Sluggish Is The Word of The Day...

Mondays are decidedly not famous for being a favorite day of the week and this one is no exception. Indeed, the Monday after New Year's Day is probably the very least favorite day not only of the week but of the entire year! LOL  For most of us it means getting back on our sleep schedules, getting back into our morning routines, getting back into our work mode and the best part - getting back home when the workday is done.

I'm right there with you! I'm so used to being home that it feels almost impossible to get my mind on the business of work. Some of the folks here are talking about their holidays, one guy is a new grandpa, others are already on conference calls and getting settled back into the daily grind. Me? Well, I'm just anxiously awaiting lunchtime... I did get through all of my email and that was a chore!

I didn't get fully into my morning routine so I don't have my lunch packed for today. I'll likely go over to the Kroger grocery store and make a big salad. They usually have two different kinds of soup to choose from and I'm seriously in the mood for soup! I made some refrigerator soup while Mom and Neccy were still here and it was gosh-darn yummy if I do say so myself. Since it was so good, it is also so very much gone...Kroger will have to do for today. 

We had Jay and Teri up from Georgia to spend the New Year's Eve holiday with us. They arrived Friday evening and we had our own little celebration of ringing in the New Year. I think I was in bed shortly after the clock struck 12am... hey - that was good for me! Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling my usual chipper self on Saturday and I ended up going back to bed before dark. It wasn't really fair for me to get the hangover when it was the guys who partied like rock stars but that's the way it went.

I was very lucky to have Teri in the house. She made us the most wonderful pot of seafood stew from a recipe handed down from her grandmother. Oh what a wonderful pot that was! With sauteed onions and bacon, with scallops and shrimp, with bites of cod fish and lump crab meat all simmering in a creamy broth seasoned with thyme, we simply couldn't have been more spoiled.

This was the Maine version of bringing in the New Year as opposed to black eyed peas and collard greens. Sure the peas were available too but they didn't hold a candle to this nourishing, warming, steaming pot of goodness. While the others enjoyed their bowls of soup on New Year's Day, I had mine the next morning. It was every bit as good and I hope when I try to make it that I can pull it off successfully. Even more so, I hope that you are here to enjoy it with us! :)

My plan was to get all the Christmas stuff packed up and stored away until next year but we ended up doing all our running around on Thursday and Friday so absolutely nothing got packed up.... Surprised? No, me either...How about you? Did you get your stuff taken down and packed up? hmmmm don't lie :)  ha ha ha

I know I still had a couple days to tell you about on my Christmas posting so I'll try to get you up to speed. Indeed, we had to say our goodbyes to Jack and the kids somewhat earlier on Sunday than we originally planned. What with the bad weather headed toward Atlanta Jack decided to get a head start on things. What a chaotic time it was with the kids all trying to pack, Neccy making sure they had everything, me making them lunch before they left and Jack trying to organize all their stuff in the truck. How quiet the cabin became immediately upon their departure...:(

Monday morning Wally went to Centerville to pick up some auto parts and I took Mom and Neccy to Dickson to pick up a prescription. While we were out, I took them through the Dunkin Donuts drive through so they could get some coffee and Mom had a donut. Who knew there were so many options for donut choices??? She ordered a cream filled donut. Well, there are several types of cream to choose from...she was asked if she wanted it covered in chocolate or not...of course she wanted the chocolate. Finally we were back on the road. Neccy decided that the Dunkin Donuts coffee was the absolute best in the whole wide world...lol I wouldn't know :)

After much deliberation on the whereabouts of the Dickson Food Lion, we finally got on the right street and I got us there. I've only been to this one a couple times and both times Wally drove so I wasn't really sure where it was at first. Of course Neccy and Mom both knew that if it was Neccy living here, she would know where every store was within 50 miles of home...not me. I could care less. She wanted me to stop everywhere along the way so she could shop. Well, that didn't happen. I got what I needed from Food Lion, stopped at the Pilot station to fill up with fuel and we were headed back to the cabin in no time. lol

I made a big pot of spaghetti when we got there so all thoughts of shopping were out of her head :) Mom sat up on the bar stool while I cooked and Neccy figured out how to upload the pictures from the camera to my work computer. In the picture of me by myself, you'll see Mom's chin resting on the bar...it's a pretty tall bar since it was built Wally Big so it's not unusual for us short people to rest a chin on it... lots of pictures turn out that way... ha ha ha!

