What are you doing for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s day?

[JackRabbit]

We don’t do anything fancy for New Year’s Eve, just stay home, watch a movie, watch the ball fall on tv, and everyone gets hugs and kisses at midnight. Sometimes we’ll do a special dinner out. We have a restaurant called the Melting Pot. Its a fondue type thing where you can do a cheese fondue appetizer, variety of meats and/or veggies that you cook yourself at the table, and a chocolate fondue (fruit and cakes) for dessert. Its more like an event than a dinner, and usually takes about 2 or 3 hours. Not something you’d do often, but it’s fun and the food is amazing.

For New Year’s day, we make pigs in blankets (can’t even think about good luck from a hog’s head so the sausages have to do), black eyed peas, and cabbage. All supposedly for good luck in the new year. We try to make New Year’s day quiet and relaxing after all the Christmas prep and cleanup (between Christmas and New Year’s we clean the house top to bottom, shampoo carpets, etc.). Sometimes play board games, sometimes watch a movie, sometimes just nap! I work long hours in January and half of February so its nice to start the year with a quiet day!

What do you all do?

[Little Lion Head]

We usually find ourselves at a party of some sort. Last year it was with two close friends, year before that some of my co-workers. This year we are going to a big party at one of Jared’s co-workers. I’ll know a lot of people so that will be fun. We always play lots of board games (nerdy ones like Settlers of Catan) and you can usually find a poker game going on. Being state employees Jared and I have just New Year’s Day off but it’ll be an easy day to just go back to work on Friday and have the weekend off!

What kind of work do you do JR?

[MK]

Party at a friend’s house. Should be pretty fun

[Deleted User]

Till I hit my late 30’s (ok, early 40’s!) I still loved to go out and drink too much and dance the night away! The last few years we just stayed at home, drank too much (ooop’s!) and I was happy playing my music at home. The last couple of years I don’t even realise it’s New Year’s Eve till I hear the fireworks go off upsetting my dog’s – DOH! I think I still have it in me, but my hubby doesn’t (who is 3 years younger!), and it’s not as much fun partying on your own…..
So no, I don’t do anything anymore. *sigh*!

PS – For all the hard work I put into cleaning the place before Christmas – it is 3pm Christmas Day and the house is trashed! Lol!
So I wait for the hubby and Blair to finish their holidays and I scrub the house too – I get my carpets cleaned as well! (my carpet guy is my best friend every January! I don’t need to give him my address anymore – just my name! ), ha ha ha ha!

[LBJ10]

Oh gosh, we don’t ever do anything for new year’s eve. We don’t know anyone who has parties. Most restaurants are just awful to be at that night. My husband tried taking me out somewhere really fancy one time and there were all of these extremely loud and drunk people there. Laughing, shouting, beating on the table, etc. It was awful. I don’t think we’ve tried to do anything since.

[Deleted User]

Sorry LBJ – you should have just told me to be quiet – JOKING!!!
Yep, we’re the same now. Just couldn’t be bothered. If I want to go out, I’d rather pick a random night – NYE, to many idiots! When I used to go out, everyone just wanted a good, fun time – not anymore. When I watch the news the next night with all the reports of fighting, injuries, etc., I cringe! It was never like that when I went out years and years ago…… I can’t see the fun in it anymore – and that’s why I used to go out – it ‘was’ fun!

[BrunosMama]

JR, there used to be a Melting Pot near us. Went there a couple times. Amazing!(both in quality and price) It has since gone out of business.

We don’t do much, sometimes have a get together with a couple friends. A lot of times though, we play video games all night and just watch the ball drop.

[LongEaredLions]

New years? My plans haven’t even gone out that far! We are still trying to deal with Christmas! Ha ha ha!

[JackRabbit]

LLH — State/university employee. I do accounting and IT for our department. Our budget is due toward the end of January and we have to defend it Feb 9 and then answer any other questions that come up as all the budgets are rolled up into one for the state submission. I rarely get any input from our director or other managers until its too late to use so I end up doing the whole thing myself, then defending it myself while the director sits there with a blank look on his face hoping no one asks him any questions. Not trying to brag, but my budgets have been held out as the “right” way to do a budget so it puts *alot* of pressure on me to pull another one off each year. We have to defend the budget to our VP, and he makes me nervous anyway!

I used to work in public accounting and then it was always year end audits or “tax season” until April 15 so the first few months of the year have always been busy for me. In all the years I’ve been working, I’ve never gotten to take my birthday off because of it being busy times at work. (Figure it out yet AH????!!!)

