It\u2019s a funny New Year\u2019s weekend.\u00a0\u00a0Funny, in part, because it\u2019s a day longer than usual.\u00a0\u00a0New Year\u2019s is usually a two-day process.\u00a0\u00a0Day one, New Year\u2019s Eve, traditionally involves a prime rib dinner with friends and family, then an evening at home with Jenn.\u00a0\u00a0We have a couple of New Year\u2019s cocktails, then fight the \u201cbattle of the ball drop\u201d \u2013 to try to stay awake, sing \u201cAuld Lang Syne\u201d, and text the rest of the family to see who\u2019s still up.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Normal New Year\u2019s Days start with the Rose Bowl Parade, breakfast, a Bloody Mary and preparation to hangout and watch football games. Maybe in the afternoon there\u2019s a moment to take down the Christmas Tree in between touchdowns. Then it\u2019s onto \u201clife\u201d and the long winter stretch from January to the first spring days in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this year is different.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s the government\u2019s fault.\u00a0\u00a0The \u201cMonday Holiday Law\u201d means that as I sit at the keyboard now, January 2nd<\/sup>, it is officially New Year\u2019s Day.\u00a0\u00a0The Rose Bowl Parade is now TODAY, Monday January 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0(according to the Rose Bowl Parade website, the countdown menu shows 2 Hours, 1 Minute and 43 Seconds until the \u201cstep off\u201d).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is all about football.\u00a0\u00a0First, the College Football Playoffs decided to play their semi-finals on New Year\u2019s Eve.\u00a0\u00a0Michigan played TCU first, then Ohio State played Georgia.\u00a0\u00a0Since Jenn is a Michigan fan, and we live in Columbus, Ohio; so we watched both games.\u00a0\u00a0We shared the Michigan game with some friends at a local sports bar, with chicken wings, pictures of grandchildren and old coaching stories in between the touchdowns and interceptions.\u00a0\u00a0Cheering for Michigan is always dicey in Columbus, but there were a few others thumping tables as the Maize and Blue crossed the goal line and groaning at the \u201cpick-six\u201d interceptions going the other way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our original thought was to stay and watch both games. But eight hours of wings and beer on New Year\u2019s Eve would be far too much. At least, too many beers to make it home, safely. So we left at the beginning of the Ohio State game, arriving home to spend the evening tensely following the action. At least, I was tense, Jenn was quietly cheering on Georgia. I guess the ball dropped in Times Square, but it was right about the time that the game-winning Ohio State field goal went too far left. Happy New Year \u2013 but, \u201c\u2026There is no joy in Columbus, the Buckeyes have struck out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n So New Year\u2019s Eve was really what I would normally do on New Year\u2019s Day.\u00a0\u00a0Then there was yesterday, January 1st<\/sup>, the \u201creal\u201d New Year\u2019s Day.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s the \u201cextra\u201d day in this year\u2019s holiday process.\u00a0\u00a0All of the college games were pushed to January 2nd<\/sup>, because Sunday is \u201cNFL\u201d day.\u00a0\u00a0But my NFL team didn\u2019t play.\u00a0\u00a0The Bengals are in the Monday Night matchup, tonight.\u00a0\u00a0So no parade, no football I wanted to watch.\u00a0\u00a0And all of the decorations are already down, taken in a few frenzied moments on December 29th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, we found a \u201cWest Wing\u201d television marathon, that sucked us in from breakfast to bed.\u00a0\u00a0That is, except for the runaway dog over by the airport.\u00a0\u00a0Jenn grudgingly joined in the hunt, and we drove over.\u00a0\u00a0That was the bad news.\u00a0\u00a0The good news:\u00a0\u00a0we somehow gained access to the government base next door, DCSC, to help the Base Police with the dog.\u00a0\u00a0We arrived just in time: the policemen caught him.\u00a0\u00a0Jenn was handed the puppy to take back to the owner; all the fun, smiles and tears, with very little effort.\u00a0\u00a0Then it was back home to the \u201cWest Wing\u201d, and a New Year\u2019s dinner of grilled pork chops.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nFootball-Football-Football<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Real New Year\u2019s<\/h3>\n\n\n\n