New Year's Eve 2011

I'm pretty sure last year was the first year we had ever been out for New Year's Eve. It's obviously difficult to go out often when you are pregnant, nursing, or the parents of 4 children. However, now that the kids are all out of diapers and off the boob and mostly able to use the bathroom all by themselves, people are much more willing to watch them. Each new year the kids are a year older and a little easier to handle. Thank goodness.

This year we went out for a repeat performance with our friends D and L. Before we left we had to do our customary self portrait photo:



This year we ate sushi instead of Green Gateau. I'm pretty sure Kinja's Sex and the City rolls are my final meal when I get on death row. Amazing. With our bellies full, we headed to Starbucks for coffee.



Then we, of course, headed out for a few drinks at a martini bar. One of our favorite bars in town, Cliff's, caters to a little more mature crowd. We weren't worried about being surrounded by drunk 21-year-olds when we found a seat near the back of the bar. We were, instead, surrounded by drunk 25 to 50-year-olds.




Our friends went home early, but Colby and I were going to take full advantage of being kid-free. We decided to ring in the New Year in downtown Lincoln with the drunk college-aged crowd. What a sight to be seen. You have no idea how many times I said, "Oh my god, that's someone's daughter." Or maybe, "Did she dress for a date rape?" Or how about, "Jesus christ I am getting old." And, of course, the always popular, "Just because they make it in your size doesn't mean you should wear it."

Lucky for us we found a seat at Jake's Cigar bar with the more hipster, mature crowd. We actually met a really nice couple to spend the remaining hours of our night out. They were in their mid twenties, the parents of a little girl, who hadn't been out to a bar since 2008. He was a Iraq war veteran on disability who worked part time at a bicycle repair shop. She was getting ready to start a new job at Applebee's. Over all, we had a lot in common despite our differences, and they were nice enough to take a photo of us on their camera phone when Colby's malfunctioned. Sadly, the photo never arrived in my e-mail inbox despite the fact that I thought we entered the address correctly in the phone. That's what I get for trying to send an e-mail while drunk. Sigh.

After our midnight kiss and a little more visiting with our new friends, we headed to the truck stop near our house for breakfast a "breakfast" of chicken fried steak, cherry pie, and fried cheese.




We got to bed around 2:30 am, which is the latest we've been up (not including being up with a baby/puking kid/kid with croup). It was a great night to say good-bye to 2011 and ring in 2012.

Happy New Year!