Into The Future

Last night, I received a message from the future. It was: "Greetings from 2014. All good so far. " What a relief.

I hope the trend continues. I expect it will because the message originated from the Oracle who is generally trustworthy. Although, if you ask him "What's for dinner?" he will invariably respond with "Chili dogs." I happen to love chili dogs so I don't find this to be a problem. However, if I'm in the mood for something else, I will find a different source for menu planning.

Yesterday's post was intended to be a wrap up of 2013 and a snarky comment on "news" that is presented as either a list or a slide show. Or, as is more often the case, both. I can do without either and especially both. Although there are a couple of lists I've been referring to lately which are found in IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes since I can otherwise find nothing of interest to watch.

I tried to figure out some HTML code to present my 2013 Wrap Up in a slideshow format when I became distracted and ended up posting what you saw here yesterday. The distraction was, "What should we do tonight on the last day of the year?"

This, at 5 pm.

We already had dinner reservations at a nice, nearby restaurant. But wouldn't going to Portland be more fun?, we suddenly asked ourselves. So, on a bit of a lark, we bid on a hotel room on priceline.com and found ourselves with a reservation at the Nines. We grabbed our coats, hats, and toothbrushes and headed for the door, canceling our earlier dinner reservation as we drove across the river.

I was worried we were going to get downtown only to find that we'd have to eat at McDonalds because we wouldn't get last minute dinner reservations on New Year's Eve. We were checked into the hotel by 6 pm and headed directly to their restaurant, Urban Farmer, whereupon we were informed they had a table available at 6:30.

Perfect! After a sumptuous meal, we found the rooftop bar which was warmed with outdoor heaters. We watched young couples take selfies against the night sky, sharply dressed and oh, so young. They were giddy with the ending of one year and the beginning another, full of hopeful anticipation. We didn't want to spoil their fun.

Christmas tree in Pioneer Square

Looking towards the Willamette River

By midnight, we were in our room watching TV and counting down until the ball dropped in Times Square.

We had a nice breakfast this morning and did a little shopping downtown before coming home to get some house chores done. Chores aside, I'd agree with the Oracle. So far 2014 is shaping up pretty well.

But now it's time to make some dinner. Tuna melts tonight. But maybe chili dogs tomorrow.