NYE

 That's me. Circa 1985, NYE.  There's whiskey in that glass.

My Mother threw epic family New Years Eve parties.  Fancy dress, great food, lots and lots of booze.  Drunk uncles, wrestling cousins, babies sleeping like puppies in the middle of a really big bed.  Remember that part of Little House in the Big Woods where Laura and her family go to the grandparents and there are tables groaning with food and babies asleep on the bed? Like that, but with more drunken arguments.  Getting all of my natal family together has always been a little bit of a crap shoot.  The possibility of not funny fights and hurt feelings was always right below the surface.

She would dare the fates and have these big parties out in the boondocks.  Someone usually got sick, someone got mad and once or twice someone actually left bleeding.  My family does not do things by half measure.  My family doesn't really exist like that anymore. 

My favourite part of New Year's Eve at my Mom's was the tree.  She would take  off the most fragile ornaments and then smother it in serpentine streamers and party hats.  I loved it.  Today I bought serpentine and spent some time teaching Doodle how the throw it.  Awesome!  And way easier to clean up than confetti. We have a pretty good start on the tree.  At midnight we will toss serpentine at it like it's an ocean liner leaving for Panama!  I might not be able to give him the big dysfunctional drunken family party, but I can give him serpentine and a big smothered tree!