Day 5: Auld lang syne

Dear Fabulous Spouse,

I love the new Army threads! I hope that your flight across country is quick ant turbulence free.  Sorry that there will be no drink service on board.  Hopefully, you will be able to get out to celebrate New Year’s Eve with the other IAs.  Will call when the ball drops!

We Miss You!

Love,

Me

Translation: Next year, I’m having a party

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne ?

CHORUS:

For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

And surely you’ll buy your pint cup !
and surely I’ll buy mine !
And we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

One of the unexpected but obvious side effects of any deployment is that your spouse is not at home. (I know, duh!).  Therefore, those holidays… and non-holidays alike… are bound to be different too.  There are times when this is a blessing, like the year that Girl Friday was 2 months old, Fabulous Spouse was deployed, and we ate turkey sandwiches in our pajamas in lieu of Christmas Dinner.

There are also times when you just for a minute wish that it weren’t so.

New Year’s Eve is a fun holiday in our home.  Traditionally, it has been movies and hors d'oeuvres and champagne (sparkling cider for the kids).  Some years we have had parties, some years we have been at home, but it was always the same.  We watched the ball drop at 9pm in Time Square, and it was New Years.  Then we’d wake the kids or stay up and watch the fireworks at the space needle.

I come from a family of alcoholics.  It is what it is.  Therefore, I do not drink if I am the only adult in the house. Period.  It is just a me thing, but it is part of my mental failsafe from going down that path. (Again, I probably have a reservation with a therapist in my future, but oh well.) So, my traditionally slightly fuzzy holiday is crystal clear.   This is a good thing, as we had kids at the house.

So, it is New Years Eve, we had a house full of kids playing Xbox upstairs, and Girl Friday was down the street for an evening play date.  At 8:45PM, I went to the refrigerator to find the sparkling cider which Girl Friday put in yesterday, and I could not find it.  I checked the fridge in the garage.  No dice.  No Girl Friday either… as she is down the street.  Three minutes to ball drop, and with a sinking feeling in my stomach, I open the freezer.  Yup.  There it is.

Fortunately, I had leftover strawberry cider from Thanksgiving. So, we had a tiny amount of that just as the ball dropped.  Then the boys grabbed some cream puffs and scattered back up to kill things with a quick happy New Year to dad.

There I was, alone on the couch. Cut on my thumb from trying to start to pick up the mess in the freezer, a MESS in the freezer, and a dawning realization that there was nobody to kiss at the New Year.

Therefore, I have come to the realization that I like having people around on New Year’s.  I like having a fun atmosphere and a drink or two.  The couch is a lonely place for one.  I am going to make sure that the down stairs is clean, and I am having a party next year to rock in my 2013.  I am probably having a party for St. Patrick’s Day too.