Partyparty

So we rang in the new year in typical fashion: Tostitos & nacho dip, shrimp ring, vegetable spring rolls and beverages. We played Tsuro, a simple and elegant board game of pathways, whose name reminded me of Tetsuro Shigmatsu host of CBC Radio 1's national afternoon show.

Our attempts at Mario Party 3 were foiled by the game freezing on us, twice. That was when we moved onto Tetris. When the clock ticked over to 2007, Jeffy and I were still playing the game we started in 2006 while Cheryl and Shelley watched, chatted and snacked. This too, is typical of our get-togethers. My red, dry eyes to begin the new year were not from excess drinking, but from not blinking during the 35 minutes of gameplay.

We saw our guests off after lunch and headed off ourselves to the farm for New Year's supper, chicken mizudaki and omochi, much fancier than whatever leftovers we would have had. And after all the festivities, families and friends, we're glad for the next couple days off: the holiday after the holidays.