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For New Year's Eve, I got invited to spend quality time with Sherri and Jay, who were going to be working at a social function as henna artists. I was the novice/assistant who helped with the setup and breakdown and basically wielded a henna bottle on anyone who actually asked for vines and flowers. It was a really fun gig and the theme was "Leather and Diamonds". There were a lot of Harley Davidsons and real bikers and some biker wannabes and socialites wearing diamonds and the whole bit! Jay was slammed with young women who wanted henna tattoos on their lower backs, at the waist and Sherri did a lot of ankles and armbands. I did one unsuspecting woman who wanted flowers on her breast (I did it too low and she ended up having to show her boob to way more people than she was comfortable showing it to!), the backs of two women's hands, one armband ("yeah, I want SLUT PUPPY on my arm") for a really tall, muscular biker looking dude, and the knuckles of some semi-inebriated guy who was giving me this "I wanna pick you up but I'm with my girl" sort of vibe. The rest of the time I chatted and entertained and basically was "on". It was good, I mostly forgot about the fact that the year was coming to a close and I was a couple of hundred miles away from the one person I really wanted to be with...my son. After that gig was over, we got into the car and booked it to a party that they had been invited to previously. So, there we were...in a house full of strangers, watching the ball drop in Times Square on the tv...and the couples and friends kissed and wished each other "Happy New Year!" and I was miserable. And, for some strange reason, I started crying and I couldn't stop and I was both mad and embarrassed and ashamed and basically teetering on the edge of sorrow. Jay and Sherri, being the kind and sympathetic people they are, took me out onto the empty front porch of the house and held me while I cried and pulled myself together. Sherri even brought the longhaired black and white kitten from the chair and held its purring body close to me until I had to laugh. They were great and I was glad that I was with them. Then, we heard Mark's voice and we went out to talk with him. We were supposed to leave soon after because Sherri was still recovering from being sick...but, an hour later, we were still standing in the street next to the van, chatting with each other about this, that and the other. Mark divulged his dark secret to me...which would have gotten a stronger response if I hadn't already heard parts of the story (minus the part confirming the identity of the individual) and suspected that he was the person from the story that I had heard. Still, I was honored that he had told me. That initial conversation flowed into other topics that made me think "huh, well, this is NOT a conversation I thought I'd be having in the first few hours of the new year!" Yet, it sort of made sense and I enjoyed myself throughout it all. There were mixed signals that I was getting that made me think, "oh, he might like me" to "oh, he might not like me" to "oh, he's just being a theatrical queen"...which made me even more confused. We finally left sometime around 1:30 and got back to Sherri and Jay's house. Jay got me hooked up to their wi-fi network and I was off and running for a couple more hours before fatigue really set in and I decided to call it a day. On New Year's Day we hung around the house for most of the morning and afternoon. It was fun being there and just relaxing with them. At one point and time, all three of us were in the bedroom, with the tv on all typing away on our laptops. Then, a movie was popped in and got to watch PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN for the first time. I stopped IMing people and knitted instead as I watched Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightley running around in the movie. I did meet some interesting folks online though. In the afternoon, we got ready and left the house and went to the grocery store to pick up desserts for the dinner at Glennis and Tom's house. Dinner was terrific and Glennis outdid herself with the food! We all oohed and awwed and winced over Tom's scrapes from his battle with his "Christine car" and we ate and drank and laughed. It was a lot of fun, even though I felt like the proverbial "third wheel" because I was not part of a couple. Stupid, but true. After dinner, we all sat in the living room and discussed whatever came to our heads. I did bring up one uncomfortable thing and was told just how "not good" of an idea it would be. Which I did suspect would be the response to my query...but I still had to ask! After we had consumed desserts and it was time to go, Tom and Glennis offered to drive me, the "wandering jew who is their friend" home to my parents' house...as it would be a shorter trip for them than it would be for Sherri and Jay. So, that's what we did...Tom and Glennis drove me home and came in to say "hi" to my parents and poked around my small room and watched my mom sing karaoke and then they left. Today, I have to go down to wpb to see my son. It's been over a week, but I've talked with him every day so that hasn't been too bad. Still, it saddens me that he doesn't say anything about "missing" me. He's more excited by the fact that his paternal grandparents are coming down and they're going to take him to Disney when they visit. |