You know, I can't think of a time when I was out late, partying, on New Year's Eve. Actually, there may have been one time, but I think I'm going to leave that "Animal House" type of story for another time. ;)
Instead, there were two mild, laid back New Year's Eve nights that I remember enjoying.
The first was New Year's Eve, 1999, on the eve of 2000. I was at my first duty assignment in the Air Force, stationed just north of Santa Barbara, CA.
I'd only been there about a month (since the very end of November), and I had yet to receive my household goods (the delivery of my furniture, boxes of clothing and other items, etc).
So I was in my apartment, with a futon (basically an air mattress on the floor), a set of plates, glasses, flatware, and cooking items borrowed from a place on base that stocks this type of stuff for just such a use. You could sign out this stuff for a certain period of time while waiting for your stuff to be delivered by moving truck.
Anyway, a friend of mine from Chicago had come out to spend Christmas and New Year's with me, flying out of L.A. back to Chicago on January 2, 2000.
I'd gotten a second futon for her use while she stayed with me. So we were basically "camping on the floor" in my apartment this whole time. My stuff had been scheduled to arrive a few days before Christmas, but had been rescheduled for the beginning of January, after my friend left.
Well, for New Year's Eve, the last night before 2K, we decided to "splurge" and we went to a hotel for the night, so we could sleep on actual beds.
We ended up getting some champagne for a toast at midnight. But we were so tired, we only stayed up until midnight Eastern time (remember, we were Pacific time, being in California), and went to bed at 9 PM local time!
I think it was our having our own bed for the night, instead of an air mattress on the floor, that made us so sleepy. But it was such a nice "treat," especially since I'd been sleeping on the floor for a month.
The next time was while I was still in the Air Force, this time in New Mexico, New Year's Eve, 2006.
Andrew and I had a 10-month-old at the time. We were both working full time (with my having to get up at 4:15 AM every weekday morning). We were tired parents, basically.
So when New Year's Eve rolled around, we had no plans to stay up til Midnight. Instead, we got Livie to bed at her usual time. Andrew and I had eaten lentil tacos for dinner after she had gone to bed. (Click here for the lentil taco recipe.)
And then we hung out in the living room watching TV; we had satellite TV, so we must've been watching a movie or hockey or something.We played Scrabble at the same time, my hoping this would be our new New Year's Eve tradition. (I think I won, by the way. Andrew said it's because I read a lot more than he does, so my vocabulary's better. At least that's what he said.)
Now, since we were tired parents of a child under 1-year-old, we were NOT going to make it til Midnight, like I mentioned. So at 10:00 PM, which was Midnight Eastern time, we opened a bottle of New Mexican sparkling wine and toasted the New Year, since the U.S. already had a time zone in 2007.
It was a really nice evening, just the two of us spending quality time together.
Somehow, ever since that night, we've intended on playing Scrabble on New Year's Eve, but somehow we've been pooped and haven't gotten around to starting a game. Maybe tonight . . .
Happy New Year's, everyone!
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