Last night Big Ag and I headed into town for 6 p.m. reservations at a very nice Italian restaurant we always visit on New Year's Eve. My goal each New Year's Eve is to be in bed by 10 p.m. and wake up, hangover-free, feeling fresh and bright on New Year's Day.
New Year's Eve and I broke up many years ago and I have no regrets about ending the relationship.
This year, our dinner featured some great wine and appetizers, plus angel hair pasta with tomato fillets and olive oil, ravioli with scallops and mushrooms in a saffron sauce, and chocolate torté for dessert. It was a grand meal, after which we came home and watched a little of the New Year's specials on television before nodding off to sleep at 10:30 or so.
In the 1980's my New Year's Eve adventures (before we broke up) could have been titled, "A Series of Unfortunate Events." There were relationship breakups and arguments, awful parties and drinking to the point of throwing up. Once I gave up on those "fun" things I and decided to volunteer to work every New Year's Eve at the Observatory, we had bomb threats to the building, ruined fireworks galas and bad accidents on the street leading up to where the building itself was.
Eventually I decided the only prudent thing to do was to break things off completely with New Year's Eve and never look back. When the kids were little, we'd always make a restaurant run in the late afternoon and bring in lots of good food, and the kids would stay up while I, as per tradition, turned in at 10 p.m. to avoid my "holiday ex."
And so, our breakup has become a permanent thing, and that's a happy thing for me. New Year's Day and I are still going strong as a couple, so with a clear head and bright eyes I wish you all a very happy 2016.
May you know, or learn, what days to take a chance on (for me, Jan.1) and what to steer clear of (Dec. 31st).
That's a great restaurant for any occasion or none at all. And today is bright and sunny with no chilly wind. So here's to a happy and healthy 2016.
ReplyDeleteSame to you, Denise! I think we need to enjoy the dry weather while it lasts, next week looks to be a wet one (not complaining though!).
DeleteI'm no fan of New Year's Eve either. though mine was nice this year. I had a brunch yesterday and it was quite nice to not be terribly hungover while preparing it! Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteA New Year's brunch sounds just perfect. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteNew Year's Eve is just another evening here. I never really understood the reason for a production to ring in a 'new year', when the demarcation line is such an arbitrary thing. New year? New day, maybe ... I will concede that to the celebrators.
ReplyDeleteThis year, we invited friends over to watch a hockey game (we lost). I made veggie soup and bread machine bread, and they brought dessert. The game was over at 8:30, then were headed home by 9:00 to do their best to be home in time to avoid the late-night crazies, and we were snoozing, like you, by 10pm.
That sounds perfect to me.
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