2006 is giving me a headache.

Ten o'clock. I have a cat on my feet. The really whacked movie on the Independent Film Channel channel is done. Jackson is scrounging through the kitchen, looking for munchies. He's not likely to find any.

This is not exactly how we'd planned to spend New Year's Eve. But it's emblematic of 2006, which has vaguely sucked.

Jackson and I had planned to have a New Year's Eve party, but we never had the chance to make any plans or get anyone invited. Katie was with her "other" family so we decided to get a room in the Cool Little City to the North and go find a jazz combo or pub band to ring in the New Year with. Hinder was playing in town, too. There were lots of possibilities.

We packed our little bags and drove away in the bright, cold sunshine. The wind was howling straight out of the North and chapping the roadways, drying them off from the rain and ice we'd had a couple of days earlier.

When we arrived at the hotel, the lobby was packed. And the people were grumbling. We had no idea what was going on. A harried desk clerk was yelling out to anyone who came in the door.

"If you don't have a reservation, we're sold out!"

The loud-mouthed lady about halfway back in the line explained all. I-40 was closed starting a quarter of a mile to the west. She said the next over-pass past the hotel was a solid sheet of ice and that continued all the way into Colorado. Another interstate, running through Oklahoma, was closed as well. A lot of people had come south to take I-40, hoping it would be open sooner. No such luck.

Of course, the hotel lost our reservation. Naturally there was no way to get a room anywhere in town. But, what the hell, we could go sleep in our own bed after nothing more than an hour's drive south. These folks couldn't say that. Jackson said he thought this 'no room at the inn' bit was a Christmas thing, not New Year's.

So, we went shopping, ate BBQ and went home to another lovely Netflix New Year's. (After watching the IFC movie, we watched Sin City. Which was pretty darn good, but then I nearly always like Robert Rodriquez movies.)

Before we left CLCttN, we went to the mall for a bit. Jackson sat out in the hallway while I spent the Hot Topic gift card Katie gave me for Christmas. I had my bag that's made out of this material with me.

The girl with the green hair and huge tattoo across her naked back and the multiple facial piercings said she really liked it. I felt so proud. This may be the first time they didn't think I was a narc.

And since we are at home, we can have my favorite Trailer Trash New Year's Meal: Jackson's Super-Sweet Cornbread, black-eyed peas from my own garden and a whole can of fried Spam. Yessireebob - we are such gourmands. We'll save you some left-overs!