For all the people who party on New Years Eve, I’m sure they’re happy it’s on a Friday and they’ll have 2 days to recover until it’s back to work or school. For us, it’s like any other night. Of course, we watch the ball drop and say “Happy New Years!!” and give our kisses.
This past week has been nice, I’ve had since Wednesday off from work. Bailey has had batting practice all week during the day so I could finally go watch him and hang out with everyone too. That has been a lot of fun.
What was your week like? Any plans for New Years Eve, or New years day?
Us Girls..Our Views 
We usually don’t do anything big for New Year’s Eve. I might watch the ball drop, or see if there’s anything broadcast here in Iowa for the ‘change’, but otherwise, it’s PJ City for me.
We will, however, be playing host to Josh’s best buddy, Trace, and his mom Jennifer (who is fast becoming a really good friend to me) during the day. Trace also got a DS from Santa this year, so we might try and see if we can synch the two machines. We will DEFINITELY have a bit of a Wii tourney. Trace is 6, and not very patient with the ‘sit and play with them’ video games, so the whole DS thing might be a wash, but I suspect he’s gonna LOVE the Wii Sports games. And there’s always the Nerf Guns. Last time he was here, they fought World Wars 3-6, as well as a few Star Wars battles. It was a riot.
Honestly, I’m looking forward to Monday, when everything returns to normal. Josh goes back to school, I get back into the gym-thing, and we get on with gettin’ on. I love the holidays, but I also love the normalcy that comes with the new year.
Tomorrow, both Jason and I have the day off. Depending on the weather, we’ll head up to the middle school for some batting practice for Bailey. If it’s awful out, we’ll go. Sound backwards? Yea, I’m sure. Well the HS coach is who runs it all, and he is a empty nester right now. If the weather is bad he’ll be in town and will open the cage, if not he is taking his daughter to Grand Rapids to get moved into her dorm/apartment. And since all his kids are now in college, he is staying busy with the younger kids. Great guy!
Other than that, we’ll be playing Wii Mario. We’re taking turns right now playing, having a lot of fun. Thanks gma & gpa! 🙂
At night, we’ll probably watch some movies, and eat some junk food. Have our own little NYE party!
Grand Rapids? That can’t be right. Rapid City, Grand Forks…oh I don’t know!
That was very confusing for my little brain!!! LMAO!!!
Well, this week didn’t start out so hot, what with being sick and sleep-deprived and behind on everything. I have gotten a lot done in the past couple days, though, so things are looking up. My sense of smell / taste is back, woo hoo, so now I can make up for the calories I missed over Chrismas! (Wish I’d lost a couple more pounds first, though).
I agree with Laura, getting back to normal sounds wonderful. I think 2011 may be the year I find my rhythm. I need it bad. Getting tired of swinging from productive / motivated to hating my job and back.
I don’t have any solid plans for the weekend. The kids will be home from school tomorrow (Friday), but I’ll still be working, albeit at a lighter pace (I hope). We will all probably go to some kind of live show (not chosen yet) and do some kid-friendly partying until Midnight. On Saturday, most likely just wake up late, maybe go out for lunch / dinner (will anyone be open?), get some work done after putting the kids to bed. Sunday should be a normal Sunday. I am looking forward to going to church and then easing back into a work rhythm.
We have our own little superstition around here, that anything you want to accomplish during the year, you should do a little of it on New Year’s. So we try to do a little work, a little exercise, a little socializing, reading, charity, etc., to increase the chances that we’ll do those things successfully all year.
I’ve been messing around at The Stir again, but I have decided to let it slide through the holiday. I will set a strict rule by New Year’s. Like maybe visiting that site only 1 day per week (or less), so it can’t become so addictive. This morning I caught myself getting angry that I accidently switched away from the screen I was looking at. It’s not like anything they have there is really worth reading (other than my comments, of course). Meanwhile I’ve been completely neglecting Rush. This will not do. But it’s fun sometimes to do something completely useless. As long as it stays under control.
One thing I really need to do is get in touch with some old friends from before I had kids. There are several with whom I’m supposed to schedule lunch / dinner / coffee, but we never seem to get around to it, and it’s been well over a year since I spoke to any of them. I should get that accomplished early in 2011, before our next really heavy work season starts.
The kids got a bunch of games for Christmas, and we’re starting to learn how to play them. They haven’t really played board or card games until recently. I think this will become a new activity that we’ll do one day a week, because the time is right. They seem so much more grown-up lately. In late 2011 my shorty will turn 5! Yikes.
So what great thoughts and plans do you all have for 2011?
At this moment I’m not sure what we’re doing! We are not planning on going out anymore so it’s kind of up in the air. I did buy the original Apples to Apples game last night so I want to break that out. Trin got the junior version for Christmas and it was so much fun I wanted the ‘adult’ one! We’ll have to try and hit the grocery store tomorrow since Toby said he’d go while Trin and I were at bball practice only for me to get home and find out he hadn’t gone yet! Men! I am looking forward to school starting again also. For the routine alone! But, it will only get crazier from here on out with basketball every weekend during January. Fun times!
