Last night we rang in the New Year with a bang. Literally. We had received an invitation to a New Year's Eve party given by a family in our ward who lives one town over. The kids were very excited at the prospect of playing with their friends and staying up so late. I was excited about playing with my friends and doing something out of the ordinary for New Year's. I enjoy it when our family has it's own little party, but every once in a while it's nice to get out of your rut and do something different. Plus, it was at Terrian's, who always throws a super nice party, so I was extra excited.
As I was gathering up everything we would need for the party, it started snowing. A lot. Really fat flakes, really fast. By the time we got in the car, there was a good six inches on the road. I drove really slow all the way down the hill, and although there were a couple of spots where I could feel the car slip, they only lasted a second, and then I felt the wheels grip the snow again. Just as we came through the last curve before the bottom of the hill, I hit a huge patch of ice. Fortunately, I was driving under the speed limit, so the car didn't have as much momentum as it could have, but still, I had no control over where it was going. And it was going straight for the house on the corner. I cranked the wheel as far to the left as I could, so that we would hopefully steer away from someone's living room. I was successful, but unfortunately, now the car was headed straight across the road into oncoming traffic, still skidding on a patch of ice. I had the brake to the floorboards but wasn't slowing down at all. Then the nice cement barrier in the center of the road to protect pedestrians helped me out in that department. Bang! We hit that thing and tore it right out of the road and dragged it underneath our car for about 20 feet, until we finally came to a stop on the side of the road. I had to back up a bit and tug pretty hard, but I was able to get it out from underneath our car, and rolled it onto the sidewalk, so no one else would hit it.
I, of course, called Chris, but he didn't know what I should do, and asked if the car was still running. Yes, but there were a couple of lights lit up on the dashboard. I had never seen these particular lights and didn't know what they were for. I decided to continue on to the party and look them up there in the owner's manual. The kids were a bit scared, but I tried to laugh and reassure them as much as possible. Nicholas hadn't been sure whether he even wanted to go to the party in the first place, and only decided to go as the rest of us were walking out the door. So I told him it was a good thing he decided to come, or else he would have missed all the excitement!
We drove on down the road and just as we turned on to the street where the party was, the car died. Completely. Couldn't get it to budge. I called Chris again, and he gave me Terrian's number. I called them and her husband and Collin (another party guest) drove down the hill and rescued the kids and myself. They pushed the car to the side of the road, so it wouldn't get hit by anyone else, and then we went on to the party. I called the tow truck, but they said it could be a while before anyone could come, due to the amount of accidents happening all over town. So I just decided to enjoy the party as best I could.
Terrian and gone all out and prepared a fabulous dinner for all the adults, as well as child friendly fare for upstairs. That is where we sent the kids to play. They had their Xbox set up, the Playstation, a movie going, as well as a card game and snacks and drink. There were also several beds made up for anyone who wanted to sleep. Most of the kids came dressed in their pajamas, but no sleeping actually occurred. :) They played very well with each other, and had fun with the sparklers in the snow. Then there was ice cream and more playing. The kids had a blast, and were very well behaved.
Meanwhile, we were eating like kings. She had menus set up on the table with each listed. There were six in total, including grapefruit and lemon sorbets to cleanse our palates before we had the main course of pork tenderloin. She had taken carrots and hollowed them out, then placed green beans inside the rings and steamed them all together. So good! And the way everything was presented on the plates. It was absolutely gorgeous, and I am so glad I could be there.
After dinner, the adults had a gift exchange with some hilarious trading/stealing of gifts, as is customary with those types of things. Then we counted down to the New Year together, and watched a gorgeous firework display put on by several of their neighbors. They were pretty impressive. Like, so impressive, someone asked if they were being put on by the city. After that was finally over, we cleaned up a bit and then Holger (Terrian's husband) offered to drive us home. By then the streets were all nicely plowed and it was smooth sailing, of course.
We got everyone safely in bed by 1 a.m., the car was sleeping by the dealership, thanks to the tow truck driver, and it looked like 2009 was off to a great start. Until Nick woke us up at 5:00 am to inform us that he had just thrown up in the toilet, the bathroom floor, the hallway, and his bed. I got everything all cleaned up and remade his bed with fresh sheets and crawled back to my own bed. Which I had to leave very quickly an hour later to my own special trip to the bathroom. Noah woke up with stomach cramps as well, but since he hadn't eaten anything for a while, he just spent the morning dry heaving with great theatrics and exaggerated noises thrown in for extra effect. Sophie walked around all day with the hot pad on her sore ear, (but no fever so I don't think she has an infection) and Baby is cutting two molars.
Do I need to add that we cancelled our planned trip to the zoo and just tried to recover as best we could? Next year we are looking forward to a very forgettable New Year's Eve, as the memorable ones are just not worth it.