New Year's Eve, and the Next Day

Well, for the first time in many years I spent my New Year's Eve, and a better part of New Year's Day, alone.

Perhaps that's a bit of an exaggeration, so let me rephrase that. I spent my New Year's Eve with my two favorite little dogs, Jackie and Angel, my three favorite cats, Thalia, Ebby, and Salem, and one of my favorite people, my stepson Rodrigo.

But for most of the evening my stepson spent his time watching television in his room while Jackie, Angel and myself watched television in my living room. We watched "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" until our bedtime, which turned out to be 9:30 PM, and then we hit the hay.

I haven't stayed up to ring in the New Year in ages. When I was much younger I would stay up because it was "the adult thing to do", but once I reached a certain age, (27 or so,) I no longer saw any point in staying up late, so I just go to bed when I get tired. That doesn't stop my neighbors from celebrating well into the wee hours. Nor does it prevent them from doing so LOUDLY, so I am often awoken at midnight whether I like it or not by the revelry of others, but I am soon fast asleep soon after so I guess there's no harm done.

Last night was different for some reason. I thought for sure Angel would start losing his mind by the sound of firecrackers, gunshots, people beating assorted cooking wear, or just screaming their silly heads off, but the next time I woke up last night it was already 2:00 AM. I remember because when I awoke I immediately looked at the clock to see how close we were to checking off another year, and I was a little surprised to see that it had already happened. So, I hugged Papa and wished him a happy new year, kissed little Jackie the top of her little head and wished her the same, and then nodded off until morning.

Today I spent my time fooling with my new laptop while Jackie and Angel lazed around and watched more television. After a while I decided we should get up and get a little exercise so we did something we have hardly done at all since we moved here into the new house a little over a year ago. We went for a walk.

That's Papa deciding if this is a good spot to, er, leave a message. Jackie wasn't as enthusiastic as Angel about the walk. She would plant her little but on the cement like this back when we would regularly go for walks at the old place. She doesn't do it all the time, but when she does she means business. It takes a LOT of coaxing to get her going again. Not Papa, though. He's more than happy to see what the world has to offer. I hardly have time to get the door open once I get his leash on him. He's at the door rarin' to go. They do have something in common when we go on our walks, however, and that is scents. If it smells bad, they're all over it. Jackie seems to be particularly attracted to bird poop for some reason. She sees a spot of bird poop and she'll stay there all day drinking in the odoriferous wonders it has to offer. Every once in a while she will run across a spot of white paint that someone inadvertently spilled somehow, and she stands there with her little nose glued to that spot wondering why it doesn't smell like regular bird poop. It must be wonderful being a little dog.

So, that's how we spent the beginning of the new year. I sense big changes for us over the next year, so stay tuned and see what 2008 has in store for Jackie, Angel, Thalia, and the rest of our little menagerie.

Posted by Jeff at January 1, 2008 5:08 PM