For us, the grand-daddy event of the year must be New Year's Eve. With the exception of last year, we've been hosting NY Eve for the last 12 years. Last year with Justine being only 2 months old, we didn't want to disturb her sleep patterns. So what did we do? We packed her up and moved the party to Fongpay's in Walnut Creek. It was a smaller party because of bad timing. Winnie went into labor and Meghan was born. Even though we were happy and excited for them, we really missed having Oli as our 4th for mahjong! We had to call in my brother-in-law as a sub. It just wasn't the same.Hard to believe Oli, Ray, Fongpay and I have been playing for 12 years. Mary plays too (we affectionately call her "the landmine" because whoever sits next to her tends to lose), but when she started to date Ted, they began going to LA instead to hang out with better people. This year she's all prego and can't travel. So being the gracious guy that I am, I again extend an invitation to her. She tells me "yeah maybe" and quickly changes the subject.
Steve and Betty also used to play until they abandoned us and moved to Seattle in 2004 (I mean so what if his parents and son are up there...). Despite being forsaken, we still miss them the most. I especially miss trading insults and disgusting anecdotes with Betty! I can still do it over the phone but it's not the same because you can't see their facial reactions. Last week they sent me this photo with their grandchildren. Betty's real happy now that we can call her "grandma-mar" and also because she qualifies for that additional 10% Tuesday discount at Ross :)So back to this year. We still have our core group of players but with every year we have some new people joining us. It's like an open invitation and we always have extra food on standby. We play MJ, video games, board games, install software... and this year the Mac users outnumbered the peecee losers. Hey that rhymes! – Sorry, no offense, guys.
With every party you have two kinds of friends. The first kind are the ones that always leave first. "The kids need to go to bed..." is the most common excuse. They adhere strictly to their self-imposed rules and structure and their lives are amazingly disciplined. The second kind are the ones that always stay to the end. They hang out, channel surf, reheat the snacks... continually looking for reasons to avoid going home. They lack ambition, have a miserable home-life and their children suffer constantly. I think that would be us.And then there's Patty. Someone who refuses to leave!
Last year Patty stayed until 3:30. This year they stayed until 12:45 p.m. (um yeah, the next day)! I had to cook breakfast for them and almost lunch too! But regardless of whatever things we've heard and know about her, we still consider her a great friend :) Their kids are smart, funny, and energetic. But Nathan is the most spoiled 9 year-old I know. Can you believe he already has his very own Macbook? Like their parents, they don't need sleep. They would probably STILL be at our house if they didn't have a plane to catch!
The party's over... sniff, sniffThis weekend we packed up our tree and decorations. I think we finally finished off all the leftovers too. Even with three kids, our house just seems so empty and quiet compared to last week. The rain and the cold just adds to the glum feeling as we continue to wind down. Tomorrow we will have to readjust and resume normalcy. The boys are back in school, traffic will be horrible, and all my bosses will return. It makes me wonder, What exactly is so happy about the new year anyway?? I personally find it kind of depressing. No joy here. Oh well, just don't expect me to wish anyone Happy New Year, because I definitely prefer last year.
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