We were scheduled to go to a larger party put on by 3 women, it was canceled. The hostess who invited us to the large party decided to have a smaller party and invited us to that one, a few days ago it was canceled. We are totally in support of these cancellations, cases of Covid are growing. We have two friends that have Covid right now, one just left for the ER. My son’s roomate just tested positive this morning, DS has a test scheduled for later today. No symptoms but he needs to know if he possibly spread this to us over the holidays, the roomate has been sick awhile but previous tests were negative so she thought it was a bad cold. All of these people that we know with with Covid have been fully vaccinated. Not sure of booster status.

As it stands it will likely be just my husband and myself for NYE. We will likely cook a special dinner and enjoy a movie or two, watch the fireworks and go to bed shortly after midnight. The same as last year.

For the last 20 years or more, we have had a gourmet 5 course dinner with 8 of our best friends. Always includes oysters to start and the hosts serve the most wonderful wines. It’s a great evening with special friends.

Unfortunately, my son-in-law when tested for Covid showed a false negative 2 days before Christmas, so we are now self isolating. Thank goodness we had our three shots, so it won’t be as severe. I’ll be beating everyone to bed if we end up positive!

Wishing everyone a safe, happy, and very healthy year ahead.

Oh, no, Jill … so sorry to hear of your friends having Covid. Hope they recover well, and that your son doesn’t have it, too. :(

@Jinx- the Grateful Dead! Even though the band officially ended when Garcia died in 1995, we are all still the closest of friends. And somehow the Grateful Dead (in its past and current iterations) has never been more popular! I’m grateful:) for all of it.

Awesome, Chinacat! How fun! :)

Zalco and Lars- I’m a total Boomer, born in 1950:). My circle of friends are all Deadheads from back in the day!

We are staying home for a steak and shrimp dinner, picked up the bubbly and steaks today :) Maybe for new years day savory pie and some cheese for brunch- we got a lot of excellent cheese right now.

China, I'm a geriatric Xer, 1968 ;-)

1969 here!

Oh, and what a lovely evening you have planned, China. Close friends, amazing music, such warmth and camaraderie.

We always have a New Years Day meal/ party at my daughter in laws. When we are home in the evening we tryto stay uptill midnight to see the ball go down
at Time Square on TV, but I always fall asleep. Happy New Year to all!!!

I’m really enjoying reading everyone’s plans, thank you for replying! I hope for a happy and healthy 2022 for all. ❤️

New Year's weekend (once our kids started getting married) has always been our Christmas. We're up to 14 adults, and 15 grandchildren - ages 3 months to 17 years.

It's crazy!

Hard choices there, Jinx. Difficult to select between Nothing, Sleeping, Stalking and Arguing. Pretty much the same thing I do every night. BTW, stalked an old bf. Wow, did I ever dodge a bullet !

ded 😂

I found an ex on FB a while back. Somehow, he went from looking like Heath Ledger to Yosemite Sam. I am not exaggerating. And he likes frosted cakes shaped like dead fish. I’m still wondering if someone took over his identity because I just can’t believe he’s the same person I knew (his friend’s list was who I expected to see, so …).

OMG, jinx, my long ago ex is now a slimy old man chasing young women in the Philippines. gag.

We always go to really good friends house and then back home-and then we all go to a movie New Year's evening. This year we are going to see Spiderman at the theatre. It is fun to celebrate with our now-grown up kids. I love Spiderman though and have heard it's really good!

We may go out for Mexican food, and then watch the fireworks across the street from our porch! Exciting!!

We've been staying home on NYE for at least the last 30 years. Our usual feast includes Maine Lobster. We're on the west coast now, so I'm thinking Alaskan King Crab instead. In my mind, as soon as I see the ball drop in Times Square on TV, it's the new year. So a 9pm PST bedtime sounds about right!

We usually stay home and have appetizers. I started this when the kids were younger. But we're at the beginning of a cold snap (-30C and closer to -50 with the windchill), so instead of appetizers, I'm thinking of something more hearty, like brisket. Maybe a few of the appetizers for old time's sake : ) .

