Had a good time at our friends house last night. Can't really call it a party...there were our two kids, our friends two kids, and then one other married couple who don't have kids yet. So, not a party, but a nice friendly get together. Had some beer, had some champagne, and had some 'slush'. 'Slush' was new to my wife and I...we think it may be a mid-western thing, since our friends trace it back to their mom in Wisconsin. There are many different kinds I guess...this one is strawberry ice cream, a couple of different sherbets, some shaved ice, and some brandy. Mix it all up, and freeze it in a pail. When ready to have some, add it to a glass, pour in some 7-Up, and your ready to go. If you are like me, you might mix in a little extra shot of whatever is handy(rum, whiskey or more brandy). My wife liked it because, really, the initial mix doesn't have THAT much brandy in it, so realistically you can drink it to your hearts content, and not feel any effect, BUT still hang out with the big kids at the big kid table.
The kids hung out up-stairs, watching movies, while the adults were down-stairs playing games. About 9, we got all the kids in PJ's and told them they could fall asleep watching the movies, and we would wake them up for midnight. Our friends kids passed right out, but of course, because my children think I am liar who would not remember to wake them up, they stayed up all on their own.
To pass the time, we played several different games: Farkle(a dice game), Mexican Train(dominoes) and then Creationary...a Lego game meant for kids, but totally playable by a group of adults(especially if 4 of the 6 have been getting their drink on.) Essentially, it is like pictionary, but instead of drawing words, you get little cards with picture of things that you need to build from a tray of lego's, and your team needs to guess what you are building. We were a little uncertain about it at first, but...it turned out to be really fun.
Midnight was nice...I got to share a couch with my wife and both of my girls, getting a kiss from all of them. My buddy had bought some sparklers and poppers, so despite the temperature outside being 11 degrees, we went outside so the kids could wave some sparklers and in general make a mess. I got my 5-year old to yell 'Hooray for magnesium' as she ran around with her sparkler. When the sparklers were done we took advantage of the opportunity to herd the kids in the car, say our goodbyes and head for home. Yes...we were safe. Taking the hit for the team, my wife had had 1 weak cup of slush early, then she had done her champagne toast on east coast time.
End result...kids were in bed by 12:45, and I think I followed them about half an hour later.
New Years Day usually means one thing for me: Football. Not having cable, things are a little different. I am limited to using ESPN3.com to stream one game at a time. I think it has a tile setting where I can watch 4 small games at once, but....I'm focusing on the Rose Bowl now, and I'll watch the other BCS(I think it's UConn vs Oklahoma) game tonight on shear principle, unless I can convince my wife to watch Book of Eli instead.
To ease my hunger pangs during the football games, I got all kinds of motivated and made my first attempt at refried beans. Not bad...instead of making fresh bacon, I used saved grease from the fridge. Through a little bit of cheese and some sour cream in, and it was very satisfactory.
I'm not much for resolutions, especially because I have the same ones every year. Lose some weight, be a better dad, win the lottery...so, tonight, for dinner, we are having green beans, fruit, and venison back-strap on a bed of fresh lettuce. After dinner, I am going to teach my family how to play Uno. Yes, even my wife, who stunned me 5 minutes ago by saying she has never played Uno.
Even worse, when I told her not to worry, it's just like Crazy 8's, she gave me a blank stare. Sometimes I worry she was locked in a closet as a kid...but the truth is, she was kind of a 'change of life' baby, and as such, there is an 8 year difference between her and her siblings, so, there wasn't a lot of family game night.
Wish me luck.
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