Here we are again, the start of the end, but there's more ...
It's not that pretty of a day, but it's a vacation day just the same. Another day to live, love, breathe, eat, sleep, drink and be merry. But that's not it. No sir! Today is the final day of 2005, a year marked with plenty of change. Despite drinking only two beers the night prior, I didn't feel that good upon waking Saturday morning. My suspicion is that the stomach virus that Mindy's daughter Bella exposed on Thursday evening was catching up with me. I hadn't felt that great, stomach wise, since the movie Friday afternoon.
I went about my morning as I usually would on a Saturday. I would exercise, walk Ykraps, coffee, then ready for a run. However, while walking with Ykraps I spotted my dad driving down the road. He stopped at the house and waited in his car to greet us upon our return. He joined us inside for some morning coffee and a little holiday catch-up. I hadn't seen him since Xmas Eve, which with our family isn't that long. Still, he hadn't stopped by my house since just before my annual Oregon trip in November. We chatted for a couple of hours. This delayed my morning routine as you might have already guessed, but I was happy to share some quality time with him. Regardless, being the creature of habit that I am, I was stressed a little internally.
Some time around 1030am Mindy called, and that was about the same time my dad was departing. Dad and I exchanged Happy New Year's wishes and Mindy and I went about nailing down our days plans. Once off the phone I readied for my run. The run was a reflective one. While running I gave thought to the fact that I was closing the door on yet another year of running every single day.
Upon my return to the house I went about completing some household chores. More importantly, I opened a late Xmas which was from my old friend, John Vidosh and family. I decided it was time to give ol' Jon a call. We used to talk at least twice a year, but I don't think that we've spoke in over two years. He was home and we talked for about an hour catching up on all sorts of things related to family, work, goals, and such. He's one of my favorite people despite the fact that he's a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. He and his family are doing exceptionally well. We ended our conversation by agreeing to get together sometime in January for dinner and drinks.
As the early afternoon progressed, I continued to tidy up around the house, expecting Mindy to arrive anytime. We would be spending the afternoon together at my house then going to two different New Year's Eve parties later in the evening. She arrived not long after I'd showered. We were both hungry so we decided to make a late breakfast. We made sausage and French toast. It was 2pm by the time we were done. We spent the rest of the afternoon deep frying sauerkraut balls and making a chocolate chip cheesecake cookie to take to one of the parties. We still weren't certain how we'd manage our time between the two parties. The practical answer wasn't what either of us really wanted to do, which was to go to Barley's early, and then go to my neighbors annual New Year's Eve bash. The thinking there was that we'd be off the roads before 9pm or so and if we drank too much, we could walk home. After all, my neighbor, Pat lives only three houses over! We opted instead to reverse the order for wanting to ring in the new year with Bob and M.A. and friends at Barley's.
We wrapped up the all he cooking around 445pm and I sorely needed a nap. Remember, I had been feeling queasy all damn day. I couldn't wait to stretch out on my bed. We retired upstairs for the next 1.5 hrs. And as it turned out, I never did fall asleep, but did lay with my eyes closed at length. After the rest I felt a lot better, not 100%, but still a lot better. After a quick walk of Ykraps, it was time to ready for a night out. And after a quick change of clothes, we were both set. We loaded the cooler with our favorite beverages, grabbed the sauerkraut balls and cheesecake cookie, packed our cameras, and drove four houses over to Pat and Lisa's.
A knock at their door yielded the admittance by a group of young children. The bulk of the winter festivities were taking place in the finished lower level as usual. One of Pat's sons told me that some woman had just arrived before us and they thought it was my girl friend for the didn't know or recognize her. It seems she was lost and looking for a New Year's Eve party on Beaman Dr, not Beaman Ct. She saw all the cars and was sure she was at the right place. She wasn't. Just as the story was being unfolded to our ears, I could hear Pat in the basement telling her that she still have to stay and have a beer. That's my neighbor Pat. He's never met a stranger! We ventured down the stairs where I quickly introduced Mindy to Pat and his minions. You see, Pat had not yet had the pleasure of making Mindy's acquaintance. She quickly blended right in as I knew she would. Meanwhile, the lost woman remained for a spell laughing and joking about her situation. We're still not sure why they gave a court and street that are somewhat geographically separarated the same name and similar addressing. Perhaps a mean spirited joke? The uninvited guest soon left and we went about our partying. There were lots of goodies to complement the ones I had brought. Again, Pat's parties are always a sure bet for plenty of beer, food, and fun. We hung out for about two hours then had to head out if we were to keep our commitment to those at Barley's. To Pat's dismay, we left at 930pm, but promised to hook-up for dinner one night soon.
