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!

Last Sunday of 2012

Heard a good sermon for the end of the year this morning, the last from our interim preacher, John Russell. It challenged us to look forward to Heaven instead of thinking that the joy and security of this world is better than all we'll experience, and all we won't experience, there. A couple of unrelated quotes I jotted down:

"While we all live under the same sky, we don't all have the same horizon."
Konrad Adenhauer
"I talked to a person who said, 'I wouldn't go to that church; it's just too big.'
"'Well, you'll be miserable in Heaven,' I said. 'Because that's going to be a multitude you can't count.'"

Ate lunch at Mimi's (had a gift card), and then I dropped Evelyn off at DSW Shoe Outlet while I stopped by my office to photocopy a flyer to send to prospects for our tour/cruise next summer.  This afternoon I made a list of folks who have expressed interest but haven't committed. Had an email from one of those who decided just today to join us. I have the letters ready to mail tomorrow.

Went to the grocery and got stuff for tomorrow and the rest of the week.  Enjoyed grilled cheese and TV in the evening. Jen and Matt and the kids are due back in from their visits in Indiana before bedtime tonight.

Snowy Morning, Shopping Afternoon, Showy Evening

I was up at 7:00 to see if it was snowing and how much it snowed overnight. It was. And it had--about 2 inches.
Matt was planning to leave for Indiana with the kids at about 8:00, so I got dressed and shoveled the driveway and put down a little ice melter so they wouldn't have to get out in a mess.
After they left, the three of us (Jen, Evelyn, and I) relaxed and ate some Christmas carbs. Then I took Evelyn's car for an oil change, because Jen drove it to Indiana this afternoon.
Once the sun was up and shining, we could see that the wet snow and the still air combined to make every scene outside look like a Christmas card.

After showers, the three of us headed to Kenwood for some shopping and lunch. Evelyn and I found a dining room set on sale at Macy's--it's the first new dining room furniture we've had in almost 40 years of marriage. Jen found a winter coat on sale at Macy's too--it was a productive shopping trip!
She left about 4:30 to meet Matt in Greensburg where they're visiting friends and family today and tomorrow.
Evelyn and I grabbed some Christmas leftovers for a quick supper and then drove back to the Kenwood area to see "Argo" at the Kenwood Theater. It's the only theater in town still showing the movie--I'm glad we got to see it. (If you've missed it, this is one movie that will translate well to the TV screen--get the video when it's available sometime in the future.)

Visting, Purchasing, Eating, and Watching

Mildred and Jen have been friends for years, and I get the
impression that one was as glad as the other to see
each other this afternoon.

A good day visiting with the Johnsons. We showed up in the kitchen in our pajamas at different times and finally ate pancakes and bacon together about 11:00. Nina beat me two games out of three at Chinese checkers, and I taught Miles to play Risk on my iPod.
This afternoon Jennifer and Evelyn went to visit Verna Weber's mom, Mildred Holmes, at Mason Christian Village, while the other Johnsons and I went on a mission to spend some of Miles and Nina's gift cards. They came home with armloads of books, courtesy of their Aunt Lisa and Uncle Geoff, and Nina spent a gift card from us at Old Navy. We ran out of time before we could take Miles to Target to spend his gift card there; that's on the list for Monday.

I quickly snapped this picture just before
the lights went out and the play began
this evening.

Nina wore the new top she bought on our outing to the Twin Dragon Chinese restaurant and Playhouse in the Park to see "Christmas Carol." We enjoyed the play; it's an excellent production--the settings, lighting, and sound are as interesting as the performance itself.

Tomorrow Matt and the kids are heading to Indiana in the morning, and Jen is following in the afternoon for an overnight of various family and friends visits there. It's snowing, just in time for them to be on the roads again.
(One thing we won't do in Heaven is make plans around the weather. Come to think of it, I guess we won't make plans at all in Heaven!)

A Quiet Day, a Quick Day

By "quick," I mean the time passed by quickly, even though we weren't that busy. Maybe the fact that we weren't too busy made it all the more surprising when I looked up at the clock and realized another couple of hours had passed.
The Johnsons arrived at about 1 a.m. this morning after having left home yesterday at 9:30 a.m. (and no, there are no time changes involved from their house to ours). They were exhausted after navigating the Pennsylvania Turnpike through a small blizzard, waiting maybe two hours for an accident to be cleared and waiting another hour for the tow truck to pull them out of a ditch after they'd slid on an unexpected patch of ice.
In spite of how tired all of us were, we stood or sat and talked and snacked for another hour before finally turning in about 2:00.
Most of us slept in this morning. (Matt was up before any of us, though, for his morning run.) We nibbled on cinnamon roles and sipped coffee and visited before splitting off from the group to shower and get ready for the day. By the time everyone had finished that, it was almost time for lunch! We enjoyed Christmas ham and cheese ball and then adjourned to game playing (and a phone call from Geoff on his way to his Colorado ski trip after Christmas in Fort Collins) while Jen had a business call at 2:30. Before 4:00 we headed to our outing for the day to Kohl's and Target to pick up some necessities and bargains.

