Home for the Holidays; '18 into' 19

L to R: Maybe, Perhaps, Ken, wife's cousin, Ms. Shi and husband, and Leona

         On December 22, 2018 I didn’t weigh myself or take my blood pressure. What would be the point? The evening before I'd had two glasses of tequila with homemade TGI Friday style green beans,  a bottle of wine, and cheese with my wife while we watched “Home Alone”. I was so drunk I fell asleep around ten o'clock and left her to clean the litter boxes and do the dishes. It  would kick off a week of partying leading up to our New Year's Eve shebang.

Wall of ancient album covers at TGI Friday

      The partying picked up a few days later when I left with my wife in Ms. Shi’s car to have dinner at TGI Friday with Mr. Mao, the third of our new Renoir Community Board triumvirate; they'd been elected earlier that week, my wife the new manager. Ms. Shi would’t be drinking so she drove. I would be practicing Mandarin with them, drunk.

Tree in our lobby we donated
and decorated

       We went to Costco that Friday morning  for things for our New Year's Eve party. I guessed around twenty people were coming but my wife's father, brother with wife and children, George, Shaun and wife, Vinay and Joyal probably wouldn't show; I didn't expect them to. I had invited no one else. All the guests would be my wife's friends and family. It would be fun as always; We would make it so. We were not sure how many people would come but I knew most wouldn't be speaking English. 

          My wife told me why her brother wasn’t coming to our New Year’s Eve party. We were feeling bad for him because we though he didn’t feel well. It turned out he would be bringing his mother-in-law with his wife for three days in Chiayi. It would be the first New Year he wasn’t with us. His sister was taking the high road; there would be other relatives and friends coming. 

       There would be no pinball machine or pool table to play on, though I saw a cute tabletop mini table at Decathlon near Costco for $150; balls, rack, brush, and two cues included. My wife brushed it off though and I didn't demand it. I guess I really didn't want it. It was too late for the AC/DC pinball machine I had passed up a few years ago,  and it was too expensive, anyway, but the mini pool table would be fun. The guests New Year's Eve would love it! I couldn't get it out of my mind.

Read "The Haunted Pinball Hanger" here.

       Riding home from a language exchange, on Wen-Xin Road near Nobel Bookstore, Sam, the expat who made our cheddar chicken buffalo wing dip, Irish whiskey, and egg nog the last few New Year Eves, stopped besides my bicycle on his motorcycle and said hello. We shook  hands before the light changed and I wished him happy holidays telling him I wasn't having as many people over this time and had gotten vanilla Bailey’s Cream instead of his concoction.

L to R: Ms. Shi, Hank, friends son, his mom,Perhaps, Maybe,wife's cousin, Leona, and cousin's son, Ken.

     We spent the evening in three areas of our condo: the living room for television watchers, the dining room for talkers and foodies, and, yes, the indoor patio for hard rock music and mini-pool! It was hilarious watching each other play because the floor was on a slight incline for rain runoff before it was enclosed. I had to get some fabric to raise one side of the picnic table that the pool surface rested on and used a level to straighten it, but it didn't matter since we were all tipsy and no one was keeping score, anyway.  
     At midnight, everyone moved to the living room where we  watched the countdown on TV showing Taipei 101 skyscraper lit up with LED lights this year (fireworks banned) and televised concert parties from around the island. I popped the cork on the champagne, made toasts, and then, on hearing firecrackers, moved to our covered patio to watch the local fireworks being lit by people on the east side of Beitun near the river at Xiangshun Road.   
     By one o'clock, everyone had gone home, happy and optimistic.  Thus began 2019. We had a nice party that evening: Ms. Shi, her husband and son, Hank, my wife's nephew, Yun-Shen, her cousin with son, Ken, two of her cousin's friends, Maybe and Perhaps, Mr. Ma, who stopped by to say hello and bring roasted chicken, and one of my wife’s friends who, with son, she was glad decided to come and stay for the countdown; eleven guests in all.

Selection of trees we chose from 

The folk who came the year before but didn't come this year didn't affect the festivities. My wife's brother's family (except for Yun-Shen) was a first time no-show; he chose to go to his scond home in Chiayi with his wife and mother-in-law leaving his father and children home alone. I was joking saying he wouldn't be invited next year, but I hope his liver transplant is a success and he comes back healthy. Annual guests, Jenny, who was busy working in Tainan couldn't make it and Huai-Ya, with family, decided  not to come at the last minute. The few expats I invited didn’t come, either.

The food was delicious. This year I only made deviled eggs and had the spinach latkes I'd recently made. The rest was store bought;  the large cocktail shrimp platter and TGI Friday pork ribs, etc.  Her cousin's son made shrimp tamales and a delicious pomelo liquor. We consumed one of two pizza Ms. Shi brought, and one of two bottles of sparkling wines. We had one box of TGI Friday ribs and other foods left because of the smaller than anticipated party. 

Happy at the pool table

I was glad I went back to get that mini pool table that I'd spotted the week before; it was delightful.   We could  get some authentic shots, though nothing longer than four feet. It is good for practice though the balls are miniature. I played games with almost everyone at the party but my wife who did not go back to even look. Three times I'd gone for the pool table: Friday I had driven to Costco when we stopped in at Decathlon and I saw the table, Saturday to buy it, and Sunday to get the felt cue tips that weren’t included. No problem; it was a nice day Sunday walking around the store with George and catching up on things.
    It was January second; I was starving myself that day after topping 100 kg before the New Year. I was stabilizing my weight and going down. I had oatmeal for breakfast and nothing afterwards but tea with a teaspoon of sugar. I hoped I was having sushi for lunch in a place. My wife recommended if I drove her to the Westside for a hair or facial treatment; one or the other.

     Afterwards, my wife gave me a kiss, in private. I was going to say something back about the pool table but decided not to. I have to go against her designs for me sometimes. The pool table is delightful. She should  be happy for me.

Happy New Year! Get home safely.