New Years Eve

What a lovely way to bring in the new year. Let me take you through my day and night.  Ok, so I am a single lady, but what does that have to do with the equation?  One can have a fun New Years Eve celebrating with a friend or twin sister and or kids or a Fake Fireplace.....Bahhh.

The day starts out as my children, Auntie and I, go to a consignment shop to look at an electric gas fireplace that is 50 percent off. I want it sooooooooo bad.  My daughter pulls me away from it saying " Mom, we have everything we need, and Aunt would kill you if you bought it." I try to appeal to her sense of fiscal discounting and tell her it is on sale and Jacob and I have been talking about having an electric fireplace for about three years now. I tell her it is only $141 dollars. She pleads with me as auntie Linda and Jacob approach the scene.  I say, "Jacob, this is THE fireplace, plug it in and lets see what this baby can do." Jacob plugs it in as we watch the blazing fire on the fake logs light up. We also feel and enjoy the warm heat that it gives off.  Linda says, "No way Laura, we are not getting it, we don't need it.  Ellie is right, we have everything we need."  I say "Jacob what do you think of it?"  He loves it just as I do and we do our best to make valid arguments of why we need this classic fireplace in our upper living room. OK, I am digressing at a rapid pace.

We leave this store called TurnStyle without this beautiful oak engraved  masterpiece.  We all go to Ridgedale mall to eat at Chipotle.  I drop Ellie off at the door as she insists that her friend is waiting at the door for her. I tell her we will all be in after we park and then we will take in lunch. I park the car and half way into the mall, I notice I forgot my purse in the car. I stroll out to the car and discover, I left my purse at TurnStyle. Wow, this day is not going the way I planned. Ok, now aunt says "can you drop me off then at Target while you go back for your purse"?  Sure I say, so Jacob and I toddle off to TurnStyle. "Oh no, will I be able to go in there and not purchase my dream fake fireplace????  "Its' Ok Laura, just breathe, you can do it, just act as if...... I walk in the doorway of TurnStyle with powerful confidence. I see my purse behind the counter.  The cashier walks up and says..... Here is your purse, it was sitting on the chair next to the fireplace. Oh No!!!!!!!! How could she say that word, FIREPLACE.........I grab my purse and run out....

Now the day gets better. We pick up Auntie at Target, drive right on over to the mall and take in a great lunch at Chipotle. A great gift indeed, we see my nephew, my children's cousin. My nephew is the store manager and even comps some of the food for us.  Now things are looking up. We end up seeing many acquaintances and have a nice time.

After lunch my daughter leaves to go to her buddies house for New Years. My fifteen year old son says "mom, Kevin wants me at a movie that started ten minutes ago."  OK, lets just run you to your friend my dear boy." This is my life and I am here to say it. I get Jacob to the theatre and go in and pay for him. Now, Linda, my twin sister and I are free for the night. My kids are both getting picked up by their dad later from said movie and said friend's house.

At home, we breathe and say, wow, another day at the Loud Families House. We call our home the loud family because well..... were loud. Now Linda and I go to our respective corners of the house and or bathrooms and shower and freshen up for the night. We know we have food to buffet for later on but what to do now, what to do???

Linda I say, "You know that gift card you received at Christmas from our brother? Perhaps we can use that and enjoy a fabulous evening out at Redstone." Hmmmmm.... Thats a great Idea Laura, lets do that and then later in the night we pull out our buffet fixin's and watch Dick Clark like we do every year since I moved in."

To sum up my New Years Eve, great eats, great company, my first ever Cosmopolitan, and snow that started before midnight. .....and then, Dick Clark, beautiful Dick Clark brings us into the new year with his rockin' eve special. For a single mother, this was my idea of a  perfect New Years Eve.  Happy New Year To All.