It's been a pretty great year and it's fitting that we're celebrating the end of it with a pretty great (if low-key) evening. Lamb shanks are braising for dinner, we have a lovely bottle of wine to enjoy with dinner and we've got a few movies for later. Honestly, this is going to be one of the best New Year's ever.
This has made me think about New Year's past and the various ways I've celebrated/"celebrated" the end of another year; here are a few that I can remember.
1996 - I was 16 and in grade 11. After spending the week of Christmas sick with pneumonia, I spent the week of New Year's sick with a fever. That translated into a week spent dozing on the couch and delirious dreams about a psychotic Santa Claus. I spent December 31 in the same sick stupor, still on the couch, listening to the local radio station - Moose FM 103.3 - and fell asleep at about 12:00:01.
1999 - Oh, the millenium. This year was actually a little dull, but I do remember getting out of a car (completely sober) and tripping over the seat belt. With both feet caught, I managed to get my hands out to brace myself but still landed knees-first on the asphalt and gave myself a lovely round bruise on each kneecap. Walking hurt for a bit after that.
2002 - I was in Toronto and went to the Brunny with some friends. What a dirty, dirty night. There was an inappropriate kiss at midnight, crying and smoking on the floor of the bathroom, and not knowing where my roommate/ex-boyfriend had disappeared to. The things you do at 22.
2005 - The first New Year's I spent with my mom since before I was old enough to baby-sit. I was in Parry Sound for the Christmas holiday and decided to spend New Year's there too. I was actually working a job that made me incredibly miserable and Mom spent the evening listening to me commiserate before breaking out the shrimp ring and Scrabble. We had a wonderful time together, toasted at midnight and went to bed right after. It was a pretty special night.
2007 - My final year spending New Year's waitressing. Like many previous years spent serving (at a restaurant that shall not be named), things went fine until after dinner and people didn't leave. Normally this would be a good thing, only we weren't expecting anyone to stay after dinner; they were supposed to go to a second venue for the party. But they hung around and we didn't have the bar staff or the supplies or even the cash float to make it work. At one point, the bartender was accepting plastic only for payment, as he had no change to give. I managed to hide in the kitchen, doing clean-up, for most of the fiasco but I did get stuck washing glassware behind the bar at one point and people kept trying to order drinks from me. I made some pretty awful drinks for them and just gave them away. Then the chaos finally ended and I discovered my camera had been stolen from a staff-only area. Awesome.
2008 - I didn't have anything planned this year and was preparing to spend a quiet night in, when a friend called and said he was also without plans. That quickly turned into us getting together for a night of broiled steaks, cold beer and Canada vs U.S.A at the WJC. And then Canada won the game, which made the night all the better.
Even though I often think of New Year's as the biggest dump truck with streamers of the year, I've had many many good ones. Happy New Year to everyone and here's to many more good ones to come!
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