2005.12.31

You know you're getting old when your idea of a good time is a nice quiet evening spent at home in the company of a few friends. Or something like that. Well, I'm getting old. And in keeping with last year's vow to never ever be in Vegas on New Year's again, Sherylen and I rang in 2006 in the Bay Area, in what became an extremely last-minute, low-key reunion of those of us stuck in the Paris parking structure for hours a year earlier.

Who says six people won't fit on a couch? You just have to be creative

Instead of cramming like sardines and standing out in the cold on the Vegas Strip, we were sitting comfortably at arm's length around Dave & Melissa's new mahogany dining room set, finding every which way possible to keep Ted from winning a game of Uno. Instead of drunken loonies throwing up around us, there were the two cats chasing Dave's laser pointer. And instead of the fireworks show starting five minutes after the New Year's countdown on the big displays, we had a proper countdown (well, as proper as you can get by following what they say on a TV), and a nice stock of those tiny popper thingies that shoot out streamers.

A few well-placed shots resulted in the following decorative touch to the ceiling fan.

Here, I amused myself by playing with one of the two cats in the house.

And perhaps the best part of not spending New Year's on the Las Vegas Strip: there was easy access to food, drink, alcohol, and the Irish Creme Chocolate Cake. Mmmm....

Here it just looks like Tracy took the last of the wine, leaving Sherylen with none....

But perhaps the most positive development for New Year's 2006 in contrast to the Vegas event of a year ago: Ted wasn't sick!