At Barley's the lot was sparsely populated, but I did recognize Bob and Mary Ann's vehicle. Once inside we immediately saw our round of friends hunkered in and about the bar. There were only about ten patrons at the bar, but that was just fine for us. This atmosphere was a bit more subdued than that at Pat's, but then again, I hadn't been there to get everyone going yet. That took all of about ten minutes. Soon we had elevated the conversation from boring and mundane to borderline obnoxious, sexual, and silly. We were all having a wonderful time. Over the course of the evening at Barley's, I had one IPA and two St Nick's Winter Warmer's. Mindy had one more glass of wine (she had had three at Pat's and reported feeling no pain) and then water there out.. As midnight approached we all took notice of the ball dropping ceremony as Jersey, the bartender, poured each of us a glass of celebratory champagne. Soon 2006 was upon us! It was a fun but quick celebration. There were probably more Barley employees there celebrating than there were patrons, honestly, but we consider them all friends these days.
As the evening began to wind down, Lee, the assistant brewmaster, invited us to meet the gang at Polly's by the tracks. A bar within 1/2 mile of my door. We obliged for feeling still a little like partying. Soon, Mindy, Bob & M.A. and I met up with the Barley's crowd at Polly's. It is a bit of a "hole in the wall" kinda bar with a dance floor and plenty of honky tonk music blaring through the sound system. Perfect for this kinda evening. I went to the bar to order drinks. They had no beer which I fancied. So, you know what they say ...When in Rome ... I ordered a Stroh's! Hadn't had one of those since my youth.
After a little while Mindy and I found ourselves out on the dance floor being silly. I don't think that we had ever danced together before. It was fun, but a little stumbly!
Come 2am we were exhausted and thought that we'd sneak out and head home for some ongoing revelry of our own. More specifically, we thought that we'd do some hot tubbing. Once we got back to my place and changed out of our party clothes and into our jammies neither one of us had the energy to do the hot tub thing (happens frequently). We played a snuggled a little then by default, called it a night - the first night of 2006.
Here we are again, the start of the end, but there's more ...
It's not that pretty of a day, but it's a vacation day just the same. Another day to live, love, breathe, eat, sleep, drink and be merry. But that's not it. No sir! Today is the final day of 2005, a year marked with plenty of change. Despite drinking only two beers the night prior, I didn't feel that good upon waking Saturday morning. My suspicion is that the stomach virus that Mindy's daughter Bella exposed on Thursday evening was catching up with me. I hadn't felt that great, stomach wise, since the movie Friday afternoon.
I went about my morning as I usually would on a Saturday. I would exercise, walk Ykraps, coffee, then ready for a run. However, while walking with Ykraps I spotted my dad driving down the road. He stopped at the house and waited in his car to greet us upon our return. He joined us inside for some morning coffee and a little holiday catch-up. I hadn't seen him since Xmas Eve, which with our family isn't that long. Still, he hadn't stopped by my house since just before my annual Oregon trip in November. We chatted for a couple of hours. This delayed my morning routine as you might have already guessed, but I was happy to share some quality time with him. Regardless, being the creature of habit that I am, I was stressed a little internally.
Some time around 1030am Mindy called, and that was about the same time my dad was departing. Dad and I exchanged Happy New Year's wishes and Mindy and I went about nailing down our days plans. Once off the phone I readied for my run. The run was a reflective one. While running I gave thought to the fact that I was closing the door on yet another year of running every single day.
Upon my return to the house I went about completing some household chores. More importantly, I opened a late Xmas which was from my old friend, John Vidosh and family. I decided it was time to give ol' Jon a call. We used to talk at least twice a year, but I don't think that we've spoke in over two years. He was home and we talked for about an hour catching up on all sorts of things related to family, work, goals, and such. He's one of my favorite people despite the fact that he's a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. He and his family are doing exceptionally well. We ended our conversation by agreeing to get together sometime in January for dinner and drinks.
