2010!

New Year's Eve was...well, eventful and uneventful at the same time. What I mean is that it played into exactly what I had been saying about New Year's Eve in the weeks leading up to that night: people try to make it more than it is. It's like who you kiss at midnight really is a portent for the entire year to come. You guys, who you kiss at midnight on December 31st has no more effect on what you do for the next 300+ days than who you kiss at midnight on July 7th does. We know this.
And besides all the trying to expand the significance of the night, the amateurs are out to play on New Year's Eve. It's one of those nights of the year when people who usually don't party allow themselves to "go crazy" (a similar event is St. Patrick's Day - it's like people who are generally pretty sane feel obligated to get thrashed then, too). What that means is that we all get exposed to some very unprofessional behavior.

So last night's episode, then. Eight of us had a very nice dinner downtown at the Grove on Discovery Green - the food was great. But we ended up with a CRAZY bill because we kept ordering bottles of wine and champagne that we didn't need (but finished anyway). Yikes. Then we went down to the Galleria area to a little house party (attended by the host's 50 closest friends) and that was about it. I really liked how calm it was.

The party we went to was wrapping up at about 1:30 - people started filtering out and calling cabs or driving away. But a girl we knew in high school was at this party too, and she wanted to drive. Usually I only have to put up a very mild resistance towards drunk people wanting to drive and they go "mehhh FINE" because they don't want to drive anyway, and if they're presented with a halfway decent alternative they'll go with it. But this girl was really, really convinced that she was okay to drive. I mean, fine, we're all adults and you can make your own life choices or whatever but when you can't walk in a straight line and you're crying, you're going to have to do better than "just LEMME GOOOOOO!!!!!!!" So Devon and I wrestled with her for AN HOUR AND A HALF and finally got her into a cab and dropped her off at her maybe-boyfriend's house. A job well done, really, and I would have to say it was an alright way to spend the night.

Notice that I didn't say it was an okay way to begin the year. Because what you do on the first of January isn't a death sentence to possibility and potential. I think the year is what you make it. Then again, if it turns out that I'm wrong and all those superstitions are based in truth...last night was an okay way to start the decade.