[Deleted User]

I’ve had a wine too many, I can barely post a reply, let alone think, ha ha ha ha! But I ‘will’ work out your birthday (maybe tomorrow? maybe the next day if I’m not feeling well tomorrow? Ha ha ha!) JR! Actually, Amanda is more clever than me, I’ll wait for her to work it out and tell me…..Lol!
Birthday thread coming your way!!!

PS – You do know, if you don’t tell us, we will start a birthday thread for you ‘every day’ till you give in? Or, we will make up a birth date for you!

LOL!

[MoxieMeadows]

Well my younger sister’s birthday is January 1st (A new year’s baby), so I stay up all night on December 31st, baking her cake and decorating the house with balloons and streamers and wrapping her gifts. Other than that nothing special. Usually I’ll watch the ball-thing drop at midnight, but we don’t have TV this year because of the move and whatnot.

[kirstyol]

In Scotland, Hogmanay (new years eve) is a huge deal. There are all sorts of parties and fireworks etc but having worked in a pub for nine years I can no longer be bothered with it all so for the last few years we have just stayed home and watched the street party on the telly and watched other people’s fireworks from our window with a bottle of wine or something, saves us a fortune!

[JackRabbit]

Kinda laughing about all of this. I thought hubby and I were the only ones who didn’t whoop it up out at parties on New Years’s Eve and it turns out we’re not the only ones! Starting to wonder if staying in is part of being a bunny slave . . . .

[Little Lion Head]

JR–part of why my hubby doesn’t go into the private sector (he’s auditor) is b/c of deadlines and busy times. With the state you can only work 40 hours; nothing more nothing less.

After all the running around this week, staying in actually sounds kind of nice. Hubby and I haven’t had too much down time lately (I don’t count the hours and hours in the car!)

The parties we go to are usually small. I don’t like going to the bars in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul)…I’m only 29 but ugh…crowds, people, etc…part of it is my corrections background. Always afraid I’ll run into someone I supervised on probation/parole or an ex-offender from the prison. I like coming back “home” (not really home but where I went to college and met hubby) which is a way smaller town with small-town bars and I know someone in every bar I walk into. It’s comforting. Going out with some friends here tomorrow night while we are still in town.

[Emmi]

College hockey, head home and avoid the drunk morons on the roads.

BIL and friends were in town last year so they were over and we blasted music. I got a wee bit drunk and got talked into singing PotO with BIL, Nightwish version. Ok, I was hanging out with a bunch of Finnish/Swedish/Czech guys, I was the sober idiot of the group. But we were at home by 8 pm, and didn’t leave the house until January 2nd.

[JackRabbit]

LLH — Wish I would be limited to 40 hours! I guess all states are different and it may be because, even though I’m considered a state employee, I actually work at a university which is a state school. I don’t get paid overtime and can’t earn “comp time” but still work the hours when I need to.

[Little Lion Head]

Oh yeah JR we could technically get discipline if we put in over 40. I mean some people do, b/c but they keep quiet about it and don’t record it. Me personally–if you’re not paying me for it, I’m not working it!

[JackRabbit]

Its the whole exempt vs non-exempt thing here. The IT part of my job would qualify for OT pay but the accounting level and management parts don’t and they’re the larger part so I’m exempt. “Supposedly” the pay for those of us who are exempt has an extra 5 hours “built in”. Yeah right. I could make alot more in public accounting, but I pretty much make my job be whatever I want it to be and work whatever hours it takes to get the job done. Sometimes that means long or odd hours, and I can’t remember the last time I actually got to work by 8:00 (I am not a morning person). So there are benefits. There are drawbacks too though — I approve purchase orders even if I’m on vacation or out sick, and my old boss once called my house when I was on vacation and had my mother get me out of the shower. We were having carpet and partitions replaced and he had halted all contractor work because he didn’t think the color of the partitions and carpet in one area was what I had picked out. Yep, couldn’t wait for me to finish my shower and he didn’t believe the others who told him the colors were correct.

[Megabunny]

After seeing all the fireworks suddenly up for sale (our first New Year’s in South Carolina) I suspect we are going to be trying to keep the dog settled down, like AndHenry for New Year’s. I’ve certainly heard of fireworks on the 4th of July, but this New Year’s fireworks is something new. And hey – we watched Frozen last night for Christmas for the first time. Doesn’t get much more exciting than that.

[JackRabbit]

Megabunny — ohhhh yeaah, southerners look for any excuse to set off fireworks!!