We have the kid’s version of Apples to Apples. Got it last year, but I think it might have been a little early for Josh. This year, he ended up playing it for a couple of hours with his cousins, so I’m guessing we should break that one back out.
One game that we all love is “You Gotta Be Kidding!” – it’s the kid’s version of “Would You Rather”, all made by the same company, Zobmondo. We really enjoy that one. Some of the questions are just outlandish! And Josh really likes the screaming hot pepper. It’s a lot of fun.
OH!!! And if I ever come up there to see you guys, I’m totally bringing this game that a friend gave me. It’s called “Quelf”. Totally bizarre, goofy game. It’s got silly stuff that you’re supposed to do (my mom played half the game with “Quelf” written on her forehead, and my dad had to goose-step around the table while shouting an announcement), and half of it, you have to do and NOT LAUGH. I’ll bet your crowd would really get a kick out of it.
But I get to be the Ninja Monkey.
If you EVER? Oh honey, you’d better make it up here!
Right now, I’m trying to tie it into our annual pilgrimage up near Hayward, Wi. We always take 35 straight down through Minne on the way home, so we might be able to sidetrack over to you guys.
That would be a BLAST! 🙂
My brother brought Apples to Apples over for Christmas an got a bunch of folks to play it. I was busy doing something else. But they say it’s really fun.
All the relatives in Canada have been talking about that game for months and how fun it is. I’d like to know what it’s about.
I’ll pack it with Quelf. ‘course, mine is the kids’ version…
OK folks, in the spirit of becoming a better person in 2011, I need you to straighten me out. I just got done with a discussion in which I was informed that I am weird because I like to take my own clothes out of the dryer and do something with them, as opposed to someone pulling them out when I’m not looking and stuffing them unceremoniously on top of the dryer. I thought that it was rather typical for women to want to be careful with their laundry.
So a few weeks ago, Mr. Houseguest decided to do laundry, and I had a load of clothes in the dryer. Our dryer doesn’t dry stuff on the first try, so the clothes were still quite noticeably damp. Rather than check with me about removing my clothes, he decided to pull them out and stuff them on top of the dryer (still wadded up) while he dried his clothes; and then he left his half-damp clothes in the dryer for days.
So since then I have been afraid to do laundry unless I was sure I’d be able to get through the whole cycle (wash, dry, remove, put away) before he had a chance to get at the machines. Today I threw a load in after returning from swimming with my girls, dried them, and planned to take them out first thing in the morning. (He’d done a load not long ago, so I figured they were safe for one night.) So around midnight I hear the washer going and I go down to check it out. Sure enough . . . so I tell him that he is not to remove my clothes from the dryer (especially not while still wet) but rather to contact me if he wants the dryer when my clothes are in there, and I’ll get them out. Of course he had all kinds of excuses, but I was firm. Dangit if I can’t even use my own freakin’ washer and dryer in my own house.
So his aunt comes down to find out what we’re talking about and starts defending him. “I and everyone I know would consider it a favor if someone took our clothes out of the dryer.” Etc. Apparently I am the only person in the world who doesn’t want people of the opposite sex pulling my wet underwear, shirts, etc., out of the dryer and doing whatever with them. This is a surprise. Are they right?
OK, that was a poorly disguised rant . . . but why is it that every time I don’t think something is right, it’s always because I’m a loon?
They are not right and you know it! The problem isn’t that he’s taking them out, but he’s taking them out and just wadding them up and putting them where ever. And who on Earth would take out damp clothes and set them aside??? My dryer doesn’t dry in one cycle either so I completely understand! If it’s becoming more of an issue, I would set a time/day of the week he can do his laundry. He gets Wednesdays, say, and it’s up to him to get it done. If he doesn’t like that, let him know where the nearest laundromat is!
I also have someone who does that and it pisses me right off! Can’t they feel that they are still damp? Do they care? NO! UGH…I feel ya. And yes, give them a day. I did. He gets weekends. I do not do any laundry on the weekends.
That’s a good idea to give him a day. Now if we could get everyone else in the house to get on a schedule, that would be great. There is another person who habitually leaves her stuff in there for days.
Turns out Mr. Houseguest was heading out of town this morning so that’s why he was in such a hurry last night. But he could still have told me he wanted the facilities. A little communication goes a long way. Otherwise I feel like he cares about nothing but himself – which ain’t right when you’re living (free) in someone else’s house.
I agree with you, and with Sue. I remember in College, people would just hijack a washer or dryer. It would drive me nuts when they did that. Some of the girls would take the time to fold your stuff, or at least put it in your basket (which we traditionally left on top of the machine we were using… for just such events. Since there were only three washers for 100+ girls, it was bound to happen). But we couldn’t expect the other girls to re-run our dryers if our stuff was dry, because that would mean they had to spend their precious quarters – and quarters WERE precious, at that point. You hoarded them like gold. So the etiquette was, get down there before your cycle ended. If you beat the owner, put her stuff into her basket on top of the machine.
