Happy New Year

    This post has been a long time in the writing. I had a really hard time since the last time, deciding what to tell you about. Christmas was nice this year, with the new baby and all. We have our family gathering after the holiday, due to the many sub-branches wishing to celebrate with their own families.


    This year, we had dinner out on Saturday the 28th. It went swimmingly, even though my older son, his wife and two kids were unable to attend due to the kids being sick. They didn't want to endanger the baby or my mother. The dinner and gift exchange afterwards at son Jesse's house went better than I had hoped. 


    Everyone loved seeing the new baby, and my nephew Christopher really seemed enamored of him. He really is a sweet kid.

 

    And then New Years Eve came along. It just so happened that I was in the grocery store and found loose chestnuts in the produce section. I had been buying the ones in foil bags until I discovered that they are a product of China. And that is a bad thing. So I had vowed to not buy any more of those bags.


   So I was delighted to find the ones in the produce section! I scooped up about a pound of the little buggers and took them home, vowing to look up on the internet how to roast them myself.


    I was successful, finding two slightly different methods. I tried one last night, and it worked. The chestnuts were even better than the ones from China. Next time, I'll try the other method which steams them a little first before roasting. Supposedly it loosens the shell and skin, and makes it easier to remove them.


    Hubs helped me shell the hot nuts. They were very tasty indeed! Kudos to Hubs for helping, since he doesn't even like chestnuts! Unfortunately, we both fell asleep before the ball dropped at 12. We had been watching the Walking Dead marathon nearly all day. We only stopped at 10 pm to watch The Big Bang Theory. It was really fun to watch the first two seasons again.


    Here's hoping we all have a happy and healthy new year! With the "Big Storm" that's heading our way, I hope all the people I care about stay safe. Love to all!


    P.S. I have made some progress on my crocheted leg warmers, the first one is getting quite wide! I try to do at least two rows a day. So far, so good....

A light in the darkness OR I am not crazy

    A few months ago, we exchanged our cable boxes, for free, and upgraded to the newest version. Right away, I noticed a problem with the one in our bedroom. You see, the new boxes have a blue strip that lights up when the box is on.


    Very quickly I noticed that at night, the light that the strip throws off is very bright. So I started turning the cable box off when I turned off the TV. No problem, right? Well, Hubs had a problem with it. He teased me unmercifully about it, even telling his friends that I had gone loony, perhaps because of the change-of-life insanity? It was sort of implied.


    Well, this morning, I finally got to show him. We were both awake about 5 am, and I happened to remember about the cable box light. So I mentioned it to him, and turned the box on. That light is so bright, you could do a puppet show on the wall! And he finally got to see it for himself. He agreed it was bright, but of course, had something snarky to say. That's why I love him, he makes me laugh, he always has.


    So perhaps he will lighten up on the teasing? Now I just have to work on not falling asleep with the TV on. I sleep closer to it than he does, and sometimes it feel like the sun on my back when I'm trying to get to sleep. Actually, there's been progress on that front too. The last week or so, we've actually turned the TV off before going to sleep.


    But I'd grown so used to it, it's difficult. When Hubs worked nights, the TV kept me company the nights he was gone. It was like a friend, as well as a night light. But now things have changed. It seems that life is always changing...


    And HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone! It already is 2013 in some places, we still have nearly 15 hours.