[Megabunny]

Terrific. My poor dog will not be happy with this

[Deleted User]

Poor Robbie……

[MoxieMeadows]

Megabunny— Hopefully your dog doesn’t get too scared! Poor thing.

[LongEaredLions]

What a good big sister you are MM!
Hmmm AH… I am going to go back to our PM and collect more evidence so we can find JR’s BDAY!

[Hazel]

Hubby and I won’t do anything for New Year’s. We won’t even stay up until midnight, that’s way past our bedtime! We might go out for dinner but we will pick a different day to avoid the crowds.

LLH: Were you a correctional officer? I’m playing with the idea of applying. I probably wouldn’t be especially good at it but they do pay quite well. Hubby thinks it’s a bad idea, though.

[MoxieMeadows]

Thank you LEL.

[Little Lion Head]

Hazel I have worked as a counselor at a juvenile sex offender facility, as a corrections officer at a state prison, as a probation and parole officer in the community, and now I’m back in prison as a case worker. My hubby didn’t like the idea of prison either but he was happy I went back. Prison is soooo much safer than doing evening home visits on sex offenders. I really liked being an officer. I’m not sure where you’re located but MN has amazing benefits and tons of vacation. There’s a lot of opportunities to move around and find your niche!

JR you can’t go wrong with setting your own hours!

[LittlePuffyTail]

We’re not party peeps. We don’t usually do much. Sometimes we go to the movies New Years Eve. This year we are going to a little gathering at my sister’s place. She loves hosting guests and always makes amazing food. She has a hot tub!!!!

New Year’s Day will be all about putting away the Christmas Decs.

[JackRabbit]

I want a hot tub on New Year’s Eve!!!!

[LittlePuffyTail]

I love hot tubs. She just got it last winter and I wasn’t able to go in because I was pregnant and it’s supposedly bad for the baby. This will be my first time and I plan to enjoy it! She has a lovely place in the country. I love spending time there.

[JackRabbit]

I think we should all take our bunnies to LPT’s sister’s place for NYE. We could take turns between sitting in the hot tub, playing with the bunnies, and holding Everly!

[MoxieMeadows]

JR— Sounds perfect!!!

[Little Lion Head]

Me too!!! Hot tubs, bunnies, and babies!!!

[Deleted User]

I’m in!

[JackRabbit]

Aren’t I a wonderful guest? I not only invite myself, but invite everyone else too!! I must like water too because I’ve stolen Roberta’s cool bathtub and invited everyone over for a tub party (although I believe it was Tanlover who was going to just swing from the ceiling fan), moved the party to AH’s pool (new boat!!!), and now am inviting everyone to LPT’s sister’s place and bringing bunnies!! Oh, and AH a d I are already talking water parks!! I’m just the water party girl!

[Deleted User]

I can’t wait for the water park – WOOHOO! (lets hope I don’t hold the line up this time???) LOL!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Haha! Come on over guys! Like I said, my sis loves having guests. She got all the “Martha Stewart” skills in the family. My little niece would be in Heaven having all the bunnies there!

[LongEaredLions]

Add me and 2 bunnies to the count!

[Megabunny]

Me too!! But I don’t like to travel on NYE so maybe Gus and I could stay over?

LLH your job sounds fascinating and not for the faint hearted. My daughter, a psych major, thought that sounded really interesting as well…which I why I shared with her to begin with!

[Little Lion Head]

It’s been a wild ride Megabunny…Corrections really changes you in bad and good ways. I heard that a lot when I started and am just starting to understand it. But I get to help a lot of people change their lives for the better and that’s pretty rewarding.

[Megabunny]

Well thank Heaven for people like you who can do that!

[JackRabbit]

LLH — do you deal with men or women in corrections?

My hubby always wanted to be a cop, but his father told him he didn’t have it in him. He was right, hubby couldn’t handle the rough parts. He’s got the size and strength but he’s all mushy and super trusting inside.

[Little Lion Head]

I’ve always worked in a women’s prison, but the juveniles were males and when I was probation/parole officer that was mostly men and some women.

[JackRabbit]

I would be a little afraid to work in a prison — even with women (women can be scary!). I think I watch too much tv though! The probation/parole would be neat. It definitely takes a special kind of person to do the kind of work you’ve done.

[Little Lion Head]

Yep, we’ll go with “special”  heehee

[JackRabbit]

LLH — that’s “good” special!

[LongEaredLions]

LLH-That is too cool! I had always loved the idea of being a cop/detective/corrections officer but I don’t think I could handle that? It’s a good special for sure!

[Sarita]

I love fondue – it is definitely a treat meal. Haven’t had it in ages.

