Happy New Year!

Wow, talk about an eventful New Year for me! The day started innocent enough with Mass. Then I caught up with friends over the phone. It was nice to talk to everyone before the year ended. I had reservations for dinner at 5:30PM and was at the restaurant a little early. I spent the entire afternoon in my apartment and had no idea that it started snowing slightly which was nice.

Dinner was at Lucca which is an Italian restaurant near my apartment. I was introduced to the owner through Fr. John and he's a very nice guy who runs an amazing restaurant. Dinner was a prix-fixe 6 course menu which was very good. One of the things I love about Lucca is the fact that the serving is just right - not too big or small. I've never left there feeling hungry. John joined me later for dinner after Mass at his parish.

After dinner it was off to the DM Symphony at the Civic Center featuring the "Three Phantoms". Three baritones sang songs from different Broadway musicals, but the program after the intermission was downright amazing. One of my all-time favorite songs from any Broadway musical would be "Bring Him Home" from Les Miz. It's a very intimate song that in many ways is a prayer. One of the baritones who played the lead role in Les Miz did a spectacular job singing the song. A number of people gave him a standing ovation. I had goose bumps when he sang the song. As a finale, all three of them sang the infamous "Music of the Night" from Phantom of the Opera. They definitely brought the house down with their performance. What better way to end or begin the new year?

Joel and Kathy invited me over to their house to ring in the new year which has been a tradition for a number of years. It was a nice and low key new year celebration. John joined me there and I left at around 12:30AM to make it to a new year party at Kristi's house. It's been quite some time since I hung out with Kristi and Brian. Nowadays, I'm not able to stay awake past midnight so my salvation came in the form of a cup of regular coffee during the DM Symphony intermission. That cup of coffee truly helped me! There were roughly ten people at the house and most of them were pretty liquored up. I did not have anything to drink as I had enough to drink over dinner and at Joel's house. By the time I left, it was close to 2:40AM. I left at that time because Liverpool were playing live on tv at 6:45AM and there was no way I was missing that game. By the time I went to bed, it was close to 3:30AM. I got up at 5:30AM to watch the English Premier League highlights right before the game. Liverpool dominated Bolton and ended up winning 3-0 which was a very good score. Talk about a good way to get the new year started for Liverpool.

I went to bed at roughly 8:45AM and got up at around 2:30PM to work out before the Rose Bowl game. One of my new year resolutions is to work out at least five times a week. There's something to be said about working out. It's just so refreshing and makes for a wonderful day ahead. Right now, the 2nd half of the Rose Bowl game just got underway so I better get going.

Cheers to an amazing 2007 for all!