Auld Lang .. yeah I have no clue what that means either

Once my birthday passes in July, only child all about me, the year always seems to fly by. That wonderful season of summer is almost at an end by that point and then the frantic madness of school starting, fall activities like apple picking (full confession I do it only for the donuts that are hot and awesome, the rest meh I have no real desire to recreate a pampered version of Grapes of Wrath but I did mention the donuts right?!), kids after school activities, Thanksgiving,  present buying, wrapping, meal planning/ cooking/serving, returns post holiday -- no wonder the year flew by.  The shortening of daylight also makes me feel like the days are ready for sleep at around 5pm.  

Then there is New Year's.  At some point in my life it was all about sneaking booze (slightly nauseous just remembering it) in a shampoo bottle (combo of every type my parents had in their house taken in small quantities - lucky we didn't burp bubbles) to the basement of my parents' friends house, kids in basement listening to their music, adults upstairs listening to some of the same and much of it not from my father's stash of mixed tapes he made for the occasion every year (he really would have made a good DJ - knew the balance of dance, downtime and refresh songs).  They danced and told inappropriate jokes, in retrospect probably much more off color than ours, we did same.  They played poker we -- well we talked about boys I think and stuff that was SOOO important to us then that now honestly I can't even recall.  Probably about stars we liked and hair like Farah's we wanted. 

Then it was about just not being with my parents past a certain point, yeah I will cheer with you Dad/Mom and then go out, there were basements now with no parents upstairs, booze flowing freely, bad choices being made and lots of kissing (some good, some booze helped to dull the bad experience).  It was still somewhat innocent. 

Finally on to the clubs, overpriced and crappy drinks, loud music - oh it was awesome.  The times required big hair, lots of makeup, heels that would kill your feet until you took them off (purses and shoes thrown in middle of girl group dancing), maybe the occasional meeting of someone, rarely serious, determined to stay out until daybreak (NYC kid so places closed at 4, then go to after hours bars) ending in consuming of large amounts of greasy calories in a diner, cheeseburger deluxe with shakes and fries with gravy and melted cheese.  Slept pretty much until Jan 2nd for a good part of my 20s.

The clubs give in to dinner dates, to house dinner parties.  Until you come to my stage now - back to house party, only now we are the parents upstairs (telling much more off-color jokes than our kids who are by far more conservative than most of us were at their age - is that like their Michael P Keaton rebellion with parents like us ?), listening to music while they do whatever it is they do in the basement.  Believe it requires electronic and virtual texting and devices to speak with people who are sitting next to you.  There is usually a movie they make and weather permitting maybe a game of Manhunt outside.  The kids fight to stay up and we the parents often fight the urge to sleep and actually see the ball drop.   Still not sure any of the words as we sing the Should all acquaintance be forgot ... auld lang - what the hell does that song mean anyway?  I wake up early on Jan 1st .. now. 

The years boy they sure seem to fly - I couldn't wait to get older - I can't wait to not feel older now.  I make no resolutions, I am the girl who cannot understand the adult coloring book phenomena after all (coloring inside the lines stresses me -- tells you all you need to know).  I make a list of things I will like to do, some of it continued from previous years and much of it just learning to enjoy the moment.  It is about my kids more than about me, what will the next year mean for them, about them. This year has been a crazy ride, thank you to so many friends who read this and to the strangers all over the world too.  Let's meet here next year, remind each other of how much more alike our wish for a good world is and be kind to another.  Cheers - raise a glass, make the most of what is left of this year and let's get it on for 2016 ... see you then.