Blog Log: The Carolinas (Part III)

Raleigh (12/31/12)

After some drama about who would make the effort to get out to the Richardses' for New Years (see photo below) we descended on their humble home in time for dinner and the putting of the children to bed/floor.  The latter was trickier than might be expected as various social norms were breached in our children's minds--namely, Rose learning that night that little children do indeed sleep on beds, and Rae learning (probably scared out of her mind by a Rose sneeze or a sniffle or something) that little children sometimes sleep in the same room as you--sometimes on the floor.  Another difficulty later arose when we heard some rapid-fire stomps on the carpet from the floor above and soon learned that Wally, in need of some nighttime potty relief and unsure of its whereabouts took to lying on his back and pounding his feet on the floor.  Luckily that crisis was averted.

The Lamberts' waffling and the Lewises' dedication to their bloodline had them both in the doghouse.

So with the kids soundly asleep we all sat down to some food (once again graciously provided by the Richards) and good company.  The menu was a Martha Stewart grilled cheese sandwich bar, chips and dips, fizzy drinks (along with a bevy of familiar sounding sodas with the unfortunate appellation of "zero"), and an assortment of macaroons from a Charleston confectionery.  During dinner we shared some of our experiences in Charleston, and the Richardses (recently returned from a trip there of their own) joined in with some of their own experiences.  Then we started to rekindle an old contest that stems from Emily's and my one-upsmanship of our various travels abroad.  We would share a factoid about Charleston, and then the Richards would share one.  And then we and then they, and so on, with the factoids gradually becoming more obscure, and neither couple willing to let the other have the last contribution to the discussion.  All the while the Lamberts looking more and more likely to go take a pre-midnight power-nap while we finished our silly game.

Dinner behind us, we made our way to the living room and the evening took a nostalgic turn when Todd (not known to be at all sentimental) surprised us all by producing a college memory book (with a slight nod to Paul and Verlan) and a childhood memory book (with a slight nod to me).  (I think Emily must have put these books together.)  We had a good laugh looking through the Paul/Todd homoerotic years and reminiscing about such college staples as the 'Blind Date' TV show--Paul and Todd were impressed that I could remember the theme song (the catchy bass line); the ladies were not.  Then we took a look at some pictures of Todd and me as kids which were funny for several reasons, but the unexpected reason was because I seemed to have my shirt off in over half the pictures--I have no memory of my exhibitionist phase.

Then we watched some YouTube clips before taking a break to enjoy some delicious egg nog--of which everyone partook, even if only through a 5/95 nog/milk ratio (Joelle).  Then we realized we only had about 40 seconds left (according to Ryan Seacrest Eastern standard time) to crack open the Martinelli's and pour 6 glasses.  Luckily we made it in time and were able to celebrate with Ryan, Bobby Brown, and Gangham Style right there in the living room with us.

What would New Year's Eve be without you, Ryan

Soon after, we all went to bed but in our case were awoken by a crying child at 5:00am so we decided to just dart like thieves in the night and get a head start on our drive back home.  We silently crept through the house and left only memories... and a blanket and a stuffed animal.

Appendix

YouTube clips:
DEA Agent Shoots Foot
Pinky the Cat
Boston Fan Bon Jovi