I don't seem to have a problem staying up until midnight many nights when I'm reading or watching a movie, but on a New Year's Eve when I *have* to, it's always hard!

We used to go to the opera on New Year's eve with friends. It is a fun dress up occasion (oh this again). My fave part is dining there, and at intermission they have your dessert and drink order waiting. Problem is the Met heavily favors Die Fledermaus on NYE, since it is set on New Year's Eve. But we can only see that so many times...

So last year we were all set to spend Christmas and NYE in Europe, then, well you know what happened next.

So this year we were all set to spend Christmas and NYE in Europe; i rented an airbnb with a huge balcony that has view of the Prague fireworks over the river. Then, they cancelled the Prague fireworks for the first time in like 100 centuries. They decided it scares the animals. Can't we just scare them this one more time?

Of course, then Austria, which was our primary destination, went into lockdown even for vaxxed folk.

We are now scheduled to spend Christmas and NYE in Europe next year. $100 to anyone who can guess next year's variant.

I will now tempt the Gods and tell you what we are doing. A week or so before Thanksgiving we booked Panama/Medellin/Cartagena. On Black Friday, Omicron hit. I did not unwind our plans , which are all cancellable and refundable, but refused to book anything more, until today. Today I decided we are risking it. We leave Wednesday, and hope to spend NYE dining and drinking and dancing on a rooftop in old city Panama.

We are triple vaxed, have N95s, and will have some level of separation while flying. I made sure of our health care coverage, and made sure that, if we test positive when we plan to come home, we quarantine where we choose, not at a Colombian government facility. We will q for 5 days when we return.

Fingers crossed. FYI, despite all the headlines, the flight cancellations for major US airlines (United, American, Delta) have been 3-4% per day. What are they on a normal day? 1-2%?

Mtn, I hope it’s an amazing trip! I’m so envious! You have to share pics. :)

I got an outdoor reservation for Sippin’ Santa but I’m probably going to cancel. We did buy a tenderloin to cook here.

Mtn, have a wonderful trip. I’m happy you were able to book something for the holiday.

We will be at home, as usual. We generally have a nice meal and try to stay up and toast 2022 with a glass of prosecco or champagne once the ball drops in NYC, which is 11 pm our time.

So glad the trip is working out, Mtn. Have a wonderful time.

@Maureen … I just saw all of your post, it wasn’t showing up for me before — I hope you’re all ok! I’m sorry you have to miss dinner with your friends.

You are always so helpful on the decorating boards … I enjoy your posts, thank you! ❤️

(I hope you’ll come over here on Conversations more and post with us! Awesome group of people here.) :)

Mtn, I hope you love old Panama! It's charming. Share photos, please! Here's one from my 2016 trip to whet your appetite. Where some see an old wall and door, I saw absolute beauty. If they could only talk!

Jen, that is stunning! You are such an amazing photographer!

For most of his life since a teenager DH played piano somewhere in a restaurant venue with a group. After we married . I was always his roadie since he doesn’t drive. He made the decision 2 years ago that he wasn’t doing it anymore. The restaurant he plays at here in Lex doesn’t comp the musicians sufficiently on NYE to warrant the effort it requires to get other musicians on board. We are glad to stay home… after almost 50 yrs of gigging together.

Trail, roadie? haha. I am guessing you will have music from that gorgeous new piano1

Jen, that's right, I recall your trip! Beautiful photos of the children you were there to help. Any tips for us?

My best tip would be to just go where you think you maybe shouldn't. I know, I know... safety first and all that jazz. We were cautioned by our trip hosts not to go into the inner city, so naturally one of the first things we did when we exited the bus was cross to "the wrong side of the street" and entered the fray. Granted, we had a fluent Spanish speaker with us, and might not have been quite so bold otherwise, but we had a lovely experience soaking up the gritty street life. I might not be so willing to go there after dark, but during the day, the atmosphere was vibrant and we felt perfectly safe. Bought our lunch on a street corner and watched the world go by.

But wherever you go once you're there, simply enjoy. It's a beautiful country.

@chinacatpeekin and other Grateful Dead Fans: Ebay notice! Listing ends pretty soon .

