New Year's Eve 2023: Dylan and Kelly invited me to the New Year's Eve party over at their church this year. They haven't had one of these last-day-of-the-year parties for several years (due to COVID); so this was a big event. The plan was that I would come, have dinner, and assist with the kiddos until they were ready to go home for the night--(the kids, not the parents) at which time, I would return them to their house, get them tucked into their own beds, thus freeing up Dylan and Kelly to stay later at the party. It was a good plan and worked out very well.
As I was getting ready to leave here and drive over to the church (at 6:15) I searched my purse for my driving glasses only to find that they were NOT there. My sunglass visors were right where THEY were supposed to be, but no glasses were attached. I drove to church this morning with Ruthanne and Terry (Terry was the driver) and I just grabbed my glasses to wear during church so that I could read the screen at a distance. NOW, however, my glasses were NOWHERE and it was time to DRIVE! I searched everywhere inside this house, practically tore my purse apart, looked under and over things here to no avail. I called Terry and asked him to look in the back seat of their car to see if they had fallen from my purse--but they were not there either. I phoned over to church to see if there was any event over there so that I could sneak in and go to the Lost 'n Found--but there was NO event tonight and the church was locked up tight. I called over to Buddy's Pizza where we had eaten lunch after church to see if perhaps they had fallen out of my purse while we were there--but NO glasses were found at Buddy's.
I don't enjoy driving at night WITH my glasses; much less WITHOUT. But that is what I had to do. Thankfully, the last time I had my driver's license renewed, the girl at the counter encouraged me to squint through the eye exam and I was able to pass it without wearing my glasses; so on my driver's license, glasses are not mentioned. That doesn't mean that I do not NEED them. Anyway, I made it over to Holy Trinity in one piece and found Dylan and Kelly and the kiddos.
This is the "hall" at Holy Trinity where most of their social events occur. It was all decorated and set to go for the dinner and party. Cal was very enthused to be here. He's a little ring-leader type of person. He's got IDEAS! He encourages others with his ideas and stuff happens!
Here is our sparkly and beautiful little Erin. There were snacks to eat before dinner--crackers, cheese, olives, cashews, and other yummy things; so the kids filled up a couple of plates each and ate really well. All of them (including me) rejected the salad. I was sitting next to Brendan for awhile before the dinner was served and we were playing with our salads, trying to figure out WHERE the leaves came from--which plants, etc. We ate all of our cucumbers, because they were easily identifiable--but we were quite uncertain about the other greens. I did eat a bunch of mine because I felt it was a good opportunity to try something "new" and some of them were quite tasty. !!
The little kids let loose on the dance floor. Cal and Erin were especially happy dancers.
It was after 9:00, though, when the real dancing began. Can you see how exhausted little Cal is? Kelly told me he hadn't slept very well last night ... look at him! He's still going strong.
There was a "quiet" room for kiddos who were tired where they could watch "Zootopia". Now and then, all four of the kids were relaxing and watching the movie. I joined them for awhile too.
Look at little Erin kicking up her heels and dancing ... she's a party animal! No . . . She's an O'BRIEN!
Meanwhile, once Aidan took a look at the lights and the folk who were dancing requested: "Grandma, will come and sit with me and watch the movie?" He asked so politely. I looked at his little face and could not refuse. Look how tired he is.Cal wore himself out dancing and came back to the movie room. He looked whipped.
It was about 10:20 when we loaded the kids up in my car (minus Brendan, who elected to stay). I told the kiddos that I had lost my glasses and asked for their help navigating our way back to their house. Aidan didn't really want to leave the party, but he truly was visibly exhausted and his folks made a good decision to have him come home from the party. Once we were at their house, they all walked inside of their own accord and within about 30 minutes everyone was tucked in their beds and quietly sleeping. I was super thankful it went so smoothly.
Dylan, Kelly, and Brendan were home a little after 12:30. The whole evening worked out well, at least from my standpoint. I drove back to my little house and was inside and warm by 1:15.
2023 was quite a year. I don't do politics on this blog (for good reason)--but I have begun to wonder what kind of a country we will be living in this time next year. So many changes happened this year, many of which were frightening and terribly sad.
I am not going to go into a long "thing" about my goals or dreams or wishes for 2024 except to say that I hope with all my heart that this is the year the Lord Jesus returns. Help me keep that hope in my heart all year, Lord. Help me to know You better and follow You more closely this year than ever before. Help me be ready for Your coming, please.
No comments:
Post a Comment