We completed our fifth traditional New Year's Eve last night. Again, it was great fun. I'll take you there for a moment.
The Embassy Suites came to Norman in 2008 and, that first year, they announced they were going to have a New Year's Eve party. We had been taking ballroom dance lessons for about two years and were always looking for a new place to dance. We were all for the party. It was a package, the party and a night in the hotel. The package included a entrance to the party, a glass of champagne at midnight, a bottle of champagne in your room, two champagne glasses, and, of course, the Embassy Suites' breakfast. At that point, I don't think we had ever spent a night at an Embassy Suites at all so even the breakfast was a big deal to us. When I called to make the reservations, I was advised that the party would have "heavy" appetizers and not to eat before we arrived. The appetizers! Pasta bar, huge shrimp, crab legs, every kind of bite size appetizer you can imagine, a chocolate fountain, roast beef. Enough to make yourself sick (foreshadowing of events to come!)
The first year, we sent AT (who was only nine years old) off to spend the night with a friend. We had dancing friends who had a room next to us and we not only danced the night away, but then stayed up talking until 4 AM. The second and third years, the hotel had a party/babysitting for children. AT invited a friend. The afternoon of, we arrived early so the girls could enjoy swimming and the manager's special of light appetizers. I'll always remember those two 10-year-old girls, sitting at another table far from us, enjoying their Goldfish crackers and sodas, practicing being a grownup. When we arrived just after midnight to collect the girls, the staff were very complimentary of the girls and said they had even helped clean up.
Two years ago will not be forgotten, the Year I Got Sick. I did not drink alcohol, so it was not that. When I researched food poisoning on the Internet, it was not timed right for that. The magic hour this night was 11:00 PM. I was dancing merrily away and suddenly felt nauseous. I went to the restroom, stayed a long time, and barely made a pass back by our table to say, without a pause, "I have to go back to our room." The nausea continued constant and unabated for 24 hours. Sometime the next morning, we went to the emergency room when I was pronounced dehydrated and given IV glucose and some meds. Was it viral? Just dehydration? You better believe I have hydrated myself since, when dancing.
Last year, I skipped the heavy appetizers, because of the post-traumatic stress from the year before, thank you very much, and did not miss it. That's saying something, because I don't usually skip a meal. This year, almost fully over my trauma from two years ago, I had many glasses of water and many appetizers. I did great, although I was stuffed. (I still have flashbacks every time I walk in that restroom. I go to conferences at that hotel so am in that exact restroom several times a year). This year, we decided to go to the party only, not stay overnight in the hotel. AT, last year, decided she had outgrown the event and would rather spend the night with friends.
The funny this year was a man walking in to the women's restroom just as I was leaving. I said, "You're in the wrong room, buddy." He immediately was embarrassed and did an about face.
The band was less than stellar this year, the instruments overshadowed that vocals, but the female vocals weren't the best anyway, so we may have been winners after all. There was plenty of dancing, we saw with new friends that we hope to see again, even went to IHOP afterwards (don't ask me why), and made it to church today at 11:00. A great start to the new year.
Happy New Year!
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