New Year Blog Hop!

Good morning my friends!

It's currently almost 3 am and here I am sitting in front of my laptop while listening to Greensleeves and wondering what New Year memory to share with you.

But first, let me remind you what you can win in this cool Blog Hop! Everyone that participates gets into the draw for:
A 1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire
A 2nd Prize (to a second winner): an $80 Amazon GC

And, to everyone that leaves a comment here on my blog I'll be picking out a name to give them a copy of my Christmas novella "The Uncertain List".

Tristan's job is to investigate those people on Santa's Uncertain List and determine whether they're truly Naughty or Nice. His last mission of the year is Amy, a sweet girl with a kinky streak that will make his job harder than expected.

• Available at:
  
  
  • Silver Publishing
  • Amazon.com
  • Amazon.co.uk
  • All Romance Ebooks
  • Barnes & Noble

So anyways, New Year memory...The honest truth? My New Years have all been pretty dull... Basically, what we do at my house is have dinner, set out the bottle of champagne or cider, prepare 12 grapes (one for each gong) and sit in front of the TV to wait. When the clock strikes 12 we eat the grapes and then we cheer and drink. After that, it's bed time or internet time. I've been out on New Year's twice and by 4am I was falling asleep on my feet and annoyed by the amount of drunk people that hunkered in every corner. I'm not a crowds person.

Anyhow, back to grapes. Tradition says that if you manage to eat all 12 grapes it means good luck... if you don't, well, no harm done. This year I didn't manage to eat even half of them. I began stuffing my mouth with grapes as soon as the clock started to strike midnight and my dearest mother found my face comical and had a laughing fit which she passed on to me. I ended up dribbling grape juice down my chin and spitting some of it out. What a way to start the year... LOL

Okay, so not the greatest memory, huh? hehehe. Oh, I know! I'm going to tell you about what I did the day previous to New Year. It's not an old time memory yet because it happened on Friday the 30th, but I will remember it in the future because it was something different.

You see, I went to the New Years try outs! Yep, just like it sounds, try outs. On the 30th of December, at Plaza Sol, in Madrid, where the clock stands, people reunite with their drinks, their party hats and their sweets or grapes (although it is rumored that having them before the 31st brings bad luck).

The blurry picture I took of Sol. That round sphere at the top, way, way at the back is the clock.

When the clock strikes twelve, they lower the ball and the clock gongs. Everyone eats their stuff and drinks and celebrates.

In the company of a close friend, another friend and other acquaintances we had cider and gummy bears to celebrate the start of the pretend New Year. Suffice to say, I couldn't stuff more than 2 gummy bears in my mouth. We didn't hear the gongs because there were loads of people and we were really far away from the clock, but it was a lot of fun!

Okay, so I've babbled enough. Leave a comment and visit the other blogs for a chance to win prizes!