A few more hours to go until the start of a new year, and although New Year’s Eve will probably be the most different of all I’ve ever had, my 2020 send off playlist is all set, thanks to the songs cited by my friends and relatives. I’m ready to play this on repeat until D and I call it a night on the 31st and head off to bed.

I say it will be the most different New Year’s Eve because unlike previous years 1) we won’t have guests, 2) we’re not planning on a food feast, 3) we’ll probably retire early and miss the midnight (just like what happened on Christmas Eve), 4) we’ll most likely not be seeing much, if any, fireworks from the neighbors and the subdivisions near us.

Historically, we’d load up on ingredients and would be busy preparing food as early as 5PM, have a late dinner and another round on midnight, wine and all. D and our guests would be on the barbecue grill while I’d be cooking something new thanks to recipes from Pinterest and YouTube. We’ve stopped buying fireworks for a good number of years already, and we always just watch the fireworks from neighbors or the nearby subdivisions. This year, some townhouses were constructed next to our house, so there goes our fireworks view, if any of our neighbors set off fireworks at all. Last year there was less fireworks – and this year I look forward to none. Actually I wouldn’t mind if there were no fireworks because I know the stress my dogs, cat and chicken go through every New Year’s Eve because of these.

This year, due to the lack of physical activity, D and I have become more conscious of our diet, and lately we’ve been trying out DASH. Every chance we can get we go to our city apartment so we can walk around and do our 10,000 steps. We tried that here in the suburbs the other day but our subdivision is not as pedestrian friendly (no sidewalk!) so we always end up going home after a few thousand steps as it’s quite a challenge walking freely (with our masks and face shields on). So I guess for our late dinner, we’ll skip the barbeque and wine, and have salad, poke, and a sugar free dessert.

Even though the New Year’s Eve will be the most surreal, I am still up for our close-knit quiet celebration, and I look forward to welcoming 2021.

How about you, what are your plans for the 31st? I hope you have a wonderful, happy New Year!