As for Mr. Houseguest… he needs to remember his title: GUEST. Sue’s got a good idea there… assign him a day when you owners will vacate the laundry room. He has that 24 hour cycle to go ahead and do all his laundry, or none at all. But you will all leave it free for that time. After that, he has to wait. And it’s just common courtesy that if another house-member’s stuff is still wet, you run it another cycle to dry… or at least hang it up so it doesn’t get all wrinkled and mildewed.
Personally, I wouldn’t have a problem with him handling my stuff, unless he’s creepy. But that’s just me.
See, that’s the thing – this is MY washer and dryer in MY house. Plus, if he could leave his clothes in the dryer for 3 days, he wasn’t in too big a hurry to give me a chance to get mine out first.
The guest thing – obviously some people don’t get it, but I would never dream of doing such a thing in someone else’s house. If I really needed to do laundry overnight, the least I would do would be to finish and get my crap out of there and put the other person’s back in, so she’d be in the same position come morning as if I’d never been there. Ugh.
And I do have an issue with some man touching my underwear, or even looking at it. I don’t go out of my way to leave it around where people can see it (not even the other women around here). Unlike other people around here, I really do try to get the stuff out of the dryer and up to my room as soon as I can – but that’s not always easy when I’m washing for 3 in between all the other stuff I have to do. I don’t ask for much, but I think I deserve a little courtesy since I’m getting nothing else for putting up with him living here.
I’m with Sue. If he’s there long term, or long enough to keep doing this to you, give him a day a week to do it. That would irritate me to no end. Not even that it’s yours but that’s just rude.
I think I’m over it now, sorry for the crazy woman rant. Maybe I’ve just kinda reached my limit, or maybe it’s the approximate anniversary of Mr. Houseguest’s arrival (with no end in sight), or I don’t know – maybe I just needed a good rant. Thanks for listening!
I have a smoked turkey thawing in the frig to nibble on in honor of New Years eve.
Then, going to see if we can rent A Christmas Carol w/ Jim Carrey. I’ve never seen this version..just saw the poster for it the other day..any of you seen it?
I am looking forward to a couple of days of peace and quiet.
Happy new year to all of you.
.and ps. a belated happy birthday to Laura.
Thanks, DM!!
Haven’t seen the Jim Carrey Christmas Carol. My favorite continues to be an audio version, with Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard from Star Trek: Next Generation) as Scrooge. Let us know if it’s any good… I might add it to the Netflix Queue.
I love smoked meat. Happy New Year DM.
We’re not going out tonight. Staying in & playing games. We got Just Dance, Wipeout and a whole bunch of other games to play. Making some dips & finger foods for tonight. Thats the best kind of food! Got lots of drinks, Sue I picked up some shot glasses today. So we don’t need yours… Everyone have a safe and happy new years!
Paul went grocery shopping early this morning and we’ve yet to see much snow but it sure has gotten cold compared to yesterday. Toby was here and moved a bunch of snow from around the house. Water was already coming in the basement after yesterday’s rain. I’m so grateful to have him help us out. Last night he went out and got all the ice off the roof and out of the gutters.
I have a pot of chicken soup on the stove. Not sure yet if I’ll put in noodles or dumplings. It’s just a cold day. We’ll stay in tonight. We never go out on this night. We never have. I’ll be glad when things get back to normal. I feel like it’s been one whirlwind after another since the 18th. I’m looking forward to the quiet. We may watch a movie. There’s been nothing on TV that’s not a rerun so I’ll be glad when the TV comes back too.
I hope you all have a very Happy New Year.
We were supposed to get a bunch of wicked weather today… thunderstorms, followed by a massive drastic drop in temps (which spells ice-ice-ice for us), and then followed by a bunch of snow. It totally dissipated. It’s amazing. This morning, I looked at the radar, and this HUGE patch of pink (ice) was heading straight for us. Two hours later? It was all north of us, and spreading away. All the snow that was to the NW turned back, and headed BACK into North Dakota! We didn’t get ANYTHING!!! I look at the Radar now, and it looks like it’s swirling back, and all that snow may hit us again in a couple of days, but man, was that weird!
So now I think I know what our plans are for tonight. After the kids get up from their nap, we’re planning to go to a nearby place where they are having some sort of party and “ball drop” at 7pm. Not exactly my thing (esp. at 7pm) but some folks want to do it, so that’s fine, whatever. Next we are going to see a stage production of Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat. We have a DVD of this (with Donny Osmond), and the soundtrack, and my daughter was really into this for a while. So hopefully that will be fun. Then some wintry type thing at our local pro ballpark, with fireworks at midnight. Not sure what there will be to do since all the snow has pretty much melted away today. But the fireworks should be fun. Now I have to figure out what we’re all going to wear and finish some work before my kids get up.