Happy New Years

A group of people. A decorated room, filled with balloons and lights. It's obviously a party. A New Year's Eve party.

New Year's Eve 1999/2000. The beginning of a new Millenium. Sort of, the exact math confuses me, so I'm just going to go with the fact that was the night everyone was celebrating.

Because of that, it was a night for really big parties. Such as the one that this picture was taken at.

I'm the one in the blue sweater, in the center of the picture, and it's my dad that I'm talking to.

I didn't want to go to that party. In fact, my parents had to drag me, but in the end that might have been the best New Year's Eve I've ever had.

I was 16 then and 16 was not a good year for me. I had taken a leave of absence from school, I was going through a lot of emotional drama and I was not an easy person to live with.

I also had no real desire to spend a night in the company of a whole bunch of people. Espeically since a lot of people had been on my back about being out of school. I acutally planned on spending the night home alone, watching TV and playing on my computer. No such luck.

My parents told me in no uncertain terms that they weren't leaving me alone on New Years and since they didn't intend to stay home, that meant I was going with them--much to my displeasure.

Since I had to go to the party, my intent was to sit in the living room and watch TV. The party was being held partially in the shed outside and partially in the basement. That resolve lasted ten minutes before the host's son dragged me downstairs, since that where his friends were. The older people were in the shed.

I ended up having an amazing time. It was just one of those really fun evenings. I think everybody had a great time. At Midnight, we all ended up in the shed for the countdown, which is when this picture was taken.

For a party I didn't even want to go to, I ended up having such a great time.