So LLH is working in a woman’s prison really like “Orange is the New Black” :~) J/K…my uncle worked as a prison guard when he was younger in a Florida prison…not sure which one though.

Definitely would love to come and coo over baby Everly – she is just adorable.

Me, I’m trying to finish up Desperate Housewives on Netflix before the Jan 1st when they will no longer have it so that’s what I’ll be doing.

[Megabunny]

ooooo Sarita. I just started that book “Orange”… My daughter was reading it and left it on the table. I’m liking it. Haven’t watched too much DH, but eager for Downton Abbey to start up again.

I don’t think I’ve EVER had fondue, but I’m sure I’d love it, so let’s be sure there’s plenty made! Ha ha It’s fun to be rude when it’s all in jest!!

[JackRabbit]

Megabunny — There must be a Melting Pot somewhere in SC. Get hubby to take you there for a b-day, anniversary, etc. It’s pricey but there are coupons for it. (Another southern thing — go to a really pricey restaurant and bring a coupon!!)

[Megabunny]

OK I’ll check 🙂

[Hazel]

Posted By Little Lion Head on 12/27/2014 3:14 PM

Prison is soooo much safer than doing evening home visits on sex offenders.

Wow, that does sound dangerous. I can’t believe they made you do that (by yourself, I guess). Correctional officer sounds like an interesting job, I just feel like I would be as bad or even worse than the girl on Orange Is The New Black. Even one of the inmates told her she sucked at her job. I know the show isn’t a good example of how things go in a real prison, though.

How does it change you in bad ways?

Kudos to you for doing this kind of work, it must be pretty stressful.

I looked up The Melting Pot, we have one around here! It does seem a bit pricey, though. I’m going to look for those coupons, JR!

[JackRabbit]

Hazel — just make sure not to stop by any pet stores afterward!

[Megabunny]

My daughter said something about having to cook your own food at the Melting Pot? I don’t want to do THAT! She’s never been to one either because her bf said he doesn’t want to go out and have to cook

[Hazel]

Posted By JackRabbit on 12/30/2014 4:48 PM

Hazel — just make sure not to stop by any pet stores afterward!

LOL JR! I know you don’t really mean that. Who knows what I might end up with next time… Maybe something long-eared?

[Little Lion Head]

Sarita I’ve only watched two episodes of Orange is the New Black; it kind of torked me off how they portrayed guards and caseworkers. I’ve heard its good though and I’m sure there’s some similarities!

Hazel it just makes you trust people less, kind of hardens you a little bit. It’s hard not to take the job home and it can consume you if you don’t have healthy outlets. It’s taken a few years to get a good balance but I have co-workers who have been there for 20 years and are so unhealthy because they don’t separate work from home.

MegaBunny it’s not really cooking persay…I mean they cut everything up and bring it to you and they bring oil to cook it in. It’s on sticks so it’s really easy and you do it while sitting down. I love the Melting Pot! We actually got a fondue set for a wedding gift two years ago….it’s around here somewhere.

[Megabunny]

Oh. Ok. Maybe that’s what my daughter meant when she said it’s “an experience”. The closest one, though, in about 2hours away, so it won’t be any time soon.

I started reading the book “Orange”. My daughter told me I shouldn’t watch the TV show, though, because there are things that aren’t in the book, but they added them and I might not be ready to deal with it. She said I could FF thru those parts LOL. Girls are so much more fun once they’re in college!

[JackRabbit]

We’ve always chosen the vegetable broth to cook the meats in. They bring you different dipping sauces and the plum sauce is amazing. Part of the “experience” is cooking your entree! You can also get steaks and regular food, but the fondue stuff is more fun.

[JackRabbit]

Hazel — is hubby open to the long-eared variety now?! BTW, how is Bubbles doing?

[LongEaredLions]

What JR said. And we need piccies too!

[Hazel]

Posted By JackRabbit on 12/30/2014 8:35 PM

Hazel — is hubby open to the long-eared variety now?! BTW, how is Bubbles doing?

No, unfortunately he’s not. That’s why we have to go out to eat first!

Bubbles is doing great, thanks for asking! He’s a huge brat though. Just yesterday he ripped open a brand new bag of horse stall pellets, crawled inside and started digging the pellets out. He loves to make huge messes and then be a giant pain while I try to clean it up. That’s why I have to lock him up while I clean his and Lily’s litter boxes, otherwise he will run full speed through the litter and let it fly everywhere while I try to grab him. Of course that’s the best game ever, for him!

LEL: I’ll post some pictures in the picture thread.

[Author]

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