely fall asleep. They've told me hours before that they do indeed want to be roused a few minutes before 12 midnight. I always remain awake. I always wake them up. I always get a groggy "What? I was sleeping! Leave me alone." And I always end up prodding them both until they realize why they are being disturbed and finally sit up and await the stroke of midnight. We share a glass of sparkling grape juice and then I'm left to clean up the mess while they both fall back to sleep.

We'll do it again, just as I've described. I promise you. However should events transpire in a surprising way this year I will be sure to notify you all.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

I usually go outside to bang pots and pans together and scream at the sky. Only this year year, for the first year, I'll be inebriated when I do it.

*speechless at the implication that Balon has obeyed the laws regarding the legal age for alcohol consumption*

Anyway, traditionally, for most of the last 17 years, we've had a huge (inebriated) party at my uncles place for New Years. This time, him being dead and all, the GF and I are escaping into the mountains by ourselves.

So I'm away 'til the 3rd of Jan or so. Have a good New Years guys.

Be safe.

--A

The only tradition that I will be keeping is doing something quiet at home. . . perhaps have one friend over. The real tradition is going to my best friend's home New Year day for our all-day party. Everyone arrives around noon, and we make snacks, play board games and prolly Rock Band this year. Later in the day we start drinking the alcohol and making more substantial food. Some time around 11pm I usually get tired and drive home.

..i go to 2nd hand shoppes and try to find something that inspires me to fix, repair, or get creative with in order to add another year to its existence. This year i found a lamp shade, a Tiffany style lamp shade . I plan on giving it a lot longer extension of existence by matching it with a proper harp, post and finial inorder to marry it up with a old wood pole lamp fixture that i've come by. A new year for it looks promising.

I'm reminded of New Year's '78/'79 I it spent in my apartment in Princeton NJ: although I'd been quite inebriated over the holidays I ran out of gas and spent the 31st and the 1st reading the original Foundation series back to back, overnight, stone cold sober. I was interrupted twice when a car hit a lamppost outside my window and another accident occurred on Nassau street. In both cases I called 911 (or it's equivalent) and went out to administer aid then went straight back to Asimov without blinking (dam I'm a geek).

This year I'll be seeing if I can sleep through it, as we'll be getting up at 3am at the latest for a flight to Tampa to visit the family for a couple days.

Cagliostro wrote:This year I'll be seeing if I can sleep through it, as we'll be getting up at 3am at the latest for a flight to Tampa to visit the family for a couple days.

Have fun in our neck of the woods, Cags.

We are hosting NYE again this year. To prevent a reenactment of last year's party - discussing the increasingly anachronistic US electoral college - we are going to play lots and lots of RockBand and SingStar.

Alcohol will be available as an option - but I'm guessing most will imbibe sparingly so as not to lose any RB competitive advantage .

The next day, we plan to sleep in, go out for a big breakfast - and conveniently forgetting any food resolutions that may have kicked in.... then go buy a new dishwasher.

Yeah, you can say it - we live on the edge.



[And speaking of Florida, we are coming to Pensacola in January to make vacation use of the F-i-L's house]

dw

aTOMiC wrote:

Cagliostro wrote:This year I'll be seeing if I can sleep through it, as we'll be getting up at 3am at the latest for a flight to Tampa to visit the family for a couple days.

Have fun in our neck of the woods, Cags.

If it wasn't such a short trip, I'll see about a mini-meetup, but it really is going to be a very short visit.

Avatar wrote:*speechless at the implication that Balon has obeyed the laws regarding the legal age for alcohol consumption*

hahaha

well... alcohol isn't my inebriation of choice.....

Dude, huffing airplane glue is bad for you. How many times do we have to keep telling you?

but those models are just too damn fun! and besides, I can only go to FunLandz that way.

Well, here's a fun little game I used to play, and it might appeal to you. I wouldn't suggest the choking version, just the self-induced hypocapnia, as that is what we did as kids.










After blacking out one day and falling flat on my face, I decided that this wasn't a game I wanted to play any more. Now I'm glad I didn't.

haha

I played frisbee when I was a kid.

Every year on Jan. 1 I look in my wallet, wishing I still had some money left over from the car repair I just had to pay for. This year it looks like I'm replacing the water pump; last year was the steering wheel, the year before t was the brakes, and I can't remember what it was before that, but it was something. The only year I can remember my car not breaking down right about now is 1/1/04, and that's the yeah my ex came home drunk, accidentally let the dog out where he got hit by some other drunk driver, and I ended up having to bury the poor guy......the nice thing is my cars tend to only break down once a year.

No matter how hard I try I usually fall asleep around 10:00PM and then listen to my wife complain the next day about me falling asleep at 10:00PM and her not getting the "midnight kiss".

More family traditions bite the dust as the girls get older: For several years, we would eat chocolate fondue and watch the ball drop, pop those little champagne-bottle-shaped poppers and throw balloons around and generally terrify the cats.

This year, Batty (and Shara_Lunison and Mr. Wommy) will be in Roanoke, so it'll be just me and Magickmaker (and the Lady Morgana). I've laid in a supply of (mostly healthy) munchies. We'll watch some movies, then watch the ball drop. We're forgoing the poppers and balloons this year. (Morgan doesn't know it, but she's really grateful!)

New Year's Day used to be a big ham dinner like Mom used to make, but several years ago it dawned on me that by New Year's we were all pretty much big-dinner'd out. So now it's turkey ham sandwiches and sides.

My NYE will be spent avoiding watching the ball drop on the Dick Clark's Rocking Eve-not that I don't love the "ageless wonder", bless his heart, but I need to do everything I can to avoid the twin gatekeeper gargoyles at the entrance to Hell: Ryan Seecrust and Fergie. LOL

A lifetime ago, I was into the balloon-and-champagne thing as well.

I'll still watch the big ball drop, but before that I'll probably put on Beethoven's 9th.

I don't know this Ryan-and-Fergie couple you speak of. And I don't really care to know 'em. Sometimes it's nice to be out of touch.