Happy New Year!

Cannot believe it's 2008 - what happened to 2007 (ok what happened to the last 10 years if we're going to be really honest)...

Anyway, in keeping with the tradition of "going somewhere you've never been before and doing something you've never done before", I decided to have a New Year's party. Never done that before, and never been to one in Indiana (ha ha).

The theme was "fondue" - and as you can see from the pictures Alice posted, not only did we slurp up much cheese we actually fought over the last burnt bit at the bottom of the pot. Llew and I went and bought champagnes from around the world (Spain, Italy, France, and believe it or not, New Mexico) to complement the evening. So there was much bubbly, and much bubbly talk and laughter. Alice and Steve rounded out the evening by bringing "crackers" (not the flat flour wafer types but the round noise popping type). Lugh (the dog) of course had to get in on that by chewing on the papery goodness of the wrapper. At midnight we put messages of what we hope for the new year in a bowl and then lit them on fire - then scrambled out of the room to watch the ball drop in NY on TV. Fabulous way to bring in the new year and say "adios" to the old one!

Now the story wouldn't be complete without telling what also happened some time that evening. I had a couple dozen cans of soda and a few bottles of wine left over from the Aussie party. They were in the garage - and it was "on the list" to move them into the basement. Well, it was a cooooold night that night and I had left the garage doors open and the car outside. Didn't really think much about this until I walked out to the garage New Year's Day. At first I couldn't put my finger on what was different...weird bits of aluminum can everywhere...brown sticky stuff stuck in the snow...and then it dawned on me. While we were toasting the new year with champagne, the soda and wine decided to join the party and explode in the garage. Now that's a toast!