I laughed SO HARD...

I couldn't breathe!
Not only my sides hurt, but my whole abdominal area!
I thought I was going to pee my pants!

Our co-workers youngest two daughters (ages 10 and 14) did the MOST hilarious spoof of the hubby and me last night. Or rather this morning. It was the encore presentation in our New Years Eve party that lasted until 3 a.m.

They NAILED all our little idiosyncrasies and exaggerated them only slightly for one of the funniest parodies. Oh.My.Goodness. I can't remember when I've laughed so hard. It wouldn't be nearly as good in the re-telling but I will say my favorite part was when "the hubby" pulled out a long, long receipt and "I" immediately whipped out a calculator and beginning at either end, met in the middle after much frantic waving of hands and punching of calculator. ROFL I wish they had videotaped it 'cause I would have totally put it on my blog.

There was LOTS of laughter last night and LOTS of food. You know me, gotta tell you about the food ☺ This is Argentina, remember, so we didn't eat the main thing until around 11 p.m. but when we arrived at 9:30 the appetizers were already out and I just added my own contribution (homemade salsa and sorta homemade tortilla chips...since I couldn't find chips I bought flour tortillas, cut 'em up and fried 'em...voila! chips). There was a really good tarta de cebolla (onion tart), tarta de jamón y queso (ham and cheese tart), pigs in blankets, chips and ranch dip, and little puffs of golden goodness also known as fried fresh ravioli.

I was pretty full before they even brought out the pata flambeada, a succulent roast beef that is melt-in-your-mouth-tender. It was delivered already cooked and the hardest job was choosing which flavored mayo to slap between the super yummy bun to go along with the meat. Left everyone feeling muy satisfechos!

After all that food, we walked farther on up the hill from our co-worker's house in time to watch the city-wide fireworks at midnight. Christmas Eve they pop off a few and I thought it was pretty impressive until I saw last night's display. Wow! We had an excellent vantage point overlooking the whole city -- and could even see lights in the next town up the valley! A lot like our 4th of July celebrations in the U.S.

[I learned that Independence Day is July 9th here, but because that's in the middle of winter, they don't do fireworks.]

We've had a pretty wet spring that continues so Chinese lanterns were allowed this year and you could see them floating all over the night sky, flaming brightly

Then we tromped back down to the house for the first of TWO DESSERTS. Oh we know how to bring in the new year, people!

I had made chocolate scones after FINALLY finding cocoa powder at the health food store in town. The hubby sliced a bunch of peaches fresh from the tree, and I also whipped up some real cream to top it all off. YUM! I'd love to share some with all of you!

For fun we drew names earlier this week and had to buy a gift for no more than five pesos (about $2). Not an easy task! Even a single battery pack is more than that. And no food or joke gifts allowed.

But somebody...actually a couple of somebodies...decided we really needed gag gifts, too. teeheehee Poor Mariela about had a heart attack when she opened her first gift, thinking it was the one in the exchange, only to be frightened out of her wits when the gift made a buzzing sound as she opened it, causing her to squeal and throw it across the room. Her brother had pulled an old grade school trick with a rubber band to make the noise. It was especially funny because right before gift time the front door had been open and a big ol' bug had come strolling in, causing no small amount of consternation amongst the females ☺

But I can't feel too sorry for her, because she in turn, had put together gag gifts for all the grown-ups! Mine was tied to the fact that I'm still working on developing a taste for the national beverage for Argentina: máte (natural herb tea). She found this brand called Chamigo, and because she's from the north of Argentina where adding "ch" to "amigo" makes it "my friend", she altered the "o" to read "a" (since I'm a girl). Anyway, she dressed up this bag of yerba máte with yarn hair and a little paper skirt, which gave all of us a big kick! And after the gifts we had Dessert #2, a torta de helado (ice cream cake). I am very sad to say I was so full by this time I could only manage one little bite of the hubby's. *sigh*

We haven't partied on New Years Eve in many years. This was a lot of fun and I think we'll just have to make it a new tradition ☺ Along with having breakfast for dessert on New Years Day. 'Cause we totally had chocolate scones, peaches and cream this morning! And now we need to get dressed and head back over to the co-workers because there's quite a bit of pata flambeada left for lunch.

Hoping all of you are as well fed!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!