Evelyn took a first look at the
calendar Jen made us featuring
pictures of the Johnsons from this year
to decorate our kitchen next year.

When we came home, Evelyn and I put together dinner, starting with some yummies from the freezer, courtesy of the Aulens who sent us a big box of good things from Omaha Steaks for Christmas. We probably ate dinner after 6:30, maybe it was 7:00. When we looked up and saw it was already 9:00, we knew we had to get busy opening the packages under the tree. Actually we had just a few, except for the grab bag gifts I had bought and wrapped. We had fun choosing, opening, stealing, and admiring the fun little goodies "Santa" had brought us.
The day went quickly. But it was a relaxed day, quiet in many ways. A good way to spend  Christmastime with family.

A Quiet Day, a Long Day

The day hasn't turned out the way we planned--for us or for our family, the Johnsons, whose 10-hour trip to our place is logging in (so far) at maybe 16 hours.
First they lost about three hours waiting for jacknifed tractor trailers to be cleared from the PA Turnpike. Then Jennifer called just before 8:00 to say they had slid off the Interstate into a ditch, just this side of Wheeling. Triple-A promised the tow truck to arrive by 9:20, but then she texted at 8:16 to say the happy tow-er had already arrived. So maybe it'll be 15 hours instead of 16.
Meanwhile we wait.
I've been checking websites for weather reports and highway updates all day. Of course, none of this helped them, and it didn't really help me, either.
We've had maybe 6 inches of snow today. At one point late this morning the snow was falling at the rate of an inch an hour. My pictures don't really capture the spectacle. I'm glad it didn't continue for any more hours than it did!

We had planned to spend half a day or so with our friends the Webers, helping them pack for their move tomorrow (which they've put off till Friday; at last report they're planning to load tomorrow and drive Friday). Verna called before noon and said, "Don't come." I think by late afternoon we might have made it OK, but then I heard about accidents on I-71, and I decided maybe we were smart just to stay put. Roads were passable but several still slushy when I ran to the grocery after 4:00.
Our neighbor, Gary Lavon, brought over his snow blower and cleared our driveway and walk, bless him. I went out two other times to shovel an inch or so of new snow each time. I put down ice melter so it will be clear for the Johnsons--whenever they get here.
We've had a quiet day--Evelyn did some baking. We ate leftovers, yummy leftovers, for lunch and dinner. I wrapped some presents. We're spending the evening watching TV--a rare event; Evelyn's doing some ironing and I'm reading through some old newspapers while we watch. . . . And wait.

A Little Different, a Lot Nice

A nice Christmas--different, when I come to think about it--than any Christmas I can remember.
Evelyn and I were alone today, except for our fun dinner with all the Webers who were at our place from about 2:00 till maybe 5:30.
We had a nice, relaxed morning and spent a lot of the time getting ready for dinner. We had Honeybaked Ham, cheesy potatoes, fresh green beans, and applesauce Jello. Verna brought a tasty beverage for us to enjoy with our cheese ball and crackers, and Jocelyn brought wonderful Christmas cookies to add to ours  and the Graeter's ice cream we had for dessert. It was a respite from packing for them; they're still planning to load and move on Thursday. And if the snow will allow, we plan to go help them pack tomorrow afternoon.

Mildred Holmes, "Oma," had a pretty smile
while Nora and Ruby wiggled for my snapshot
just before they left this evening.

They're predicting 4+ inches for Butler County tomorrow, preceded by freezing rain, so we're hoping it's not as bad as they're expecting so we can get to Price Hill to help a little. Jen and Matt and the kids are planning to make the trek from Pennsylvania here tomorrow, and I'm nervous about the bad weather they may be facing.
After Webers left this evening, I got on line and bought tickets for the 7:00 showing of Les Miserables at the Rave. We got there by about 6:20 and waited in line behind 50 or 75 people till the theater was cleaned from the previous showing. We had great seats, high in the theater, right in the center of the row, for the best movie experience I can remember in a long time.
A hoard of my Facebook friends went to see the movie today. One of them said he started crying when it started and cried through the whole thing. He would have had good company with the young girl sitting beside me who sniffed and wiped her eyes intermittently throughout the film.
I was surprised to find myself moved to tears more than once during the musical. It was compelling, not so much because of the familiar music but more because of the remarkable portrayals, especially by Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman. Kudos should also go to Eddie Redmayne, Helena Bonham Carter, and Sacha Baron Cohen. Of the major players, I was least impressed with Russell Crowe, but he was sufficiently evil enough to make us want him to lose.
Evelyn and I came home and snacked on dinner leftovers, checked Facebook, and watched the threatening weather reports on the TV news to end the day.
It was a good Christmas, like I said, just a little different than most Christmases we can remember.