Time to begin the New Year. Happy New Year, one and all!
Paul and I were not interested in going out last night, but we did watch a good movie on Netflix, after a steak dinner, and watched the ball fall at Times Square. We're always so glad NOT to be there. I understand there were a million people. So. . . I've watched the Rose Bowl parade today. Read the New Year's newspaper. I'm expecting to undecorated the house some time today.
I slept in this morning and awoke to the smell of cooked bacon and eggs. Paul was making a delicious breakfast! I am so lucky to have such a thoughtful husband. It was so late that we skipped lunch. I have a pork roast dinner for us marinating in the fridge.
Paul just turned off the air-conditioning and we opened up the windows. It is 70 degrees outside. Time to let in the outside air. We just began taking down the Christmas decorations and it seems warm now because we're moving around. So, we'll close things up. It was a warmer Christmas than usual for Florida. Even Gainesville, which is usually a lot cooler than here, was not.
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In my last post, as a Christmas gift to you all, I sent out my yearly quotes from my 2014 journal. I had wished for some sort of response from some of you. It didn't happen. I did hear from one person, but that was all. Thank you Carolyn. I appreciated it. That plus a nice note from Barbara on her Christmas card saying she still reads my blog, made me feel good too. It would be nice if I knew for sure others read it too. I prefer to think you read it, and if you feel funny responding, that's okay. I write because I like to write. I don't write for a response. (But it would be nice.)
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That's enough grumpiness!
We had a very nice first Christmas up in Gainesville with Greg and his family. We arrived on Wednesday, Christmas Eve and left on Saturday. Brenda, Emma and Eric flew in from California. The lighting outside their house looked perfectly beautiful and the inside was very tastefully decorated. You could see they put a lot of effort into it. Delicious dinners, (and thoughtfully, gluten free items for me.) It was fun playing card games, scrabble, having coffee and conversation. Also wine and conversation!
We stayed at a motel nearby so that Brenda and Eric could use their guest room. And cousins, siblings could see the most of each other. And Paul and I had some alone time.
Gracie and Gus are getting along better. They're growing up and are more tolerant of each other. Gus is protective of his territory. They got lots of toys. BTW - I think we took some of Gus's toys home with us by mistake, but we'll put them aside for the next time we see him. Thank you one and all for all our gifts.
Bill came for dinner at our house on Sunday. The roasted chicken was big enough that he had leftovers to take home, and we had another meal out of it also! He didn't go with us to Gainesville, so we exchanged gifts with him then.
We had a chance to Skype with Nancy, Vincent (8) and Evie (4). Walter was napping. It was nice that Bill had a chance to talk with them. What a blessing that was! Evie and Vincent are so good on Skype because they began doing it when they were toddlers with Scott and Jane, their other grandparents. Thank you Scott and Jane!
They had a wonderful time in Cancun with Scott, Jane and Dan's siblings, spouses and significant others. There was quite a crew! The Facebook pictures turned out great.
When we were talking on Skype, we could see in the background a tent-castle that Evie's Uncle Robbie got her for Christmas. All three children can fit inside it at once. Evie was very proud of that tent and decorated the outside of it with some new books she'd gotten for Christmas. When asked why she did that, she said she was putting them in order. She didn't elaborate.
I heard from my good friend Marty (short for Martha) when we got back from Gainesville before New Years. Marty and I grew up together on Long Island, went to the same school, so she's like family. We had a good long chat. She said in December, they sold their weekend home in South Hampton, on Long Island, for over a million dollars. Marty said Kevin's parents bought it for 60K in the 60's. That's quite a tidy profit, I'd say. Don't you wish you had a crystal ball then. Oh. my.
What a strange day it seems to be. It seems like a Sunday, not Thursday. We've had cloudy weather for the past couple of days. Very unusual for the sunshine state. Got a telephone call from Carol O. She's looking forward to being down here again. She can't wait! We can't wait to see her too.
Time for a cup of coffee and a kindle/time - reading one of the books I have downloaded using a gift certificate from my daughter. I think the greatest gift someone can give me is an amazon.com card. I have already bought some things for myself and I have a booklist that I can now put a dent in!
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