Starting 2006

I

t's already the 3rd and I haven't blogged once yet. So I guess this is my first official entry for the new year. I hope everyone started the new year on the right foot. Mine has been rather subdued, after a rather tipsy New Year's Eve. Oh yeah, before I forget, I FINISHED GRADING. Thanks to those of you who asked. It's nice to know people actually care.

So anyway, I finished grading on New Years Eve, late in the afternoon, then M and I went out to do some shopping for New Year's Day. After shopping at Lotte, the local Corean store, we went to Blockbuster to get some videos--I just love watching movies, y'know? But as we headed home, we veered towards a place called Artie's, an American grill that serves pretty decent food out here in Fairfax, VA. Of course, we weren't there for the food.

Two pints, please.

The bar was decked out in streamers and balloons. Kinda corny but very New Year's Eve-ish. We suck on three glasses, a group of four stroll in and ask if we might not move down a couple of bar stools. We oblige and the guy offers to buy us a beer. I decline, of course--I can't be accepting drinks for being normal, i.e. considerate and neighborly--but he tells us to pull of couple of draughts for us anyway, and we raise our glasses to a great 2006. We are on our fifth drink when we decide that it might be prudent to leave while I'm still relatively sober--it's still only 8:30 PM. But as we drive, as carefully as I can, and then decide to go to the local dive, Glory Days.

Now, we haven't been there for quite awhile. Almost four months, actually. The last time we were there, M and I had a brief spat. When I think about it now, we were an annoyance to those around us, especially since we are arguing in Japanese. We know the bartenders so they didn't want to kick us out, I guess, but I felt like we got the bum's rush, which irked me the following day. I would have much rather that they just tell us to cool it, but they decided that it would be better if we were not there. So I decided to oblige them and I haven't been there since. No harm, actually, I've been saving some money by drinking at home instead. This is not a bad thing. But on New Year's Eve, we decided to drop by to wish whoever was bartending a Happy New Year, because I figure I won't be seeing them anytime soon. The main guy, Blair, was quitting to go home to Arizona, I learned, so I was glad that I went to say goodbye to him. And since I was there, I picked up about 9 stuffed animals from the crane game, just for good measure.

Good bye, Glory Days.

Well, we got home about 10 PM and were planning to celebrate the New Year, but we ended up crashing, M in bed with all her clothes on; me on the sofa. I woke up around 4 AM with a huge hangover. Ugh. Throbbing head, dry mouth, just awful. I took two aspirins and went back to sleep. I bolted upright at 11 AM.

HH was coming...

That's right, we had guests coming on January 1st and we had not prepared the night before as we had planned to. So for two very furious hours, we cooked like mad. Actually, this was good for the hangover. As M always says, moving the body (exercise) will cure a hangover. By the time HH, a colleague from work, dropped by, we were ready to go. HH is from Japan via UT in Austin. He is here in DC to teach part time, and I thought it would be a nice gesture to invite him and his family over for New Year's. We had a nice visit. We are not especially rich, but we had plenty of mochi (rice cakes) and sashimi to eat. Their baby is pretty young, so they left early, which actually proved to be beneficial for our recovered yet still exhausted bodies...

Since then we have seen three DVDs and are still in the midst of a Monopoly game--I currently own everything from Oriental to New York, except for the Electric Company, and the green lot, Pacific, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. It is only a matter of time before I win. Of course, M and Chip have the competitive spirit of gnats, so winning is perhaps not so satisfying. *sigh*

As you can see, my New Year has been rather uneventful. How has yours been?