eve of the eve
Well, actually it’s technically New Year’s Eve NOW, being after midnight and all. But my brain says it’s still Friday so it’s the eve of the eve to me. I’m having a weird New Year’s this year. Well, okay, we always have very subdued and quiet New Year’s Eves. We never go out, and the closest thing we ever have to a party is when Kim comes up. Which she can’t do this year. But no parties are fine with me, because I hate New Year’s!!! I hate it! It’s traumatic and anxiety-provoking and I just dwell on how fast time is going and how can it possibly be another year ALREADY and what the hell happened to the last one or the last ten or the last TWENTY for that matter, and oh, yeah, what the hell have I done with my LIFE??? Exactly NOTHING, that’s what!!! I’m old and I’m getting older every second and I’ve accomplished NOTHING and and and AAAGGHHH!!!! And this is just a normal change of years. You should see me when the decade changes. Or the millennium!!!
But I digress. Let’s just say that I’m never a big fan of New Year’s, and staying home and watching whatever our current TV obsession is on DVD and drinking wine and watching the ball drop (tuning in at the last second, because those New Year’s Eve shows are AWFUL and it’s not because I’m officially ancient, thanks SO much) is generally the extent of the Baker B and Edna Festivities. Unless Kim is here and then we chat and laugh and drink wine and do tarot and watch the ball drop. But this year, I’m alone on New Year’s Eve! Well, if I was not a terrible daughter-in-law and a terrible wife, I’d be down in Morganton with Baker B and Baker B’s mom, watching the horrible New Year’s Eve shows without any wine at all because the MIL does not believe in drinking alcohol. No, I don’t know what’s wrong with her.
Yeah, I’d way rather hang out here with the cats and drink wine and watch the last two episodes of The Tudors by myself. So I’m not at all upset about this odd turn of events, but it is… odd. But the reason Baker B has departed for Morganton is because his mom has been having weird dizziness/nausea episodes, that started on Christmas Eve. She was so dizzy and sick she went to the hospital (we were in Charleston and had NO idea until Monday that this was going on) but then she felt better by that evening and went home. By then Baker B’s brother from Baltimore had arrived and they’ve been there all week with her. And she’s actually been pretty much okay since Saturday, although she’s had a couple of slight dizzy spells and minor nausea spells. But they had to leave this morning, and Baker B thought it would be a good idea if he went down there for a couple of nights just to make sure she really IS okay. She’s going to be 91 in March (yes, NINETY ONE) and is still living alone. We were there Monday night and Tuesday, and she did seem a little less energetic than usual. Even considering she’s nearly NINETY ONE. And she’s very wobbly and the last thing she needs to do is fall and break a hip.
SO he’s being a really good son and I’m being a really bad daughter-in-law!! But this is how we’ve been doing the parent thing in recent years. I go stay with mine when I need to, and he goes and stays with his mom when he needs to. Of course if she was in a seriously ill state I’d be there too, but it doesn’t sound that serious. Weirdly, it sounds exactly like what my dad was going through last summer — nausea and dizziness. And they never did figure out what was wrong with him despite a gazillion tests, and it finally just went away. He was dehydrated, and so was the MIL, so we are kind of wondering if it’s just severe dehydration that has caused it. So Baker B will also be encouraging lots of drinking of water this weekend.
It’s a Tudors and Wine New Year’s for me! Strange, but oh, well.
Charleston was WONDERFUL and I have pictures but don’t have them all loaded on Flickr of course, so that will have to wait for another entry. We left Charleston Monday afternoon, went to Morganton to see Baker B’s family, came back up here (another hour’s drive) very late in the evening because we needed to check on the cats (and that house is HELL to spend the night in if there are more people than just us)(and it’s not much fun even if it IS just us) then the next morning we drove down to Asheville to visit my dad for the day, then went through M’ton AGAIN to visit some more with the Baker B family and then came back up here REALLY late Wednesday night. SO I’m actually so tired still that I’m ready to do nothing at all for the entire weekend.
In lieu of pictures, I will leave you with a sample of what Baker B and I are currently watching via Netflix (and of course as usual refresh if it does not show):
Monster Chiller Horror Theatre!!!! AAAAAARRRROOOOOO!!!!!
Yes, it’s SCTV!! We’d been watching episodes I’d taped YEARS ago from NBC when they were showing it late at night, but what they were showing was just little bits of the actual shows. These we’ve just gotten from Netflix are entire episodes – they were 90 minutes and aired way back in the early 80s. They were similar to Saturday Night Live, but had the continuity of being the same characters on a television station, doing different bizarre shows. Like Count Floyd and Monster Chiller Horror Theatre!!
This clip IS long, but boy it’s worth it. Count Floyd’s Horror Movie turns out to be an Ingmar Bergman film (a spoof, of course) and it is hysterical. I laughed till I was in tears – it is genius.
Well, funny t.v. sounds like a brilliant way to spend New Year’s. We’ll be asleep. (We do have our niece’s birthday tomorrow, and so have a place to go eat a meal, but this is the first time.) Hope the MIL is OK. I hate those unnamable dizzy spells. It’s scary and frustrating.
