Happy New Year!

It's 4:15 PM on New Year's Eve, and I'm already in my PJs. How does that happen?

It's true, we have no plans for New Year's Eve. The reality is, I will probably be in bed hours before the ball drops. Last night I asked my husband how it felt to know that his parents would party harder than we would tonight. I can't be too hard on us though, as we've had a pretty big year.

Rewind to New Year's Eve 2007, and I was ready to rock and roll. We had planned to spend the night in, but with all kinds of yummy appetizers, a gigantic bottle of pinot grigio, and maybe some games. I haven't hit the bars on New Year's Eve since 1998, so this was just the kind of night I love. The only problem was, I was cranky and exhausted. After one glass of wine, I was done. I believe that as the clock struck 10, I was climbing into bed. By 10:30, my husband was watching Lord of the Rings on the living room couch, if you call level 10 snoring while scratching himself "watching", and you call the inside of his eyelids "Lord of the Rings".

Two days later, my anticlimactic NYE was explained by the two pink lines on the stick in my hand, and more definitively by the fancier stick that said "Pregnant". That giant bottle of pinot grigio taunted me from our refrigerator shelf until, as an act of mercy, my husband poured it out. More important than the wine, our little Princess Peach was coming.

Now she's here, and it's New Year's once more. Maybe next year my husband and I will be up to hosting or attending something a little more boisterous, but for now we'll settle for an easy night with the kids, and maybe some mimosas with our pancakes in the morning. Maybe I'll watch my favorite NYE show, the episode of Friends where Monica and Ross do The Routine. Oh, and you know I have a glass of pinot grigio on deck!

After all, it's midnight somewhere, even if it's only 8:30 in Vermont. Happy New Year!