Closing of a Year, Pt. 1


Wow, it’s been a month. Well, close to one, anyways.

So, what have I been doing ever since Christmas? Well, I made it through the holidays intact. Let me tell you single people a secret that long-term dating couples don’t share. Ok, ready? When you’re dating someone, you’re not just dating them, but you’re dating their family. I know it sounds so “duh!” but the realization usually doesn’t fully hit until the holidays because by then your calendar is so stuffed with plans with your family as well as their family and your extended family and their extended family. Amanda and I were running from one place to another with nary a break in-between. We went downtown with her family, some of who had come in from out of town. They didn’t get to experience the normal Chicago winter weather. It was a remarkably warm and unseasonal December.

“Family” was the word du jour of the holidays. Suffice to say I was glad when New Year’s Eve rolled by because it marked the end to the insane family holiday festivities. We were able to breathe again.

However, there was one enjoyable interlude between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. My mother had bought tickets for Amanda and I to go see “The Nutcracker.” I had never been to the ballet before. We went to Maggiano’s for some Italian dinner beforehand thanks to another gift certificate. The food was delicious and the ballet was amazing. It was performed by the Joffrey Ballet Company, which for you Arts & Entertainment aficionados will know is one of the top and most revered ballet companies out there. The Auditorium Theater at Roosevelt University (Congress/Michigan) is gorgeous. The theater envelopes you in a real sense of history when you walk in. If anyone has the opportunity to go see a professional production of “The Nutcracker,” do yourselves a favor and go. It was nice to go out on a date again, something we hadn’t done in a while.

New Year’s Eve was probably one of the most boring, and yet relaxing, New Year’s I’ve experienced. Amanda and I didn’t go out because no one we knew was having a party so we spent the night at my place watching “Empire Records” and then we switched over to the countdown and had a nice little toast to celebrate the passage to 2007.

Now it’s 2007. Now what?



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