Saturday, January 01, 2005

Happy New Year to you all.

It's almost four in the morning and we just got home. It was a lovely party.

Precious friends. What would we do without them? Ever since junior year in high school, I've had a best friend who is like an extension of me. Only nicer. Much nicer. And smarter. Oh, and thinner. Lots thinner. She and her husband have invited me and Hub for New Year's Eve every year of our marriage. That's a lot of years. That's a lot of parties. That's a lot of killer euchre. That's a lot of friendship.

Tonight, the husbands bribed Lady Luck and won the euchre tournament. It isn't always so. Good thing they didn't do much gloating. Right.

We ate them out of house and home and then we all watched "Love Actually." It's one of my favorite movies, and our friends had never seen it. Best Friend and I loved it, and I'm sure the husbands did, too. They commented intermittently between snores. We are wild things, and we hang out with other wild things. And we do wild things. Lots and lots of wild things. Because, even though we are old and very large, we are still wild things.

Uh huh.

The fog is so thick here that we consider ourselves lucky to get home in one piece. I don't know how Hub managed; I couldn't even see where the road was. We live way out in the boondocks and if we had an accident, there would be no one to find us for maybe days. And even then probably not till the smell put out feelers and started to reel in the wildlife.

2004 is finally over. It was not a good year for us. I hope 2005 will be better. It has to be.

Hub goes back to school on Monday but I have another full week. Yay, college!

One of my sisters is hosting another small party on Sunday. Hub can't go but I'm riding up with Mom and my Uncle. I think they plan to do some shopping, and I don't have a dime to spend, but I can press my nose against the store windows and wish.

Many thanks to all of you kind people who had suggestions about my invisible banners. I am not computer-savvy enough to follow some of your directions but I intend to try.

Belle and Zappa both went to parties. I hope they get back home safely. To their own homes, not here. Not any more.

I don't think I will ever get used to not knowing their exact whereabouts every minute of their lives.

Best Friends have lots of dogs, and I am very allergic to dog dander. The dogs were not in the room with us for long, but my lungs are full and it will be a day or so before I can breathe easily. It was worth it, though. I'm not in any danger, and it was worth it. I love our Best Friends. We've been wild together for many many years. And we will continue to be wild together till we're dead.

Because, that's what old wild things like us do. We act all wild and stuff. Because we are old wild things.

It is nearly sixty degrees outside. I find this incredible, since a few days ago the snow was three feet deep and it was below freezing.

I hope all of you have a wonderful and positive New Year. I hope nothing bad happens to any of you, and I hope you are all safe, and healthy, and happy, every single day. You, and everybody who is precious to you.

This song always makes me tear up. Even back before I knew what it meant, something about it was both sad, and happy, and sentimental.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, (Should old acquaintances be forgotten,)
And never brought to mind (And never remembered?)
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And the days of auld lang syne. (And days of long ago.)

And surely ye 'll be your pint' stowp (And surely you will pay for your pint)
And surely I 'll be mine (And surely I’ll pay for mine)
And we 'll take a cup o' kindness yet (We’ll drink a cup of kindness yet)
For auld lang syne (for the days of long ago.)

We twa hae run about the braes (We two have run around the hillsides)
And pou'd the gowans fine (and pulled the daisies fine)
But we 've wander'd monie a weary fit (But we have wandered many a weary foot)
Sin' auld lang syne. (Since the days of long ago.)

We twa hae paidl'd in the burn (We two have paddled in the stream)
Frae morning sun till dine (From noon ‘till dinner time)
But seas between us braid hae roar'd (But seas between us broad have roared)
Sin' the days of auld lang syne (Since the days of long ago)

And there's a hand, my trusty fiere (And there’s a hand, my trusty friend)
And gie 's a hand o' thine (And give us a hand of yours)
And we 'll tak a right guid-willie waught (And we will take a goodwill draught)
For auld lang syne (For the days of long ago)

[CHORUS]For auld lang syne, my dear (For the days of long ago, my dear)
For auld lang syne (For the days of long ago)
We'll tak a cup o' kindess yet (We’ll take a cup of kindness yet)
For auld lang syne (For the days of long ago.)

To answer the question of whether or not old acquaintances should ever be forgotten, the answer is, most emphatically, "NO."

Not till the Alzheimer's makes me say "Oh Baby" to the nursing home orderlies.

I love you, dear friends. And I wish you were all here so we could take a right guid willie waught together. I'm really up for some good willie waught.