Made it to midnight. The bubbly in the garage turned out to have already been opened, who knows when, but not within the last year. So that went down the sink and we had to figure out a festive beverage from Mom's shabby stock. There is a bottle of nice Bourbon (Basil Hayden) here - we left it on a previous visit, for just such emergencies. That's what Mrs. Davis had, but wasn't what I was feeling like. So I made a White Russian with bottom-shelf vodka and nonfat milk.
Desperate times...
Whatever, it did the trick, we rang in the new year, and now I'm going to bed. Best wishes to all!
あけましておめでとうございます。昨年大変お世話になりました。今年も宜しくお願い致します。
("Congratulations on the dawning of a new year. You were nice to me last year. Please be nice to me again this year." -- it's a standard New Year's greeting in Japan.)
