New Year's Eve

I have always had a love hate relationship with New Year's Eve. Growing up it was this weird dance that centered around getting to stay up until midnight. I remember as a child it always seemed like something big was supposed to happen at midnight, huge and life changing and magical. The first year I was up for it, I remember leaving the night incredibly sad that nothing popped out of the ground, the room didn't swirl, and (other then the yelling of my siblings) no noise heralded the huge change of date.

As I grew older it was not only the dance to stay up until midnight, but also the hope of getting to stay out until midnight that made me anxious each year. It wasn't until I was 18 that I could stay out that late, and after only one year of that I realized how unsatisfactory even that was. My 19th New Year's was spent playing a board game called Scene It and watching the ball drop with Dick Clark.

This year, I had decided to give the adult thing another shot. I decided I was going out, and I am. I am partying on the streets of Tempe and I am going to really give it all I have. Maybe I will find that all the hype really is true for once, that it really is worth is to stay up until midnight. The problem is, having talked to all the adults in my life, the adult thing apparently is to stay in and go to bed early. Sounds quite nice, if you think about it. Maybe that will be my next year's plans.