Happy New Year!

We were up last night till after 1:00 this morning, and I didn't muster the energy to blog before I went to bed. We had Terry and Shirley Wuske for dinner. Evelyn made chicken parmigiana with green beans, tossed salad, and spaghetti (of course!). We had Graeter's ice cream and Christmas cookies and other confections for dessert and cheeseball and dip and crackers, with hot Christmas punch, for appetizer. It was a fun evening. We played a new version of "Buzzword" that Jennifer had brought and a new game Robb Faust had recommended to me, "What's Yours Like?" Then we reconvened downstairs in front of the TV to watch the ball drop and toast in the new year.

Earlier in the day, Nina and Jen painted their toes to welcome 2013. And then Jennifer and Nina (with a little help from Miles) decorated sugar cookies, trying out the new Ninja cookie cutters Jen gave Miles for Christmas.

Matt and Miles and I made a Target run for Miles to spend a Christmas gift card. And Matt, Miles, Nina, and I played a couple games of "Sequence" before I helped Evelyn get things ready for dinner.
This morning we were up at 8:00 to see off the Johnsons for their long trip home. They got away about 9:15, and Jen texted about 7:45 this evening to say they were home. Thankfully, this was an uneventful trip, unlike the journey here!
The house was quiet and empty--full of Christmas decorations, but no more Christmas. Before long, Evelyn and I started picking up, packing up, and putting away all the Christmas decorations. I ran to the store after lunch and then took down the tree this afternoon. We always leave a few of the Christmas things out till maybe February--those that look wintery without saying Santa Claus or Jingle Bells.
I'm almost ready, mentally, to jump back into the workaday routine. Our long Christmas vacation seems this evening to have been so short. But it's full of memories.
For supper we had sauerkraut and "gourmet hot dogs" from the wonderful Omaha Steaks package Ken and Susan sent us for Christmas. They say pork and sauerkraut is good luck for the new year. I said some prayers about the challenging year ahead as I was driving alone this afternoon. Lots of possibilities. Lots of challenges.
Several days ago Jennifer posted a quote I've been thinking about as the year is beginning:
"The measure of success isn't whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it's the same one you had last year." -John Dulles
Here's a challenge to me: When you're reading this blog post at the beginning of 2014, will you still be fretting about the problems that faced you at the beginning of 2013? Now's the time to deal with those problems--so I'll be experienced and able to tackle all the NEW problems of that year!