So This is the New Year...

For New Year's, my friend Kat cleverly suggested that instead of shelling out tons of money on outfits, cab fare, expensive parties in the city and booze, we wrangle up a big group of people to rent a beach house for a couple days and have a non-stop, 48 hour party. So we did, and it was magnificent.

Proof:

Joe was our helpful driver...

...while Kat and her boyfriend Will played checkers in the back.
On an ipad. I hate the future.

Waterfront view

We had $400 of alcohol. Here's half of it.

Here's the other half.

I was the only Redskins fan. I spent most of the first night antisocially
 wandering over to the tv and texting my dad about the game.

Joe brought animal masks. I hated them.

They were terrifying.

And resulted in shark attacks.

I tried to take a picture of the moon over the bay, but I was thwarted.

15 people + 5 beds = sharing

One of the guys on the trip is a chef, so our meals were all
 delicious. He put us to work chopping things.

We spent most of the last day of 2012 on this rug.

Puppy pile

Lone pup

Alcohol began to translate to Disney sing-alongs.

Post midnight, each with our personal champagne bottles.
Classy.

At midnight, I and two other people ran into the freezing, freezing, freezing cold bay. Completely, heads underwater, fully submerged in the stupidly icy water. As I ran out, screaming like a drunk and very cold maniac, I stepped barefoot on a rock, bruising the arch of my foot, then staggered to the side and came down on my ankle in a weird way. I was too numb from champagne and the bay to really feel the full effect at the time, but the next morning I was hobbling around like a one legged prostitute. (I have no idea why that is the simile I just picked. I literally just typed it, thought, 'WTF?', and then was entertained enough by it to just stick with it.) 

 If you recall the time I broke my finger, you know I am not inclined in the slightest to see a doctor about this. I did, however, find a Wiki article called "Seven Ways to Tell if your Ankle is Sprained", and it is meets all the requirements. It's pretty mild as far as sprains go (assuming it's a sprain), but, seeing as I'm a dog walker who clocks in about 10 or more miles a day, it's probably going to take longer to heal than necessary.

In a weird way though, it feels like a good omen for this year. Something I've been realizing increasingly is that I am more passive about my life than I would like to be. This year is going to involve some big changes, and a lot more of me going balls-to-the-wall in pursuit of good things in my life. Jumping in the bay was an awesome start to this year, and yes, I hurt myself in the process, but it felt completely worth it. 

I think that's going to be the theme of 2013.