Happy New Year!

You might have noticed my lack of posts. I think I have a cross between the winter blues and blogger envy of my friends who are writing from far away and exotic locales. Actually, there just hasn't been a whole lot going on.

My second NYE in NYC (as I found out New Year's Eve, apparently, is called these days) was spent overlooking the park where we toiled last year to run four miles at the stroke of midnight. The plans this year were a little more relaxing, as fellow Fellow Lesley lives right by the park and has a rooftop perfect for midnight firework viewing. We hung out at her place and at five to midnight, we found ourselves scrambling up 21 flights of stairs to reach the roof before the big moment, because the elevators were too full to fit in. The view of Central Park and all the people below was amazing - at midnight we could hear the crowd roaring. The fireworks were great too (aren't they always?) and then, there was a brawl. Yes, a brawl, on the rooftop of a private apartment building in one of the poshest areas in town. I honestly thought someone was going to be thrown off the roof or killed with a bottle or deck chair to the head. Someone called the cops and in the meantime we got the heck out of there, missing the grand finale. What is wrong with people??? The rest of the night was pleasant, though, as Ryan and I made our way toward Grand Central Station to meet the roommates, who were hanging out in the pub where the local bartender from last year in Queens now makes his living.

Before New Years I met with my aunt Jeanne and cousin Jennifer, who were in town for the holidays, before they ironically left the next day to visit my home in Ohio. We had pizza with my OTHER cousin Glen, who lives in NYC and works at the statue of liberty.

I'm sorry this post is pretty boring. They might be for a while, I think we're in the winter doldrums, although the burst of warm weather this week was a nice taste of spring. Here's to more of that!