HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year everyone!  Hope this year brings health and happiness to you all.

As you can see from my last post I no longer have my calendar to write from on the first day of the month.  But I found a book in the library with a poem for each month of the year.  So I am doing that this year.  Starting the month with a thought is a good thing to me.  I'm really going to have to think about something to do next year, but at least I have a year to do that!  Maybe I'll find another calendar to use.

Last night Joe and I watched the fireworks from Penn's Landing on TV.  They are always wonderful.  And I feel we get as good a view but without freezing or having to shove through hundreds of people to see.

 
I had so much I wanted to do yesterday, but unfortunately I got sick.  I have felt so bad all day -- fever, nauseous, headache.  It is something that is going around here on the east coast.  At least I am feeling better now, but it has been a rough day.  I felt so bad I actually ended up crying.  Not a good way to start the new year.  I hope that's not a sign that the rest of the year is going to be full of sickness.  I want to think of it as getting all the bad stuff for the year over with on the first day.  Unfortunately after we ate dinner Joe started feeling sick and went to bed.

We were going to go to Walt and Carole's house for dinner.  She was going to prepare all the veggies and I was going to bring the ham and dessert.  Well I guess you know that didn't work out.  We are now aiming for Sunday.  But the 14 lb. ham was already defrosted so I had to cook it.  It took 5 hours to cook.  Then I sliced it down, froze some for another meal, froze the bone to give to my sister for soup (she makes split pea soup with the ham broth, I don't), put some in the meat drawer to make sandwiches later this week, and then have a big ziplock bag to take over for Sunday dinner in the fridge.  It was a BIG ham.

Joe and I ended up having a couple slices of ham, baked potatoes, and spinach for dinner.  I went to 7-11 and got some coke which I've been sipping on all evening.  It started settling my stomach.  I guess I'll be getting Joe some diet coke if he is still sick in the morning.  I hear him snoring away so that is good.

I recorded the Mummer's Parade.  I was just too sick to watch it, but I can't NOT see the Mummers on New Year's.  It's 6 1/2 hours long.  I've watched just the comic divisions in the beginning (about 45 minutes of it).  I will watch some of it each day this week.  My favorite part of the parade is the string bands.  Can't wait to see them, but they are always at the end.

Oh, dem golden slippers.  That is the "theme" song of the Mummers.  Almost all of them wear golden slippers and carry parasols while they do the Mummer's strut.  My dad was a Mummer and he could STRUT!

Philly soft pretzel anyone?

"Uncle Sam" had a tribute to the troops.  It was a nice performance.

    This week I will be undecorating the house from Christmas.  I hate seeing all the decorations going, but it is time.

I will be putting up my snowflakes and snowmen.  I just can't leave things bare after decorating from the beginning of October.  It's too depressing for me.  So blue and white lights and snowflakes make it an ice castle for a few weeks before putting up the hearts and red lights for Valentine's Day.  Pictures coming later.