The finale' of my cooking was a big batch of my macaroni salad. I know we had just consumed a pot of spaghetti but the trip just wouldn't have been the same without the mac salad. I'm just sorry Jack missed out on it. I'll have to figure out a way to ship it down...and get it to him before Neccy gets to it first... lol!!

They did rave about the spaghetti but really it wasn't anything special to me. I knew they liked it when they both had seconds... they were so engrossed in gobbling it up that they didn't even realize I had eaten a bowl of it myself. Neither of them noticed! I had to swear that I had some before they would believe me... So we cleaned up the kitchen (seems that happens a lot around here) and I went to watch a movie with Wally over in the hot tub room while they watched a different movie in the living room. It was a relaxing day and an even more relaxing evening. I folded some clothes while the movie was on and the dryer sent the heat up into our room just in time for us to get ready for bed. What happens when you have a full belly and you lay down to watch tv????? Yep, you guessed it - we crashed out!  lol

I was a big old sleepy head that next morning but I was still up before dawn. I think it was 6:30ish when I made my way down stairs and started hustling everyone to get ready to go. I wanted to take Mom and Neccy to the Diner for breakfast and then on the tour through Centerville before dropping them at the airport. I made breakfast for Wally and then helped get them packed and all their stuff loaded in the car. It's no fun to leave here but the promise of the Diner really got them moving - might have had something to do with the crapping out of the coffee maker but regardless, they were in high gear!

Now the Diner is nothing fancy by any means but they have some really good food. Mom had eggs, bacon, hash browns, biscuits and gravy...yeah, that's a lot of food! Neccy and I both had a cheeseburger (yum!!) and french fries...yeah, we had them for breakfast and they were well worth it! Before too long we were all full so we thanked Rita for the wonderful food, tipped her very well and we were on our way.

I showed them the library and the little auto parts store and then it was nothing but open highway as we drove towards Centerville. We passed by Fred's and the McDonald's, we passed by Save-A-Lot and Rite-Aid and then we came to where I picked up my CSA basket all summer long. From there we were in the Centerville town square where I showed them Prince Hardware and Snappy's Pizza and I showed them where we go to see and hear The Grinder Switch Hour. Neccy wanted to stop and shop but we were on a time limit since they did have airline tickets that would soon be returning them to Florida. 

We left the town square and drove out to Hwy. 50 where I showed them a WiFi hot spot and then on to see where Pee Wee's Place was. Darryl happened to be standing outside so we beeped the horn and waved him goodbye :) At that point it was Neccy's job to count the traffic lights and Mom's job to count the cars that passed us by as we drove the 20-25 miles towards home. Mom counted one. I can't tell you how many traffic lights Neccy counted...you'll have to come count them yourself :)

I wanted to show them my route to work, Hwy. 100, Fairview and Brentwood but we had spent all our spare time at the Diner so we were off to the airport. I know they didn't want to miss their flights and even though they were welcome to stay as long as they wanted, I didn't want them to miss their flights either... it's just such a messy situation when that happens. So I got them to the airport with time to spare, the line was short and Neccy was right up front before I could even get Mom all the way out of the car. We unloaded their bags, hugged goodbye and they were on their way. I was on my way too...

Yes I miss them all. Yes it was a wonderful visit. Yes I'm ready to see them again and yes, I was ready to be home with Wally and the dogs and the pups and the roosters and the horses...:)  it's just that way you know?

We were ready for some downtime, some alone time, some quiet time. We were ready to just be back to ourselves. Going from two people to eight people is everything you would expect; fun, crazy, chaotic, noisy, busy, rushed, thoroughly enjoyed. Going back to two people from eight people - well, that's everything you would expect too... and then some :) We had a light dinner, watched our usual tv shows, listened as the night fell and the animals quieted down. It wasn't long before we hit the hay and were sleeping soundly just like the roosters up in the trees, just like the puppies under the front porch and just like the big dogs on the back porch. It felt right.

Then I had to come back to work on Wednesday of last week and you're all up on the Christmas events. I may remember things as days go by and add them in but for now that about sums it up.

The puppies have grown at least half as big as they were when we got them. I took some pictures over the weekend that I'll be up/down loading in the next day or so. We went to the fresh-meat-getting place on Sunday and I loaded up on ground beef, bacon (finally!) and tenderized tenderloin. We brought back a bunch of bones for the dogs and the puppies and unbeknown to us, the roosters! Wally gave each of the big dogs a bone and then he gave one to Colt. Colt tried to drag that big old bone up under the porch but before he could Ruger came and took it away. We threw another one out for Colt but he was following Ruger and didn't see it. Ruger did drag the bone under the porch and so instead of each having a bone, they shared one and the roosters pecked away at the other one. I never saw such a thing! One of the roosters actually got such a good grip on it that he lifted it off the ground. This was no small bone!

