Starting the New Year off with a kick, literally

Let's just say it started off on the right...errr, wrong...foot.

Kevin initiated a game of Bags (or what the rest of us know as Cornhole) at the office on the afternoon of December 31, 2008. We split up into three teams of two and tossed to the greatest of our abilities trying to win the grand prize of $40. Jeremy and I didn't win the championship, but we did walk away with $10 each in our pockets as runner-ups.

Cathy and Kevin duking it out over Bags

After work, Kevin and I ran back to my house to change before driving up to downtown Plano to meet Holly, Mike, John and Melissa at a pub. We stayed there for a short time before heading over to a house party in Plano. The hosting couple is clients of Holly's, and also one of the two "founding families" of Plano. We ate their food and drank their booze, then I got in good with a couple of the old geezers so I didn't look like a total mooch. Harry was one of the hosts, and he and I laughed it up for a good hour before the rest of my party drug me out the door.

Me with Harry and Holly at Harry's Plano party

After that party, the six of us drove out to Murphy (think north of Rockwall, east of Plano) to John and Melissa's GORGEOUS house. John and Melissa's two boys, Austin and Chase, spent the night helping us celebrate. Melissa had a fantastic food spread out for us to munch on, but the night gets a little blurry due to Kevin's pomegranate martinis.

Melissa prepping the fresh pom seeds with Chase and Austin

Mike and Melissa, being the characters that they are

Candid group shot of us all in the kitchen grazing on food

After ringing in the new year, I decided it would be a great idea to show off my flexibility and core strength abilities. So with 6 hours worth of booze in my system, I started doing handstands. Fantastic and logical idea. Of course Chase and Austin had to show me up and all, then Kevin tried to show the boys that he could do it too. Either I wasn't paying attention or his fall landed just the right way, because Kevin's big fat foot came in contact with my nose, mouth and the area between the two. All at once. Next thing I remember, I'm in severe pain on their living room floor with blood running from my nose and everyone's around me asking if I'm okay. I think that was the clue that it was TIME FOR BED.

The next morning I woke up and the lower half of my face felt like I had been to a Botox party and mistakenly grabbed the syringe labeled "The Big Daddy." Kevin rolled over in bed and examined my face, then so lovingly said "Wow, you look like Marge Simpson." Thanks honey, and have I told you that when you burp it reminds me of Homer? And I mean that in the nicest way possible.

Melissa made us a wonderful breakfast and we left mid-morning to go to Granbury. Thank you John and Melissa for having us over, and for your gracious hospitality! And thank you Mike and Holly for inviting us to spend our New Years with you as well, we really enjoyed it!

And if you're wondering about my Marge injury, here are some pictures of the damage. As of today, I have a small bruise on the left corner of my upper lip so it looks like a bad mustache waxing gone wrong, and my nose is still a little sore.

I discovered the under-lip bruise on Friday morning, 36 hours after it happened

This was taken on Sunday night.
I was so swollen that I couldn't get my upper lip to move so I could smile normally.