AH, GOOD OL' NEW YEAR'S EVE
It's never been a hugely celebrated evening in my family, although I've had a few memorable ones. It's sort of an afterthought that suddenly springs up in the lull after Christmas. I suppose it's not too surprising, since the only real icon of the holiday is a bottle of booze. So what marvelous revelry did we plan for tonight?
Hmmm....good question.
I did have to plan ahead to buy a bottle of Martinelli's, and I suppose I should probably put it in the fridge soon.
I did have to plan ahead to search RedBox.com for possible movie rental choices. And a good thing, too, because Horton Hears a Who was out of stock in our nearest location.
It also took a little planning to grab the two RedBox coupons for free rentals before we dashed out the door to grab the possibly last copy of Horton Hears A Who.
And it did take some forethought to have Jared make a "poster," complete with glitter (it's our first foray into that messy craft medium) that says Happy New Year.
And now, I'm in my pj's at 6:45, the boys are in the tub (soon to have their pj's on, too), and soon we'll pop in an animated, based-on-a-Dr. Seuss-book movie.
Oh yeah, and Ryan's still at work.
I told him he has to leave before 11:00, before everyone gets drunk and starts playing bumper cars. Let's hope he doesn't have to stay that late.
I did get another movie, a grown-up movie, for us to watch. We usually stay up until midnight, so that shouldn't be a problem. We'll stop the movie (if we have to) to watch the ball drop and drink some Martinelli's (which might be cold by then), then turn the movie back.
That's the extent of our celebrating.
And then there's New Year's Day. It's usually a day to take down Christmas decorations and work on home improvement projects.

It sounds awful on paper, but there's nothing I'd change about it. It's a good, quiet life.