It is a Different Kind of New Year

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It still feels like a dream that we are done with the year 2023 and we have begun the year 2024, and in a few hours we will be entering the second day of the year 2024, Year 2023 just went by like it was yesterday, the funny thing is I still can remember when we began year 2023 like it happened yesterday and all I can say is Thank you God for the gift of life and to everyone who were part of my life success in year 2023, the Hive family isn't left out.

The truth is, I have never been one who fancies the December and New Year shenanigans, I remember yesterday night, when everyone shouted Happy New Year, I watched them and felt happy and teary all together, but after a while, I bounced back and joined in the celebration with everyone else, I mean if not for anything, I should be grateful for my life and that of my family especially.

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So even when my close friends asked me what my plan was as of yesterday I told them, I had no plan and didn't plan to disturb myself either today when I was woken up by two of my close colleagues in school who called both on voice calls and WhatsApp video call, I was the only person still on the bed at that time of the day and they all were laughing at my nonchalant attitude towards the whole thing.

I had no thought about how the day was going to look like, It has always been me being me, but as I am writing this now, for whatever reasons I am so excited and my excitement is so high that it could bomb the whole nation. It's a different kind of New Year indeed, and my neighbours aren't left out in making this year look different from what it used to be.

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My neighbours who all happened to be guys by coincidence all decided to celebrate the New Year as one family by contributing a token, this morning after I was done with my call with my friends, although it was already mid-day, they knocked on my door and gave me the money to go to the market, get foodstuffs and then prepare food for the whole compound, in their words, "I am the woman of the house and should know what to do".

I was dumbfounded and it took me a while to understand what these guys were saying, I mean, why didn't they call their girlfriends to come and do these instead of reaching out to me, they said, their girlfriends would come and assist but I am the one that should handle everything and I ask myself, where do I start from? How do I start planning to cook for a crowd of twelve, and for the fact that it's been ages, since I last went to the market, how do I manage the crowd cooking?

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Well, I had no option but to reach out to my girlfriend for stamina because as they always say " Two heads are better than one", well she came around again with food and drink from her mother's kitchen and we sat to devour the food (rice and stew) first and the laps of chicken that was put in the food and then when we were done with devouring the food, we went ahead to plan for the cooking, and we came up with just going for Pepper Soup Rice and chicken, we dressed and went to the market.

When we got back, with the help of their girlfriend, we prepared the food, and in a twinkle of an eye, the food was all set, I went out to order drinks and we all sat down at a round table and devoured the food.

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When we were done eating, gisting, laughing out our eyes, and letting our food digest, we cleared our space and all retired to our rooms to sleep, a single mother of two beautiful girls in our compound but away from our building sent her daughter to give me a palatable dish. White soup and garri. I just couldn't reject it especially because of the season but I had to get it and up until now, I do not know how to start eating that particular food because I feel overfilled and wouldn't even think about eating again, except I just want to force myself and It only means I want to throw up.

That aside, this particular new year, is quite different from the normal ones I used to experience and I feel it will mean just one thing, I just walked into one of the best years I have ever experienced.

Grateful to God and gratitude to everyone here and offline who has been part of my success story, I am indeed grateful and pray that we all live to witness the year 2025.

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PS: I couldn't get the picture of my friend's food and the one we cooked as a neighbor, I could only get this one here because that is the only food available at the moment of writing this post.