December 31, 2011

I almost tripped when getting out of bed as I still felt lightheaded from the motion sickness the previous’ day car ride had caused. Could I be suffering from vertigo just like my mom? My stomach was also still unsettled and on top of that my throat felt like it was being attacked by thousands of germs.

Caroline wrote to say she had agreed to go to the New Year’s Eve bash at the Hyatt after all as Yoomie had convinced her to attend. She told me later on that Marydean was hosting a dinner party at her house prior to going to the Hyatt and would I agree to go with her. I turned down both invites. I felt dizzy and queasy and knew I’d not make for good company.

Yoomie called later on concerned about my having skipped both the Christmas Eve and now New Year’s Eve party and I reassured her that I in no way felt left out as these celebrations are basically meaningless for me these days. She also wanted to come by and use my washing machine now that Ryan is out of town, but I still only have a trickle of water. I sent Pariso a text message asking her to please contact my landlady and let her know I needed running water to do the laundry. She didn’t acknowledge receipt. Oh, well, rent is due tomorrow and I’m not paying until water is restored to my apartment.

I ate the leftover pasta for lunch and made a pot of mung bean soup for dinner, watched the news and put the finishing touches on my PowerPoint presentation on grant writing for Wednesday. The power went out at 7:00pm and I took my laptop to bed to read one of my electronic books. I now regret having purchase the cheap replacement battery I did as it only lasts about 1.5 hours, not enough to wait until power comes back up even though this time it came in less than one hour.

I heard fireworks in the distance. Corrie said she’d try to make it to the Ismoili Plaza where the celebration was scheduled to begin at 7:00pm. I asked her to take photos for me.