Bittersweet New Year's Eve

It is December 31, 2006. In 8 hours and 9 minutes, it will be January 1, 2007.

I'm not sure how I'm feeling about this transition quite yet; I feel like I'm not done with 2006. It's not that I had anything specific I was really hoping to accomplish this year, but I just don't feel like it's should be finished so soon.
I am, however, looking forward to two thousand and seven. It holds a lot in store: NYC (I am so excited!), finishing my freshman year, the ending of first semester and beginning of a new one, saying goodbye [and then hello again] to swimming, meeting new people, making new friends, learning more, growing more...the list goes on.
There's a lot to look forward to and a lot to look back on, and I'm appreciative of that.

The end of my trip:
On Wednesday we (we = my mom, brother, aunt, + 2 cousins) went to the city on a 11:27 train out of Poughkeepsie and to Grand Central. It was obviously going to be a huge tourist day, so we decided as a group to veer away from the galleries and museums around NYC. It evolved into a shopping/browsing trip, and we made a rule that we would stop anywhere anyone wanted to go. With that in place, we would barely make it a city block before jumping into a vintage clothing or high end shoe store.
We stopped at a deli for lunch and eventually (after searching and searching for an open seat) sat down in Little Italy for dinner. We all got our own dishes and decided to split a pizza, too. My aunt ordered that for us and unintentionally (we hope) ordered a pizza with capers, anchovies, and black olives on it. I was the first to take a slice and went to take a bite, but taking it out of my mouth because it was too salty. "Auntie," I said to my aunt, "Is there seafood on this?" She broke out into hysteria and told us that she had been pressured by the waitress to order and just picked something. Suprisingly enough, we all choked down a slice, but when my aunt went to eat her second piece, she got a big bite of pure anchovie. She spit that out immediately. Then, searching for something to drink, she grabbed the club soda that had accidentally been brought to our table. That she spit out, too. Oh, fun. I love my aunt.
My two cousins were going to see their cousin from the other side of their family at her first show in a club called the Knitting Factory. We dropped them off there and then took the subway to Grand Central and caught a 8:26 train. We took the long way home and stopped for ice cream on the way.
I had such a good day that day.

Thursday: My grandma, grandpa, uncle, and cousin from my dad's side came from Connecticut to bring us out to lunch and we went to Olive Garden to eat. Then we went to the mall and I bought this amazingly cute jacket at H&M with my Christmas money. Unfortunately, by the time we left the mall, I was feeling nauseous, tired, and sore-throated (not a word; I know). The minute we got home I went up to my bed and fell asleep. I woke up, still feeling bad, but more energized. I didn't need that energy; I just sat around all day.

Friday: I woke up at 4:26AM to catch our 8:30AM flight in the city. My throat hurt and I was extremely tired. I slept on the way to the airport. At the airport, we checked our bags and then my grandpa treated us to breakfast. We boarded our plane (no problems, no delays) and I fell asleep for the first two hours. We landed without any problems as well and my dad brought us home. We were home by 11 our time and I went to sleep again. My dad made lobster bisque for dinner and I went to bed early.
I woke up feeling much better, for the record.

That's my trip in a nutshell for ya. Hope you [slightly] enjoyed reading.


Happy New Year's Eve. (I, myself, unless I find something to do, might be going to bed early.) Celebrate for me, too.
:]]

PeeEssEss: There are now 7 hours and 42 minutes.