I think we're on the clear now. We've gone through the western calendar New Year, and now we've turned the page on the Chinese one for good measure. And why does that matter, you ask? Because I refuse to concede that the New Year can start the way mine did, and instead prefer to think that I got a new chance for a better year once the Year of the Rat rolled in.
Let's start at the end of 2007...
It all started when I got itchy feet and decided I would find a way to go to a party for New Year's Eve - even if that meant throwing the party myself. As it turns out, when you have small children, that is the only way to do it. Babysitters are in high demand, and mine happened to have plans (never mind that she is 15 years old... she's got more of a life than I do). So, I contacted a few couples, who all thought it sounded like fun, and then notified my hubby, in that order.
As the night approached, I spent my limited free time dreaming up concoctions, since there is nothing like a party to test your latest recipe and try your hand at a new hors d'oeuvre. I got all my supplies, the hats, the blowers, the serpentine, the champagne glasses, and started buying the food.
Just as we were about to turn the corner on the much expected festivities (at least by me), people started falling like flies with bad colds, bronchitis, etc. In the end, from a potential crowd of 12, we ended up counting with 8, and the night of most of those canceled as well. In light of this experience, I have decided to run a hospital next year, which probably will meet with greater success.
Let's turn the page to 2008...
January came somewhat uneventfully, but I was looking forward to it. We had plans to go to Big Bear for our godson's birthday and spend the weekend there with the Maxwells and the Eros. And after that, we'd be rolling into my birthday season (yeah, season, more accurate). I had gotten tickets for an Argentinian Tango show, with an Argentinian dance company, and I was researching my options for an after-show jazz bar where Jim and I could hide in a corner, have a drink, enjoy some music, and yes, make out. Why not?
So, Big Bear came, and with it disaster. Katarina got sick with a bad cold that generated very high fevers, so she had to stay home most of the next week. As she went back to daycare and I back to work, Jim came down with influenza. He spent four days in bed, flat on his back shivering and miserable, through the long weekend AND into my birthday, when we had planned to go skiing (for free in Big Bear!) My birthday came without the skiing, so I took myself out for ballet class and got a few things done, including baking my own cake (which turned out scrumptious). That night, Larissa and I came down with Katarina's cold and fevers, so Larissa had to stay home from school, and I had to work from home despite the fever. By the end of the week, I was told I had pneumonia (happy freaking birthday to me!!), the day before my show and dreams of a jazz bar. Next Wednesday, Katarina got another cold and was sent home from daycare with yet another fever AND covered in spots.
Need I say more? We've said good-bye to 2007 and its viruses, and we've said good-bye to the year of the Pig with another set of bugs. I'm done. This new year, which I decided to welcome yesterday, will be better, even if it means I have to mark my door with the blood of the sacrificial lamb!
