Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

Then we headed for our party, which was being held in a hotel in suburban Philadelphia. After we checked into our room, we met our friends down in the lobby. We were all going to go to dinner at a local brewpub.

Because there were so many of us, they put us at two separate tables. For some reason, the water for one table was much faster than for the other. We were at the slow table, and we were actually sitting there for a full hour before our food came. Then it took another hour for us to get out of the place. This was about 8:15.

This was somewhat irritating, although people were in a good mood. By the time the food came, I was feeling a bit lightheaded and was acting silly.

When we got back to the hotel, The Gryphon and I went back up to our room to change into our party outfits. When we came back downstairs, we had my College Roommate take a picture of us.

We were supposed to have reserved tables set aside in the bar area while we waited for our room to open up, because there was a wedding rehearsal dinner in the room where we were having our party. The other group had the room until 10 p.m.

Not only had they not marked off tables in the bar area, but it was also so smoky in there, no one wanted to hang out, especially my College Roommate, who is pregnant. So we ended up lounging on couches and chairs in the lobby area and making the best of it until they let us into our room. I felt this was inexcusable, especially when you considered how much we were paying per person. Needless to say, we'll look for another option for next year.

When we finally got into the room, we could relax a little bit. The Paper had brought her CD player, so between me, The Punster and Agent Smith, we managed to keep the music flowing throughout the evening. But despite my large selection of CDs, I was unsuccessful in getting anyone on the dance floor.

One couple, the Book Lover and The Martial Artist did dance for a short while, and The Gryphon and I danced to Marvin Gaye, but that was about it.

We didn't have our own bartender, like we had on previous years, although we did have a hotel staffer whose job was to attend to the room. In order to get more drinks, you had to walk all the way through the hotel to the bar area, pay for them there and bring them back.

But we made the best of it. People were having a good time, gathered around tables, playing games and talking. If anything, the hotel lost out, because they didn't sell as much alcohol as they might have otherwise.

There was a nice spread of appetizers and hors d'oeuvres I had given myself permission to go a little crazy that night, so I ended up sampling a lot of the different types of cheese.

Our friend The Court Wizard had brought along some Ghirardelli chocolates from everybody, brought back from a trip to San Francisco. That was much appreciated.

I got a couple compliments on my New Year's outfit, especially from my College Roommate, who said, "Gee, you really have lost a lot of weight." She was wearing pink that evening, too, but of course, hers was a maternity outfit.

A number of people told me they thought The Gryphon looked sharp. I had to agree he was looking good in his suit.

As midnight neared, the hotel employee rolled out a television set so we could watch Dick Clark's Rocking New Year's Eve, this time hosted by Regis Philbin. That got a bunch of us talking about Dick Clark and pop culture. The hotel employee even threw in a couple remarks.

When it was almost midnight, we distributed our champagne glasses to prepare for the countdown. Five... four... three... two... one!

Happy New Year!

Now, since we had a toast, I figured I was supposed to go around and clink everyone's glass, so I was going around doing that when The Gryphon caught my eye, a bemused look on his face, and said, "Hey!" And I realized I should be giving him a New Year's kiss. I made my way around to him and gave him a big kiss to make up for it.

We hung around for another two hours or so. Agent Smith and I got talking about music, particularly about a band called The Donnas which I'd brought along and played for him. He told me he's bought an electronic drum kit and is learning to play.

I might have stayed up longer still, but The Gryphon was fading and asked if I'd mind coming to bed. So I collected my CD's, bid everyone goodnight, and we went up to our hotel room and our nice, comfy hotel bed.

New Year's 2006:

January 3, 2006 - Shiny, Happy New Year

New Year's 2004:

January 5, 2004 - Shiny, Happy People

Copyright 2005 by Alyce Wilson

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