I tried to get a picture of that but I'm not sure it come out. We'll see tomorrow. Who knew roosters were carnivores? LOL These were fresh raw pork bones... gosh there's always something to amaze me :)

Teri made good friends with the puppies and they are starting to come around and let us pet them without so much hesitation. This morning they climbed up on the front porch and let me pet them before running around to the back porch to see if all the other animals were awake. Of course the roosters were crowing their heads off up in their trees but the old dogs were still sleeping. When I came out the back door to leave for work at 10 minutes to 5, those little guys just started barking like crazy and running and jumping all around my feet. I stopped and told them what good boys they were but I wasn't out there long - it was 19 degrees...hello?

The roosters have tired of their antics and now fly up on the hitching post to avoid being herded! It's so funny because the little guys will just lay down right under them, patiently awaiting the time when the roosters come back down. Eventually they have to come back down! ha ha ha  When we woke up Sunday morning they were all lined up - even Roo. Like Teri said, it took those puppies to bring all the roosters together...lol! Hey, you know Roo, it didn't last long before he was off to pick up whatever sweet feed the horses missed.

We bought them collars but they won't last long. We bought small when we should have bought medium or large. They only just fit and will have to come off in another week or so. They have started chewing... Wally saw one of them chewing on that big old sawmill blade that leans against the hitching post. He didn't chew long before he caught the sharp side and quit but we know what we're in for... that's why they got those big bones!

They certainly have very different personalities. Colt is playful and friendly and the more curious of the two while Ruger is more standoff-ish and cautious of everyone and everything. He'll come around if you bribe him with food but if you try too hard, he'll just run for cover under the porch and do without. He kind of reminds me of Smokey just a little tiny bit...In all we are quite pleased with their antics and their behaviour. They are the cutest little guys you ever want to meet but if you don't get here soon, they'll be so big you won't recognize them! They bark and yip and run and jump until they make you tired just watching them...even Smith and Wesson are beginning to tolerate them. Somewhat. They still won't sleep in the doghouse with them but the puppies prefer sleeping under the porch so we don't worry about it.

Many thanks go out to Marcia for the pictures of Mikey, the new little black purse and for sending me my old, worn out, little blue jean satchel - I was so excited to see it again and will be changing over the first chance I get. Kat, I know you tried, and I'm sure it was a good effort but to hear Mike tell it, it just wasn't meant to be...

Our thanks go out to Beverly too as I now have some very beautiful, leather gloves that keep my hands so nice and warm on the steering wheel. The soft gray scarf keeps my ears and neck warm when the cold winds blow up around me. Wally's work gloves are perfect and came in handy when we found a place where the barbed wire fence was down. The horses could easily have escaped but the repair was quickly made and the gloves kept Wally's hands safe while he re-tied the barbed wire.

The kids were very thoughtful with their gifts of an "Unofficial Harry Potter" cookbook for me (or was that for me to cook for them???) and a Budweiser bucket with 4 Budweiser glasses all with a different design on them for Wally. Thank you my wonderful children!

Last but not least, we couldn't forget to thank Dizzy Debbie who sent us each an Arizona Harley Davidson tank top and my wonderful little pieces of dark chocolate (they were stashed away in my lunch bag until this morning...he he he). The calendar proudly hangs beside my Great Grandfather's shelf in the living room. Everyday we'll think of her out there in AZ and we'll be hoping to see her soon :)

Happy New Year to all of you who we didn't hear from. I hope you had a good time bringing in 2011. To all you Oriole's, from the sound of the Newsletter, it looks like you have lots in store to keep you busy this upcoming year. Remember everyone, as long as you keep reading, I'll just keep on writing...

This month we celebrate many birthdays, none the least of which is mine but before mine comes Shawna's (please tell her Happy Birthday for me!), my Grandmother's, my humorous nephew, Kain's, my beautiful sister-in-law, Gerry's, my friend Daiana's son Matthew and my friend Sonny with whom I share my own. 

I especially want to recognize and celebrate the shared birthday of mine and Jack's - a most wonderful person that I'm honored to share the day with and simply the greatest guy my sister could ever have landed - Happy Birthday to You Jack. Words don't begin to describe how special you are to me and how important you are in this family.

Here's a birthday thought for the day... 
"Middle age is the time when a man is always thinking that in a week or two he will feel as good as ever." ~Don Marquis