I was so glad to say goodbye to 2020. It was a huge dumpster fire.
2020 started out so promising. I had so many things I had planned on doing, had enough leave saved up for it, had money saved up and all I had to do was wait until those events happened. I was so excited for my trip to Peru and Ecuador in March, the TriCities Geocoin event in June, our concert with Lindsay and Justin in July, the two huge geocaching events in both Seattle and Abbotsford, Canada in August and a possible trip to New Mexico to visit Ben's aunt and uncle in the fall. My two personal leave days were set aside, we were going to do more hiking and exploring and none of that happened because of stupid Covid. I know my stuff is pretty trivial to those experiencing worse things but this was my life, my reality and my stuff I was looking forward to. This is why I have a job; to travel and experience things with family and friends. Not to sit at home working my life away. The entire year was wasted and we won't get that time back. It was so frustrating!
Anyway.
Ben and I still wanted to celebrate New Year's Eve since we won't be doing it with our friends this year like we always do. Last year, we didn't either because we spend it at his mom's house because she asked us first. This year we asked her if she wanted to come over and she was hesitant because we had also asked Josh and Heather to also come over and they had Covid about two months ago. We eventually talked her into it and she brought Ed and they were going to spend the night in the guest room.
I told Trish that we would wipe down everything and to make sure that Josh and Heather knew that she and Ed were coming and not to be offended if they kept their distance and wore masks. Josh and Heather didn't care, they were just happy to go spend time with friends and such. We discussed what kind of food was going to be made and divvied it out accordingly. Josh and Heather wanted to make two meat dishes, one was a chicken dish you ate with homemade tortillas and the other was Josh's famous BBQ short ribs. I told everyone we would make a bunch of rice and Trish said she would bring some mac and cheese. I had an assortment of cookies and chips as well. The food was all set and all we had to do now was wait for that evening.
I had some fireworks leftover from previous 4th of July's so I dug those out. Trish said she would bring some stuff and Josh and Heather also had a couple things they were going to bring. I said there would be some games and if anyone wanted to bring other games that would be welcomed.
That day, Ben and I worked the whole day. I decided to just work the whole day so I could save the hours for when we got to travel again. When I logged off, my friend Alicia stopped by to pay me for watching her dogs during the Christmas weekend while she was gone. She handed me $100 in cash stuffed inside a bank envelope. We chatted for a few minutes and then some thank you's were exchanged. I left and did our weekly shopping trip. I made sure we had enough rice and such for tonight but I mostly went for our normal every day things. I got back after Ben got home. We cleaned up the house a bit and vacuumed. I made sure the extra bedroom had clean pillow cases, sheets and blankets.
Trish and Ed arrived early followed by Josh and Heather. Lilly decided to go hang out with friends. The rice was done so we got out plates and silverware, heated up the mac and cheese in the microwave and noticed that Josh and Heather had brought a ton of food and drinks. Since Heather works at Costco, she had with her at least three bottles of champagne, two bottles of pop and about 8 jars of individual crème brulee's. We set it all out on the table and we dished up. I was hungry and looking forward to the food. We dished up and the food was mighty impressive since I've only had Josh's short ribs once. The chicken dish was very tasty as well. He said both were staples on Guam and he hoped that when he finally has his food truck, some form of them will be served on the menu.
We ate food, chatted about what was going on in each other's lives which was not that much since we were now into month 10 of dealing with Covid. We've all been basically working, going to school and getting stuff done that we've been putting off. In the background on low, the television was streaming various programs and NYE celebrations of other time zones who have successfully made it into 2021.
We tried to play games. Josh and Heather had brought some new games to try but Josh and Ben weren't that into it and Heather was getting tired since she had to start work at 5 a.m. this morning. We decided not to play those and to play some of our usual games for a bit while we waited for midnight.
As it got closer to midnight, we got all of our stuff ready, watched the ball drop on television, kisses and hugs were given out and then we all went outside to light sparklers, set last year's hats, noise makers and paper glasses donning 2020 on fire in the yard... at least that's what Trish did.
We did confetti string poppers, took a few pictures and Ben and Josh had cigars. We were outside for about 20 minutes or so hanging out and listening to fireworks go off in the neighborhood. I would be blowing up fireworks but I used the good ones up in July.
Everyone was getting tired, since most of us worked that day and all got up around 5 or 6 that morning, so we decided to call it a night. Heather was barely awake, Josh and Ben were a little tipsy, Trish, Ed and I were doing alright but could start getting ready for bed. We thanked Josh and Heather for coming over and spending some time with us and they headed home. The rest of us got ready for bed. It was a long day and I was so going to sleep in.
Happy 2021 everyone! I hope it is much better than 2020!
Next Adventure: A Mini Winter Adventure: Lacey to Leavenworth
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