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NYE has never been a biggie for me either. good luck and happy new year. * clink clink*
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i’ll be spending my new year’s alone, too. i have a shrimp ring and wine and might stay up to watch the ball drop in my bedroom. not sure. might go to sleep instead. enjoy your new year’s eve. take care,
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I haven’t gone out for NYE in years. I enjoy the warm comfort and safety of my own home too much. I hope Baker B’s mom is okay.
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happy new year sweets!! i’d rather be drinking wine n watching shows than WORKING, which is what i always do. i haven’t had a NYE off since 99/2000. so yours sounds heavenly. hope Baker B’s mom is really okay. xoxoxo
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I have never been kissed at midnight for the New Year. 🙂 I am 39 years old and have probably only seen the New Year ring in once and I happen to be at work that night 🙂 Due to some insomnia issues I will probably ring it in reading a book tonight while reminding myself all the reasons I should be asleep and aren’t. I have been married since I was 18 so I guess either I pick fuddy duds for husbands….or I could care less about it being a new year lol!
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being alone can be rather pleasant! enjoy it! and i will enjoy mine~
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I have the Tudors next up on my Instant Queue but have been watching Being Human instead since I finished my 7 episode Doctor Who extravaganza over Christmas. I did see the Special! It was on at 6pm on Christmas day here. It was odd to see it with American commercials. And not to be able to stop and go back and listen to some witticism again. But it was very cool to actually see a Christmas special on Christmas. Last year’s doesn’t appear to be available unless one pays for it.
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The weather is scary here so I am actually looking forward to being home and safe. I do hope Baker B’s mother is just having one of those unexplained episodes that will be gone shortly and leave one puzzled but well. I am not sure why this is happening, maybe because I am grateful to be alive and functional, I am less interested in focusing on what I haven’t accomplished this year than ever before. Maybe that is the trick to actually getting a bunch of meaningful stuff done artistically speaking.
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That said, all the best for a very productive (artistically speaking), fun and safe New Year for you five!
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I hope Baker B’s mom is okay. Hooray for Tudors and wine! It’s Pink Floyd and beer up in here.
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The “new year” is such an arbitrary passage. Yes, objectively, the earth moves around the sun every 365-point-something days, but when the year is “new” is entirely a social construct. (Tudors is as good a way as any to pass the night!) I hope your MIL feels better.
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There is no reason to explain away your reasons for staying home while Baker B. goes to his mom’s. I think you two have worked out an extremely reasonable plan. Let’s face it: we are of an age where our parents are starting to fail. With one spouse dealing with the smaller crises and the other not in turns, you both remain strong and rested enough to deal when the big crisis hits. Most of my NYEs have been pretty low key. I did the NYC thing a couple of times and I’m glad I had the experience, but ultimately, the beer is cheaper and the food and entertainment are better when you stay home. Happy New Year’s to you. I hope 2012 is a good one.
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i am not a big new years eve person either, more so since i became an old fart. i’m especially happy that no one asked me to babysit. i hope your mil is alright. being 91 is enough to give anyone the spins. i once read that most older people’s hip breaks, and then they fall, not the other way around. either way, who wants it?! gotta give her a lot of credit still living alone. have a bearable transition into this next year. dare i say Happy New Year? i do mean it, though, to you and Baker B.
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Ha! everybody thinks…. ‘I’m old and I’m getting older every second and I’ve accomplished NOTHING and and and AAAGGHHH!!!!’ …and while I suspect you are being a bit self-ironic there and must realise you are doing Pretty Darned Good (judging form the richness of your OD entries) anyways… Happy New Year! Throw another log on the fire to keep that Lum Reeking, crackopen another beer and turn the music up….
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I think your night would be a better choice than with the MIL. I was with my Dad, watching horrible shows…but he drinks wine!
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I’ll have to watch the clip later due to movie watching. I would find it odd without Art here. We don’t do anything for New Year’s Eve. I wish I thought of the wine thing.
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Love the “Bergman” clip. Never did understand his films.
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We’re going to Charleston this April so I look forward to your pictures and comments!
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Happy New Year!!! (VERRRRY belatedly!) Although I like parties, I also like staying home and watching tv, depending upon my mood and the weather. I must say that I’d NEVER suspect YOU of being…”old”! And 50? Eh? What’s 50? Meg Ryan’s 50 – so’s Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Why, even George Clooney!! He’s hardly washed up! Just a year older are Jennifer Gray, Jane Lynch, and Antonio Banderas is a year older than you, and he’s still got it. Please take my word for it, 50 is just a 5 with an O after it. Just make of it the best you can! You travel, and take pics, and write read-worthy posts. Besides, just look at Baker B’s mom, still hanging in there, and she’s got 41 years on you! (Hope she’ll be fine!) Anyway, like Schwu, I don’t think you needed an excuse for this nice way to pass that day. Meanwhile, a thousand thanks for posting this clip from SCTV! That was my absolute favorite show when it was on! Count Floyd was a complete riot. I loved John Candy and Martin Short in the daytime soap spoofs. I had NO idea these were available, and since we just got access to our daughter’s Netflix account, you’d better believe I’ll be downloading these soon! 🙂 🙂
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