Goodbye to my Douglas Adams Year!

On Jan 1, 1971, at 12:16am, I came into the world. So for the past year, I was 42 years old. And I often wondered, in a solipsistic way, maybe Douglas Adams’ question is something along the lines of “What age will Trina be when she …?” “How old will Trina be when …” (put in your own humorous or not-so-humorous fill-ins for the blanks). With, of course, the answer being 42. But since the universe does NOT revolve around me (I was 99.9999% sure this was the case), I got through the year with nothing untoward happening.

So anyhoo, we’ve been having a fabulous time with Amy in town. Mom and I had Baking Day on Christmas and dad worked on his Christmas toy for family members (a gragger – nice and loud and fun). Thursday (Boxing Day) I wrapped presents. Friday was the busiest day of my time off.

I started Friday morning with a doctor’s appointment. (I’m quite healthy – whee! – and 19lbs lighter than my last appt.) Then I headed off to mom & dad’s for the family gatherings. We first went to Uncle Bob’s (mom’s side) at Indian Lake. It was good to see my cousin (currently living in Texas) and her girls again. Hadn’t seen her oldest in a couple of years. We had a lovely afternoon of food and fellowship.

We then headed back home to refill on cookies and then headed off to Aunt Becky’s (dad’s side). There was even more food and fellowship there (and I was surprised that I was hungry after the Anderson gathering). We left from there to go pick up Amy at the airport.

Amy’s flight got in early, but they had some tarmac wait time. Still, we were hugging her around the time of the original arrival time. Yay! Once home we chatted for awhile before finally getting to bed.

Saturday morning was our “Christmas.” We had Egg McMikey sammiches (dad’s specialty) and opened our stockings. Then present opening occurred. We know how to do present opening! It was after noon before we finished. Heh. Lunch was hamburgers and mac&cheese.

We took a walk that afternoon since it was going to be the warmest day Amy was in town. Since it wasn’t really Christmas, Mojo’s (a local bar) was our destination. We had drinks and snacks and then tottled back home.

Sunday included lunch at Harrison’s in Tipp City with friends (we wanted to show off Amy) and then some resting and relaxing. Monday included a shopping trip to Kohl’s where I got a new watch band and a WeightWatchers approved scale for under $5 (yay Kohl’s Bucks!)

Yesterday (New Years’ Eve) I popped home to check on the kitties and then mom, Amy, and I went to the Y for a Zumba Gold class and a line dancing class. We were the only folks who showed up, so we claim that we were the best students that day. 🙂

Our evening plan was to go to The Filling Station for NYE along with mom’s BFF Debbie and her hubby, Ben. When we got there around 6:30, they asked if we had reservations. Mom had TRIED to get reservations earlier in the week but they claimed then they weren’t taking reservations since they were having a live band. Thankfully, since we didn’t want to sit on the side of the bar where the band was, they had room for us. All but dad ordered the prime rib special (which wasn’t all that special) and dad had fried shrimp.

Mom, Deb, Amy and I played games (Pass the Pig, Zombie Dice, Euchre) while we waited for 2014 to show up. Part of the cover charge fee paid for party favors and champagne. They were running out of favors when they got to us, and the champagne may not have even had grapes, let alone alcohol. Still, we graggered the new year in once midnight hit.

We returned home around 1am and then mom and I prepared for breakfast: Eggnog French Toast.

Today was my birthday (no, duh!) so we started off with a great breakfast of eggnog french toast and bacon. Mmmm! Then I got to watch my parade. Love those folks in Pasadena – they always give me a parade. Lunch was pork and kraut and mashed potatoes and apple sauce. My cousin, Patty, joined us for lunch. We then had cookies and conversation. Uncle Doug and Aunt Charlene joined us after awhile and we continued eating and chatting.

Now I’m typing this up and looking over at my birthday presents. Whee! I think we’ll get to those soon enough!

Happy New Year to all of you! May 2014 be a great year for you!

Giving Thanks

I try to give thanks for my privileged life every day, but it’s nice to have times like organized holidays to guarantee that I do it at least once a year. (Grief, I hope I’ve done it more than once a year!) Indeed, holidays are great for pausing for a moment to note the passing of time. If we didn’t have such moments, life would go by in such a blur we wouldn’t get to enjoy it as much. At least, that’s my humble opinion.

I am thankful for my loving family (mom, dad, Amy, Rachel, and Leo, and the extended family too). I am thankful for my kind & generous friends (elsaf, judiang, and so many of you out there I’d probably forget someone if I tried to list you all). I am thankful for my health and my wealth. I am thankful for the roof over my head and all the stuff under it. I am thankful for a job I love and students & coworkers who are a joy to work with. I am thankful for the freedoms that I have. I am thankful to be single & comfortable with that. I am thankful for the ability to travel when I want and where I want. I am thankful for the beautiful town that I live in, and for the beautiful planet that I live on. I am thankful that people are basically good. I am thankful for much more than I have the ability (or patience?) to write. I live a good life with good people and I hope to celebrate many, many more Thanksgivings.

I’ve been working on my Christmas MP3 collection and am, thankfully, finished. So now I get to listen to the music. Hopefully I shan’t have to do this again for some time. I watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade today, and having seen Santa Claus, it’s now OK if I listen to Christmas music. (OK, I admit that some years I start before Thanksgiving. I was good this year.)

In fifteen minutes or so, the folks & I are off to my cousin’s for the Short Family Thanksgiving. I shall do my best to avoid stuffing myself like a turkey. And I shall endeavor to be thankful for the bountiful meal that we will be having. And thankful for the family that I’ll be celebrating with.

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who are celebrating!