The New Year’s Eve That Wasn’t

So it is my birthday. And after 12 years Trevor has managed to wear me down and got things his way. It has been an ongoing discussion about New year’s in this family. When I was little my parents always had family and friends over and we ate and played games and then rang in the New Year. They always sang Happy Birthday after Auld Lang Syne and I opened my present from my folks then. On New Years Day my mom would always have a turkey dinner and have her best friend’s family over. Their daughter was my best friend and the grandma was like a grandmother to me too.

As I became a teenager, I always went to Youth Group for their annual ALL NIGHTER. When those stopped I celebrated with my friends either at my house or at someone elses. Probably the best New Years Eve I ever spent was the one where my friend and I bought tickets to go to The Wild Pony. It was a country bar we hung out at a few times a week while I was living in Vancouver. I was young and had no responsibilities and everyone there was celebrating no responsibilities as well.

Once Trev and I got married New Year’s became the one thing we could never agree on. I have tried to explain to him how much I enjoyed celebrating New Years Eve with friends and family because it was always such a special time for me. Our first New Year’s I can’t even remember except that we were very broke because we had just gotten married and just celebrated our first Christmas. Trev made me dinner and gave me a book on card game rules. It was very sweet because it was so simple and logical. He thought that way we could learn to play some card games together and enjoy each other’s company which we did.

Over the years we have sort of alternated between taking part in a big bash either in our home or at a friends house. One year we were at Trevor’s mom and dads and Taylor was a year and a half. Trev’s dad was working so his mom didn’t want to do anything at all. Trev asked her to drive into town and go for dinner but she refused. We didn’t feel comfortable leaving her behind so we spent New Year’s Eve going to bed early. The next day we drove to Prince George to see his sister and he had promised a nice dinner out with them. He even promised Seafood since it is my favourite. When we got there he decided with his sister and her boyfriend that they would all enjoy Chinese (one of my least favourites) so that is where we went for dinner that night.

Some great New Year’s Eves in our married life had to be the one year we had a party at my friends house. Trev and I left for a bit to go say Happy New Years to some of our YK family and when we came back everyone had decorated the house with birthday decorations. I was about to turn 31 so they told me they were celebrating the last day of me being 30. It was very sweet. The first year we were in our new house we had a huge last minute bash with about 30 kids and 30 adults attending. It was great, complete with Karoake, Settlers of Catan and a great view of some fireworks. The next year we had a quiet elegant celebration with some very close friends and Trev managed to have steak and lobster ready for a classy midnight supper.

This year, I teased Trev that he finally got his wish. He didn’t have to celebrate New Year’s. He was working and did not want to come in last night opting instead to come in tonight (His argument always being that my birthday is the 1st not the 31st) I also was in no mood to party and if it has not been for the kids I would likely have been happy going to bed early in a pouty depressed mood. Instead we went to the folks and the kids alternated between watching Curious George and Cars and going downstairs to play on the PS2. As midnight got closer Taylor and I engaged in a game of Crib Wars and then we handed out the Party Poppers and rang in the New Year by popping confetti all over Mom and Dad’s front deck.

We came home just before 1am and I was thankful to have missed the phone call from my two sisters who were celebrating together in Calgary. I wished that they had stayed so we could have all celebrated together here. The kids were already in PJs and headed to bed as did I. I was delightfully awakened at 3:15 by Mykayla with vomit all over her and the floor. After I cleaned everything up my stomach was doing the flip flops so I perched on the lazy boys in the family room and watched some TV before falling back asleep.

Today so far has been spent in bed lying around watching TV and enjoying the 2 egg and toast breakfast my firstborn made for me. I think now I will go downstairs and chase teh kids to clean their rooms while I clean the main floor that hasn’t been cleaned since my sister left 2 days ago. A dinner of leftovers and cake is on the menu at the folks place tonight so I am not going to worry about cooking.

I hope all of you enjoyed your New Year’s Eve and that blessings flow your way in 2007.