First Snow, Last Day

New Year's Eve 2015

It was 70F on Christmas Eve, unseasonably warm for New England at the end of December. In fact several local temperature records for warmest December on record have been broken here in Massachusetts. Well, that's all over. The last days of the year are living up to expectation. We've just had our first snow of the season … an inch or so … and the temps have dipped below freezing. It's pretty, but we forgot how much we dislike the cold.

The roads have been slippery and there's lots of black ice. The Massachusetts DOT reminded us to drive carefully. Good Lord, if they only knew we've been driving on the left side of the road for the past couple of years on dry pavement, they'd probably suspend our licenses. We haven't mentioned it to anyone.

We have plans for New Year's Eve. We're heading north to Portsmouth, New Hampshire for their First Night celebration. That means that we'll be outside walking in 30F temps, trying to stay warm for the last few minutes of 2015. Lin had points for free Marriott rooms, so there's no driving involved and the festivities occur within a few blocks of the hotel. There's a street dance, ice sculptures, stargazing and fireworks to keep us amused.

We have reservations for a late night dinner at Martingale Wharf where we intend to thaw out, dine in elegant style and ring in the New Year.

Hoping your New Year's Eve

is warm and wonderful.

Wicked Fun New Year's Eve

 

This year's New Year's Eve is going to be a real novelty. I'm not with David nor on the boat and I'll probably actually manage to stay up till the stroke of midnight. I'm spending New Year's Eve with my sister, Lin, in Providence, Rhode Island. Talk about a change in plans and venue.

We chose Providence because 1) Providence was touting their big “Bright Night”, first night, celebration and 2)Lin had points for a free hotel room. We were excited until we read the other day that the Bright Night activities and celebration had been canceled due to lack of funding and participation. So, now we had a hotel room in Providence and no place to go. We're resourceful girls and were very determined to celebrate and not let the Bright Night cancellation dampen our spirits.

While I was racking my brain for ideas of fun, innovative “to-do's” in Providence on December 31st, Lin got us tickets for a New Year's Eve production of “Wicked” as a post-Christmas treat. Wow! I'd been wanting to see Wicked since its first production on Broadway over a decade ago. I'd read the book and developed a whole new appreciation for green-complected people with bad attitudes. There's always another side to every story.

We'll head to Providence early, so we can enjoy walking around Providence's historic downtown and see the play. We have reservations for a late dinner at Cav, a fixe prix, 5-course affair which ends with a champagne toast at midnight and lots of live music. Assuming I stay awake, this should be a memorable beginning to 2014.

Happy New Year!

And by the way, though I'm anxious to see Wicked, I'm even more anxious to get back to David and Nine of Cups.

On the Seventh Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Seven quests for hardware

Six shiny shackles

Five I miss you's

Four galley updates

Three e-mailed errands

Two bigger duffels

And a Christmas morning greeting on Skype