The New Years Gathering

The neon tree says hello to the new year.

Today was a lot of preparation, but we all had a great time. I want to share with you how we crossed the new year. We got decorations that simulate neon lights for getting a night life feel to add to the new years' atmosphere.

Above is how it looks like with the LED lights that we set up along the wall. Festive!

Placing the glasses that we have on the high table. We plan to serve the coming guests with some mulled cider that I am preparing.

A bottle of red wine, and about 6 cups of apple cider I got from Trader Joe's, some slices of ginger. Broughtit to a boil and then simmered. This turned out very delicious and was extremely simple.

We opted for an easy to prepare meal: Hot pot.

Just involves preparing a broth where we throw stuff in to cook and take out to eat. A very interactive dinner. The pot you see is split into two parts, one has a spicy soup base, and the other is a vegetable soup base. Meat is cut in very thin slices and dipped into the hot soup for a few seconds, and it is then ready to eat. The most important is the sauce that goes with the meat, that we let every guest come up with on their own. Usually a combination of soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, scallions, chili oil. But whatever they want.

Vegetables for giving the broth extra depth on the side.

Opal on the side, waiting for her meal. Someone put one of those Happy New Year headbands on her.

She's not a fan of it.

One of the fun things we prepared was a fondue, and this is the start of it before it all gets melted down. We did not have a fondue pot so we had to improvise a bit.

Here it is melted. I had an intermediate stage, but I opted not to show the photo because it looks like poop.

Mmm... chocolate covered goodness. This was a hit for dessert with the guests!

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Towards midnight, we counted down to the New Year.

T minus 1 Hour

My wife (who by the way is the mastermind behind all the decorations, because of course she is), organizes a reflection. Everyone takes a card and envelope, addressing it to themselves in 2019, and asks everyone to write their wishes for the coming year. We will be sharing this after the count down.

Most of us finish and we spend the rest of the time socializing. One of the guests expresses interest in buying Bitcoin, but laments that Coinbase does not allow him to because he lacks some sort of documentation. I offer to buy it on his behalf. We set a limit order and let it sit.

T minus 10 minutes

We start a live stream of the New York Times Square Ball Drop. The stream is lagging behind by 5 minutes and none of us notice.

T minus 5 minutes

We hear celebratory sounds outside and we are confused. After we realize what's happening, we decide to ignore it and go with the live stream.

T minus 10 seconds

The usual countdown. The bitcoin limit order gets filled. The ball drops on the screen and Frank Sinatra's New York is playing. We eat cake.

Reflection Time

We went around in a circle and shared our thoughts for the new year. I will share mine here.

To 2018

1. Write daily about anything and post it to Steemit.
2. 50 pushups, 50 squats, 50 crunches, 2 minute planks (attempt) daily. (Thank you @valorforfreedom for the first two. Gotta be fit! And gotta keep Steeming!)
3. Aim to get promoted, or figure out how to ditch it altogether and work from home.
4. Become famous (but not too famous. Screw the paparazzi).
5. Start reading, one book per month, about anything. Helps with creativity and staying sharp.

Well, now that it's on the blockchain I guess it will be holding me accountable. Wish me luck! Hope your new year crossing was not terrible!

And may I say, the moon is very round today!