New Year's Eve!

What a day! What a night!!

Things got off to a (relatively) early start today, as I had to get up to help with dinner. I made a really nice pasta dish: penne with a rose sauce (mixed a creamy mushroom sauce with a tomato based sauce) and sauteed mushrooms and brocolli, topped with grated cheddar.

I then drove around to run errands with Shruti and Daddy (hurrah for grocery shopping!) before coming home and helping my mum clean up our house. I actually had fun doing that.. except for the point at which I got trapped in the stand-up shower in the basement, while trying to clean the door, and ended up inhaling the Vim Oxy-Gel fumes..

Then, of course, came the inevitable costume decision saga. After several options were tried on, and taken off again, we finally decided on a black asymmetrical dress for me.. with thin spaghetti straps on the cutaway side. it came down to about knee length and i wore really high black heels with it.. i looked good, even if i say so myself. The family theme ended up being "black and white".. AK was in black palazzos, with a black and white top; Su was in fitted black pants, a beaded backless "butterfly" top, and a sheer black chiffon chemise; Mum wore white raw silk pants with a coordinated black and white raw silk top; and Daddy was in.. umm.. a cream turtleneck and black pants maybe?

So, by and by, guests began arriving. First came the L family, minus their daughter A (yes, another one) but plus a couple that had been staying with them. Then came the Ms, without their son A (pattern?) which was upsetting, but I have forgiven him. Then arrived the Cs, and the party was complete.

It was such a lovely evening.. i ate ridiculous amounts of hors d'oeuvres, and followed it up with a large dinner, and way way waaaay too much dessert... mmmmm. Before we knew it, it was already 11:45, and so we all assembled in the family room to pop three bottles of champagne, and welcome in 2005 together.. as per tradition, we then continued on to play some board games.

First came "Battle of the Sexes," at which the men totally killed us.. but they were magnanimous enough to admit that the game was not entirely fair, and that the questions for the girls were far too difficult, in comparison with those for the guys. We then divided up into "Kids vs Adults" for Guesstures. We were winning by far, until G went up, and brought the score up to a competitive level. We ended up winning by one point. It definitely was a fun evening.

i had SUCH a great day today.. spent the afternoon at L's house for our annual gift exchange. the three of us (L, J and I) get along so well.. it was so nice to be together, just the three of us. using J as a model boyfriend while demonstrating favourite cuddling positions; curling up together on the couch; and all of the silly things we say and do.. that's what makes our bond so special.. we can talk about anything, no matter how ridiculous, and always know that we are in company that will understand what we mean, and where we're coming from.

for dinner, we were supposed to go over to a family friend's house. she has this get-together every year at which a bunch of kids of around the same age get together to "network".. generally, conversation at such events runs as follows:
Person 1: So, where do you go to school?
Person 2: ABC University, how about you?
Person 1: I'm at XYZ.
Person 2: Oh, really? That's a great school. What program are you in?
Person 1: I'm majoring in such-and-such. And you?
Person 2: Oh, I'm taking blah-blah-blah.
Person 1: And are you enjoying that?
Person 2: Yeah, it's amazing. So, what do you think you'll do after you finish your degree?
Person 1: Probably *some sort of graduate/professional* school.
Person 2: Sounds great. Good luck with that.
Person 1: Thanks.. you too.
*fin*

NOT all that exciting, or stimulating. Particularly if you are like me and really dont have anything all that interesting to say about what you are studying in school.

This time, however, we went into the family room, where the "younger generation" was assembled, and my sister (A) began effusively proclaiming how much she loves her program, etc. I settled comfortably onto the end of the couch, resigned to yet another evening at which A would dominate the conversation, and I would spend my time smiling and nodding. Imagine my surprise, and delight, when a few minutes later, V came around and perched himself on the arm of the sofa, beside me, and softly asked "So, how are YOU enjoying school?"

(some background here.. when we were very young, V and A [yes, another A.. perhaps I should use initials for clarity. okay, so VD - how unfortunate- and AD] were our closest friends. We would get together with the two boys to play every Friday evening, after school. V [im just gonna call him V.. there arent any others for him to be confused with] is a few months older than me, and AD is a year older than A [my sister]. As we grew older, we developed different interests, and started getting involved in extra-curricular activities, and we began to grow apart. For several years, we would see each other occassionally, when our parents decided to get our families together for dinner, and these encounters would always wind up in front of the TV, with all of us bored stiff)

So V approached me and asked how school was going. I shrugged and gave a non-committal half smile, accompanied by a "Meh... y'know.. it's going" at which he grinned and said "Yeah, I hate it, too." We decided to move into the kitchen, so that we could chat more easily, and ended up spending the next two and a half hours discussing the fact that neither of us feels passionately excited by being in school, unlike our respective younger siblings. We talked about the societal pressure (both real and perceived) to do well in university, and to obtain all sorts of qualifications etc. We talked about the value of education, as opposed to the value of experience. We talked about alternate routes that will lead to the same ultimate outcome, and weighed the pros and cons of each option.

It was so nice to be able to chat with someone who is not all gung-ho about being at school; someone to whom I can relate. I mean, obviously it's sad that V seems to be as disillusioned and jaded as I have become, but it really WAS nice to have someone who understands my position.

In the car on the way back home, AK (sister) mentioned that she had spent a fair amount of time chatting with AD. She commented that it was just like it was when we were little. V and I always got along really well, while AK and AD would pair off. As kids, if there was any sort of teaming up involved (either in a game, or in a conflict) V and I would generally be against AD and AK. It's funny how some things never really change.