As the early afternoon progressed, I continued to tidy up around the house, expecting Mindy to arrive anytime. We would be spending the afternoon together at my house then going to two different New Year's Eve parties later in the evening. She arrived not long after I'd showered. We were both hungry so we decided to make a late breakfast. We made sausage and French toast. It was 2pm by the time we were done. We spent the rest of the afternoon deep frying sauerkraut balls and making a chocolate chip cheesecake cookie to take to one of the parties. We still weren't certain how we'd manage our time between the two parties. The practical answer wasn't what either of us really wanted to do, which was to go to Barley's early, and then go to my neighbors annual New Year's Eve bash. The thinking there was that we'd be off the roads before 9pm or so and if we drank too much, we could walk home. After all, my neighbor, Pat lives only three houses over! We opted instead to reverse the order for wanting to ring in the new year with Bob and M.A. and friends at Barley's.
We wrapped up the all he cooking around 445pm and I sorely needed a nap. Remember, I had been feeling queasy all damn day. I couldn't wait to stretch out on my bed. We retired upstairs for the next 1.5 hrs. And as it turned out, I never did fall asleep, but did lay with my eyes closed at length. After the rest I felt a lot better, not 100%, but still a lot better. After a quick walk of Ykraps, it was time to ready for a night out. And after a quick change of clothes, we were both set. We loaded the cooler with our favorite beverages, grabbed the sauerkraut balls and cheesecake cookie, packed our cameras, and drove four houses over to Pat and Lisa's.
A knock at their door yielded the admittance by a group of young children. The bulk of the winter festivities were taking place in the finished lower level as usual. One of Pat's sons told me that some woman had just arrived before us and they thought it was my girl friend for the didn't know or recognize her. It seems she was lost and looking for a New Year's Eve party on Beaman Dr, not Beaman Ct. She saw all the cars and was sure she was at the right place. She wasn't. Just as the story was being unfolded to our ears, I could hear Pat in the basement telling her that she still have to stay and have a beer. That's my neighbor Pat. He's never met a stranger! We ventured down the stairs where I quickly introduced Mindy to Pat and his minions. You see, Pat had not yet had the pleasure of making Mindy's acquaintance. She quickly blended right in as I knew she would. Meanwhile, the lost woman remained for a spell laughing and joking about her situation. We're still not sure why they gave a court and street that are somewhat geographically separarated the same name and similar addressing. Perhaps a mean spirited joke? The uninvited guest soon left and we went about our partying. There were lots of goodies to complement the ones I had brought. Again, Pat's parties are always a sure bet for plenty of beer, food, and fun. We hung out for about two hours then had to head out if we were to keep our commitment to those at Barley's. To Pat's dismay, we left at 930pm, but promised to hook-up for dinner one night soon.
At Barley's the lot was sparsely populated, but I did recognize Bob and Mary Ann's vehicle. Once inside we immediately saw our round of friends hunkered in and about the bar. There were only about ten patrons at the bar, but that was just fine for us. This atmosphere was a bit more subdued than that at Pat's, but then again, I hadn't been there to get everyone going yet. That took all of about ten minutes. Soon we had elevated the conversation from boring and mundane to borderline obnoxious, sexual, and silly. We were all having a wonderful time. Over the course of the evening at Barley's, I had one IPA and two St Nick's Winter Warmer's. Mindy had one more glass of wine (she had had three at Pat's and reported feeling no pain) and then water there out.. As midnight approached we all took notice of the ball dropping ceremony as Jersey, the bartender, poured each of us a glass of celebratory champagne. Soon 2006 was upon us! It was a fun but quick celebration. There were probably more Barley employees there celebrating than there were patrons, honestly, but we consider them all friends these days.
As the evening began to wind down, Lee, the assistant brewmaster, invited us to meet the gang at Polly's by the tracks. A bar within 1/2 mile of my door. We obliged for feeling still a little like partying. Soon, Mindy, Bob & M.A. and I met up with the Barley's crowd at Polly's. It is a bit of a "hole in the wall" kinda bar with a dance floor and plenty of honky tonk music blaring through the sound system. Perfect for this kinda evening. I went to the bar to order drinks. They had no beer which I fancied. So, you know what they say ...When in Rome ... I ordered a Stroh's! Hadn't had one of those since my youth.
After a little while Mindy and I found ourselves out on the dance floor being silly. I don't think that we had ever danced together before. It was fun, but a little stumbly!
Come 2am we were exhausted and thought that we'd sneak out and head home for some ongoing revelry of our own. More specifically, we thought that we'd do some hot tubbing. Once we got back to my place and changed out of our party clothes and into our jammies neither one of us had the energy to do the hot tub thing (happens frequently). We played a snuggled a little then by default, called it a night - the first night of 2006.
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