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Grateful-Dead-Portland-Memorial-Coliseum-6-LP-Set-Vinyl-5-19-74-/234346807804?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0

I’m trying to find an amazing book for the evening, if we stay in. I’ve been on a thriller kick and wow, they’re all starting to be the literary versions of bro-country. Cliched and redundant.

I did a Mad Libs of every plot I see:

@mtnrdredux_gw yes he plays almost all the time… and he got a new digital keyboard as well at the same place. It’s in his studio in the back garden. He makes his way back and forth depending on what he is working on or what he is hearing.

I drove I loaded and unloaded the truck and if it was an away gig I waited til it was over and repeated the load/ unload. I also ran back and forth to local gigs if a cable stopped working . It was a big deal for DH and all his fellow musicians most of whom unlike DH had only this as their sole income. I don’t miss those years much.

@frankginakay this pic is DH on the piano in his band early 60’s. New Orleans

1929Spanish- thanks for the heads up; sweet!! But I have no turntable any more … although plenty of vintage vinyl, and so SO many old dead cassettes, easily 1000+! Now that I think of it, I have no way to play those anymore, either:)

mdln 🤣

This "wearable throw" is tempting and looks cute close up.

But the model looks embarrassed in the long shot:

We will probably sit on the screened porch and eat Monte Cristo sandwiches with cranberry sauce. The temperature has been a lovely seventy something. Later on I'll do cheese and crackers and a bottle of my fav, Caymus, of which we were lucky to get a few gifts of. I will then park the Caymus bottle closer to me, keeping an eye on husband to prevent him being a wine hog lol. Really, I have to watch him. We enjoy simple things like this. Just sitting and discussing real-estate, current events and news. Neither of us will make it to midnight most likely. If he falls asleep first I will read. We will start these overly exciting celebrations later in the evening to make it seem we gave it go.

We had a fancy dinner out with friends planned...we cancelled and they cancelled. Cases are skyrocketing here and I now personally know a few people who are sick - none of us gen xers are able to be boosted yet here and my friends who got it (dbl vax but no boost) said it has been very unpleasant. One of my friends’ parent is in final stages of cancer and has zero immune system so they are being very cautious.

Haven't done parties on NYE for years. Our precovid usual was a late lunch/early dinner out and an early movie. Home to cheese and crackers and champagne later on and a movie or family videos from when our kids were small. Ended the night with one of the many "year in review" programs, the ball drop and bed. Due to the fact that DH and I have both had horrific colds (not covid) for the last week and Omicron is sky rocketing around here, this year will be take-out Chinese from our favourite place and renting Belfast from Cineplex. Will still have the champagne and cheese and crackers.

My replacement dinner …. Very good hk style Chinese takeout! Moved everything up a day to avoid the crowds doing takeout tomorrow. Penny was extremely interested.

Penny is so cute. 🥰 And the food looks wonderful!

Robo, that could be a plate from our favourite place, if not for the fact that we are close to 4000 miles apart! You were smart to bump it up a night. We are hoping by ordering/eating early, it won't be a gong show. No delivery in this neck of the woods, so pick up helps.

As an aside, when our kids were small, we would find an Ontario TV station on satellite, where the ball drop was actually 9 PM west coast time. Until they were old enough to tell time, they thought we let them stay up til midnight!

I’m just home from a two-week, 4,354.5-mile trip (1,000 of those driven today, Memphis to ABQ) to see friends and family, and to introduce my boyfriend to The South. Tomorrow will involve retrieving the dogs from the kennel, replenishing the fridge and pantry, picking up/sorting mail, lots of laundry, and two college football playoff games (#RollTide). If I'm still awake by the time the second game finishes at around 8:30, it will be a miracle.

I’m inspired by posts above to add some delicious Chinese food to complete the evening. . .

My husband plays in a band and they will be playing at a Country Club on NYE. I will be staying home streaming a show and be asleep by 9.

Frankginakay, what a great picture! Wish I could hear them play. :)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and health and happiness in 2022. ❤️

Update: I canceled the tiki Sippin‘ Santa. I am disappointed but I feel it is the right thing to do. Edit: it is likely to rain, and the outdoor will be canceled if it does. Looking forward to our tenderloin.