Happy New Year!

I woke up on New Year’s Day and ate breakfast (for a change). But I couldn’t make myself eat tuna fish. My father always said that, in Germany, if you ate fish the first thing on New Year’s Day it would bring you luck. They have a similar idea down South in the US, where they eat “Hoppin’ John” (a mixture of black-eyed peas, rice and ham hocks) for good luck New Year’s morning. But I went for soft boiled eggs. I think my good luck ran out several years ago…

It had rained overnight but was still 40 degrees F., so all the snow and ice is gone. Good riddance!

I had to leave for my Brother Jim’s house around three for the annual Brother’s party, so I couldn’t really get into any big projects. So, I stripped the bed and started a load of wash. I put my boots on and went out to fill the bird feeder. It wasn’t as warm as yesterday and very windy.

Back inside, I washed the pots and pans from last night’s dinner. Then I went to shave and shower after putting the bedding in the dryer.

I kept my robe on and read, eating two more Clementines and waited for the dryer to stop. When it did, I re-made the bed.

The drive to Jim’s went pretty fast (traffic was light and I was speeding). But, once I got out of the city (say around 14 Mile Road on I-94) the winds were buffeting the car. I arrived about 4:00 PM.

In addition to my Brother Jim and his wife, Coletta, my Brother Carl was there, along with my Brother Joe and his wife Kathy. My sister-in-law Jean (Pete's widow) didn’t make it as she wasn’t feeling well. We waited until almost 5:30 for Luanne and Larry (Jim tried to call her on her cell phone, but only got voicemail). They never showed or called, so finally we gave up and ate.

Dinner was delicious (as always) and consisted of:
- Pork tenderloin in mushroom gravy
- Anna potatoes (very similar to Hasslback potatoes)
- A vegetarian pasta dish (for Luanne)
- Peas with mushrooms
- Coleslaw
- Sweet corn
- And cucumbers in ranch dressing Coletta made

It was served with a good Rose wine. Dessert was ice cream parfaits and a huge tray of fantastic-looking cookies (Sadly, I couldn’t eat either, but they both looked great). With three people missing, there was a TON of leftovers!

Then we all moved to the living room and talked (just like I envisioned when we started the Brother’s party years ago). We talked about old stuff and new stuff, how our kids and grandkids were doing and so forth. They compared the camera's they brought (I didn't even think of it) and took many, many pictures. I hope I don't show up on somebody's Facebook page!

I left a little after 9:00 PM and got home just after 10:00. Driving was bad because of the wind (as I said, it was worse out where Jim lives as there’s not much on the expressway to stop the wind, and not so bad in the city where you are basically in a concrete ditch).

I was wound up from the driving so I couldn’t fall asleep until after midnight.

I hope we all have a happy and healthy New Year!