My super-silly New Years Eve superstition [LJ Idol Home Game]
There is just one thing I always keep in mind when the new year is upon us, and it's really my only superstition that I believe in quite firmly. I was once told : Whatever you are doing at midnight on new years eve will be the thing you end up doing a lot for the rest of the year! As a result I have very clear memories of the various New Years Eve's I have celebrated over the years.
31 December 1993
I was sitting with my feet in a swimming pool looking up at the stars. We were on a family holiday in Saldanha Bay, a small fishing village on the west coast of Africa. I saw a shooting star that night and made a wish to meet the man I would marry. I was a hopeless romantic even at that age. A few months later I met a boy who I eventually married when I was 19. I got divorced at age 21, but we had been together for 7 years.
31 December 1999
This was a really important one that I will never, ever forget. I remember thinking it was quite important as it was also the change into the 2000's and it might actually set the tone for the rest of my life :D
I officially left my husband on the 15th of December 1999, after many months of insanity and abuse. I had taken the first step into a new life, and a new me. I had also developed a close relationship with a certain young man who wasn't scared off by the fact that I was technically still married. We started the evening off at a friends house, right on one of my favorite beaches. Alcohol and the green stuff were in abundance. I'm not a smoker and only an occasional drinker, but my friends and the young man had plenty. Then someone had the ingenious idea that we should drive down to one of the other beaches where you can see the whole of Table Bay and the mountain. One of the guys, Neil, decided he was sober enough to drive and then proceeded to drive into the car parked in front of him as he attempted to leave. We wisely decided to walk as it wasn't thaaat far.
By the time we reached the beach, many people were sitting on the sand. As my male companion was quite stoned, he suddenly realised we weren't at the house anymore and didn't quite remember the walk to get there. He suddenly commented that it was rather odd with all these people sitting along the shoreline and looking out to sea - as if waiting for something to arise out of the water at midnight. Actually we were waiting for the fireworks which they would launch from the harbour and could be easily see across the bay - but his idea made us laugh and lead us to a bizarre conversation about what it might be!
The night ended with us walking back home, tired but laughing the whole way. We all found a comfortable spot on couches or beds and slept until it was time to get up for a surf and some breakfast. I woke up with that amazing glow of knowing I had definitely seen in the 2000's in spectacular style. And I ended up marrying the young man a few years later :)
31 December 2004
We were in the UK and were planning to head back to SA two weeks later. We decided to have a new years at home with just the two of us and we had some "fun" at midnight. I subsequently decided I wouldn't do that that one again - by Easter of 2005 I was pregnant.
31 December 2005
I was breastfeeding my little boy of just over a month old and watching the countdown on TV. Looking after my son was pretty much the theme for the rest of that year.
31 December 2006
I decided to SLEEP! After a year of caring for a baby I decided if I spent the whole of 2007 sleeping then that wouldn't be such a bad thing! It's also pretty much been my choice for the last couple of years!
31 December 2010
So what of this year? We're busy watching the Fringe series and my husband has already said we should do a marathon session up to midnight. That sounds just right up my alley these days, but a part of me longs for those early days and especially our first new years together. This will be our 10th one together, and if it weren't for all the drunk-drivers that plague the roads I'd be suggesting that all three of us go to that same beach to mark the occasion. My son is 5 now, and getting enough sleep is not such an issue anymore.
Perhaps more "fun" should be had this year? ;)
In truth I can most definitely cuddle up with my husband and feel happy with everything in my life. Sure, it's not perfect, but the important stuff is all there. We're happy, healthy, in love, have enough money and we have all kinds of fun things planned for the near and distant future. I'll also get to sneak into my sons room and give him a kiss and whisper to him that I love him. So I guess there will be a lot of love going on, and that's not a bad way to see in the new year. Not a bad way at all!
31 December 1993
I was sitting with my feet in a swimming pool looking up at the stars. We were on a family holiday in Saldanha Bay, a small fishing village on the west coast of Africa. I saw a shooting star that night and made a wish to meet the man I would marry. I was a hopeless romantic even at that age. A few months later I met a boy who I eventually married when I was 19. I got divorced at age 21, but we had been together for 7 years.
31 December 1999
This was a really important one that I will never, ever forget. I remember thinking it was quite important as it was also the change into the 2000's and it might actually set the tone for the rest of my life :D
I officially left my husband on the 15th of December 1999, after many months of insanity and abuse. I had taken the first step into a new life, and a new me. I had also developed a close relationship with a certain young man who wasn't scared off by the fact that I was technically still married. We started the evening off at a friends house, right on one of my favorite beaches. Alcohol and the green stuff were in abundance. I'm not a smoker and only an occasional drinker, but my friends and the young man had plenty. Then someone had the ingenious idea that we should drive down to one of the other beaches where you can see the whole of Table Bay and the mountain. One of the guys, Neil, decided he was sober enough to drive and then proceeded to drive into the car parked in front of him as he attempted to leave. We wisely decided to walk as it wasn't thaaat far.
By the time we reached the beach, many people were sitting on the sand. As my male companion was quite stoned, he suddenly realised we weren't at the house anymore and didn't quite remember the walk to get there. He suddenly commented that it was rather odd with all these people sitting along the shoreline and looking out to sea - as if waiting for something to arise out of the water at midnight. Actually we were waiting for the fireworks which they would launch from the harbour and could be easily see across the bay - but his idea made us laugh and lead us to a bizarre conversation about what it might be!
The night ended with us walking back home, tired but laughing the whole way. We all found a comfortable spot on couches or beds and slept until it was time to get up for a surf and some breakfast. I woke up with that amazing glow of knowing I had definitely seen in the 2000's in spectacular style. And I ended up marrying the young man a few years later :)
31 December 2004
We were in the UK and were planning to head back to SA two weeks later. We decided to have a new years at home with just the two of us and we had some "fun" at midnight. I subsequently decided I wouldn't do that that one again - by Easter of 2005 I was pregnant.
31 December 2005
I was breastfeeding my little boy of just over a month old and watching the countdown on TV. Looking after my son was pretty much the theme for the rest of that year.
31 December 2006
I decided to SLEEP! After a year of caring for a baby I decided if I spent the whole of 2007 sleeping then that wouldn't be such a bad thing! It's also pretty much been my choice for the last couple of years!
31 December 2010
So what of this year? We're busy watching the Fringe series and my husband has already said we should do a marathon session up to midnight. That sounds just right up my alley these days, but a part of me longs for those early days and especially our first new years together. This will be our 10th one together, and if it weren't for all the drunk-drivers that plague the roads I'd be suggesting that all three of us go to that same beach to mark the occasion. My son is 5 now, and getting enough sleep is not such an issue anymore.
Perhaps more "fun" should be had this year? ;)
In truth I can most definitely cuddle up with my husband and feel happy with everything in my life. Sure, it's not perfect, but the important stuff is all there. We're happy, healthy, in love, have enough money and we have all kinds of fun things planned for the near and distant future. I'll also get to sneak into my sons room and give him a kiss and whisper to him that I love him. So I guess there will be a lot of love going on, and that's not a bad way to see in the new year. Not a bad way at all!