New Year's Eve: bucket included

New Years Eve. There is always some hesitancy with New Years Eve... it is just another day, no need to go big, but then there is that underlining voice that tells you that you have to be a part of it. SO I decided to throw a very small get together of good friends to start the night off and then people were free to go their own ways to bigger things.

People who were there:

Tanner: for about five minutes
Matthew: my brother, who sponsored the smoking section in the garage.
Brother Eric: Matthew's friend who calls everyone brother and has serious adult ADD
Ryan: a great friend
Kyla: another great friend,dates Ryan, also referred to as Shelby, Chilli Dog, Chills
Jim: the "sure thing" you always kow that Jim will make use of the cause for celebration and lead the drinking... even if he is on his own. Great person to go out with.
Sarah: no drinking for Sarah, which was difficult to imagine, but she has a solid reason
Charlie: dates Sarah, great for any type of conversation, chill, supercool guy
Ray: I work with Ray, he was sober and super chill, it was nice to have him there
Me: Sober, weird. I am not ready to drink so I decided to be the designated driver, which was a great decision.


We spent the afternoon preparing for our guests. Mainly rearranging all of the shit that had surfaced for the Christmas Holiday and cleaning various areas. i transformed my room back to its typical state and removed the "post surgery" vibe. It looks great. Matthew washed the driveway... (I don't get this) and then put fans out so it would dry. I know why it needed to be dry (so it wouldn't freeze) but washing the driveway seems like a little bit of a weird thing to do. I could understand if the house was pristine with detailed landscaping... but have you seen my front yard? there is no grass and I live on camp where it is very "rustic". So I let him do his thing and I did my thing and we went on with the day. I was really excited to hang out with people as I have only done so once in the past month. this, for me, is not exceptable. I love being near my friends, in any context, and being out and social is what I am comfortable with. It was very different being the sober one... but I have found that it really isn't that difficult, and I get to make sure that everyone gets home safe. I can have a great time with everyone withoutdrinking, which honestly surprises me. Not to say that when the time comes I won't have a drink, I for sure will, but for the next few months, I am alright. My head is clear and I am feeling fine.

So the rundown of the evening: Topic of weirdness: Brother Eric. In addition to being the most restless figidity person I have ever encountered, brother Eric loves to make new friends. Matthew and I had a deal when the evening started... that he would be responsible for Brother Eric and keep him in check. Brother Eric is super nice, but he has no social skills and never goes out so he really does not know how to act. Which is amusing for about 15 minutes. So the more he drinks, the more relaxed you would think he becomes... OH NO... the less inhibited he becomes, which means, more questions, more talking. He just never stopped talking... and he is going through a divorce right now- he wife is leaving him after 9 and a half years together so he is also very fragile. Translation: trainwreck traveling at 250 miles per hour. Brother Eric is , possibly, one of the nicest people you will ever meet, and he doesn't lie, but he is is a bit of a spaz... he is a scrawny, carhart wearin cowboy that is looking for a cowgirl. Everyone throughout the course of the evening had their share of the conversation, it was almost as if we were taking turns. The award goes to Jim, who talked with B. E. for well over an hour about personal style, and grasping that it is never too late to move to a city. Brother Eric also lost MAJOR points when he told everyone that he and I are too old to make a move like that, but good for Jim, he is still young enough. (note: Jim is 25, I am 27, brother Eric is 32) My brother is 31 and Eric confessed that he thought I was older. Pretty much all of my brother's friends think that I am older. I hope this is not because the way I look, rather the job I have, the stability, all that shit that one begins to posses with the garduation of years. An my brother lives in my basement, and I gave him my old car.. so I think his friends perceive me as taking care of him a bit- its just what I do. My brother would also never correct that I am actually younger, because he knows how much it bothers me to think that people think I am over 30. (no offense to the over thirties, but you remember... )

So we go to Mary's for about 20 minutes, long enough to decide that we will go downtown to meet up with some of Jims friends, who I also know from high school. Matthew, Brother Eric, and Ray join us and we are on our way. I park WAY too far away assuming that there won't be a parking spot for blocks because it is New Years and I am SERIOUSLY wrong.. we are in Des Moines, and I forget this. There are parking spots everywhere downtown, beacuse it is Des Moines. We make our way into Court Avenue Brewing and meet up with the boys and company. Everyone is so drunk that it seems a bit irrelevent that we are there... so I sit ina booth with Ray and we have a fantastic time observing the crowd and listening to the DJ who was transforming through some serious beats, into house music and then at the end of the night on to a little trance to chill it out... VERY well played. There was a girl there with Mason that was SO out of it, she kept leaving the group and going outside, without their knowledge, so Matthew and I repeatedly went outside to stand near her so that no one would mess withher. she could barely walk, talk and she had NO idea where she was. I don't know the girl, but I was irritated... probably because I wasn't drinking. I stood next to her until her friends were ready to deal with her... then she came inside, went back out, Matthew tracked her down, and then she went with her friends... I tried to offer to drive her home, but she said that she wanted to stay out with her friends... this is when I wanted to slap her... her friends were annoyed, she was a wreck, and if I didn't think she night of been hit by a vehicle of seriously messed with, I would have left her there. Back inside, glasses are breaking and drinks are being spilled... things are winding down and the bar staff are celebrating that they have made it through the night. Ray and I are talking, enjoying the scenery when a super-cute guy walks by and Ray says, you should ask him out... to which I reply, no thank you, I am not shopping tonight. Here comes the big event. Brother Eric pipes in with, "what about me?" to which I reply,"what about you?"
BE (brother eric): Will you go out with me?
Me: No, I don't date my brother's friends.
BE: why not? just one date. Ray is going to make me over, I'll look good.
Me: I am sure you will, but I am not interested... I can't date my brother's friends, its a rule we have.
BE: Can we hang out sometime?
Me: (I feel really bad for him) yeah, we could hang out.
BE: Next Saturday, I'll take you on a date, we'll go to outback.
Me: (a little offended at the idea that he assumes a steak is the way to me heart)
No, i can't really eat that stuff anymore...
BE: you neame the place, I'll take you anywhere... you are the Bomb-diggity Claire!
Me: (laughing)... wow, thanks. Let's talk about it later.

I change the subject after a few more exchanges and distract him enough to get him to leave the table... then I text mey brother and tell him to check his friend. He knows how Eric is, and i know that Eric is going through a really shit time right now but I am not that girl that does charity dating... sorry boys. Not even me.

Matthew goes to ge the car, comes back with a slew of jokes, and then we go back to the house where he tells Eric that it isn''t cool because of our rule. (thank you Matthew, you came through tonight)

In the next hour and a half brother eric pukes, I drive him home, with Matthew riding along, only to come home to find that he had let Steve (my dog) out and he has been gone for 45 minutes....(he came home later)... Jim and Matthew keep drinking and Jim falls face first into the stairs. Matthew carries him in, gets him a bucket and settles him on the couch with a blanket, pillow, and plenty of towwels so ass not to ruin my couch. Iam in bed at this point, but Matthew still comes in to show me all of the pictures of Jim, and his bucket. Happy New Year!

I hope that all of you had a wonderful and safe New Years.. I will post my year in review this week. Back to work in one week for me. AHHHH!

I am going to walk a few miles today to start getting geared up for my return.

Much love to all of you!
c