Happy New York

Boy and Girl in Party Hats Blowing NoisemakersGrowing up, we always thought we were cool when we said, “Happy New York,” instead of “Happy New Year.” OK – maybe Kevin didn’t think it was that cool. But I did. And that, after all, is all that matters – right? So in the spirit of my inner child, Happy New York, everyone!!

There were several years where my brother and I would celebrate New Year’s Eve at Grandmama and Grandpa’s house. When we would get to their house, we’d plan out our evening with them and talk about how we were going to boogie-woogie all night long. Of course, our ultimate goal was to stay up ’till midnight so we could see the ball drop. And we never did.

I take that back.

I remember watching the ball drop once while at Grandmama and Grandpa’s. Everyone, including my grandparents, were already asleep. I tried to wake Grandpa up, but he was knocked out – on the floor. That’s where he usually fell asleep when we were there. And Grandmama would always fall asleep in her recliner.

And while I don’t know if it happened every year, I remember the family getting together at Grandmama and Grandpa’s on New Year’s morning for a big breakfast cooked by Grandpa. I remember biscuits and gravy. I also remember there was a lot of food. And it was good.

I’ve always tried to have a big breakfast with the family on January 1. While we didn’t have biscuits and gravy this year, we did have waffles. That certainly beats a bowl of cereal or a Pop Tart. Of course, if we had a Chick-fil-a nearby, we would have probably eaten there this morning so we could get some free grub.

The waffles weren’t the first food I had in 2009, though. After giving Christy a big ol’ kiss to celebrate the new year, I had a bowl of Crispix. Did you know that Kellogg’s Crispix is crispy times two? I thought so…

I guess both Christy and I were thinking of our grandparents a lot this year. I think of them every New Year’s and probably say something about it every year. It’s probably annoying to everyone else, but they’ll live with it. Retelling stories and memories like this helps connect our kids with the family that they’ve never known. And I think that’ll be even more important as we welcome another child into our family approximately a year from now.

For dinner last night, we had Polish Mistakes and Shirley Temples, tributes to Christy’s grandparents who have passed on. I always thought calling a food Polish Mistakes was probably originally intended as some type of ethnic jokes. I guess they’re not. I still don’t know why they’re called that, though. Either way, they’re quite tasty!

The kids didn’t make it till midnight. Partially because we encouraged them to go to bed. They did manage to delay their bedtime till about 11:15. Probably should have let them stay up. This was the first year they really wanted to try. They’ve got to go through a couple of years of longing to watch the ball without actually seeing it, right? Doesn’t that make the first time you’re up at midnight more memorable – or am I merely grasping at straws here?

We spent the day today lounging around for a while. Everyone except me still has their PJs on. I, unfortunately, already had to make a Wal Mart run today. The new year isn’t even a day old and I already had to go to the big blue box! Talk about starting off on the wrong foot!

We cleaned the house a bit, lounged around a bit, watched the Tournament of Roses Parade, watched some football, and just hung out as a family. And that has been very nice! I even got to chase the kids around the house with laser tag guns. The dogs had no idea what to do with that. They were sorely confused!

I know the real world returns tomorrow, but it’s been nice to just hang out all day at our house with the family. I hope we’ll be able to do more of that during the coming year.

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Howdy. I'm Matt. My wife, Christy, and I have four kids and two dogs, I'm passionate about orphan care. I'm a die-hard fan of the Evansville Aces, the Indiana Hoosiers, and Star Wars. I'm trying to live life by the Todd family motto: "It behooves us to live!"
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