New Year's Eve

So, how was your Christmas? Ours turned out to be great, of course. Alyssa, Kit, Karl and Alissa came home on Christmas Eve. Ned had to work on Christmas Eve, and since he is the grill master around here, we decided to change the menu to allow him some time to relax, too. Rather than the steak, as planned, we decided on the spiral cut ham, which had been scheduled to appear on Christmas Day. Still a pretty easy meal with horseradish mashed potatoes, carrots Provence and maple glazed brussel sprouts. Easy that is, if you have electricity to power your electric appliances.

The guys greatly appreciated the fact that Santa sent an assortment of beers before the the main event and headed out to the shack for some manly merriment, while we women manned the home front. The power flickered a couple of times while we were watching Julie and Julia and enjoying the peace afforded by the shack. Then the power failed. We sat by candlelight for about 20 minutes before calling attention to the fact that while the men sat in their toasty power-generated coziness, the house was without such basics as the means to cook their Christmas Eve dinner. That's right, we used a cell phone to call one of their cell phones to get them to notice our plight. (Without electricity, we have no land line service, no water, and no heat; even though we have a wood furnace, we still depend on electricity to power the blower in the house.) Another 10 minutes or so and we were back to very bright surroundings with the tractor purring in the background after Paul hooked up the generator to keep us going. A few minutes of the refrigerator running very loudly and the microwave groaning sent him back outside to adjust the power and we were back in business. The power remained out for a couple of hours, but that didn't interfere with either our tractor-generated dinner or merriment. It seems the microwave has not yet recovered as the clock runs at a pace all its own, but everything and everyone else survived unscathed.

Through it all, the weather was terrible. After the snow came rain, then sleet, then snow and then rain again. The snow cover was glazed in ice reminiscent of the year we spent Christmas at the Glen when Uncle Greg gave each of the kids a snow tube. All the kids went sledding in front of the cabin with the little kids flying across the ice-crusted snow and the big kids (ours) crashing through the ice layer so that they all looked like they had flown through the windshield the next day.

We were smart not to have traveled away from home. In addition to knocking down the power lines, the ice brought down some of our fences. We would have been very upset to return home from a jolly Christmas to find that our cattle had all gone on their own merry way. In the end, it all worked out for the best.

Paul and I headed to Racine on Saturday afternoon. We spent a great evening at Mom's with my Racine siblings and nieces and nephews. And I was right. Being with them does do me a world of good. And, of course, the kids are so much fun. A game of bend-the-rules-my-way Scrabble had Katy heads above the rest in score and time. (French, Katy?) No, I didn't play. But I did enjoy the Apple Pie and Pizza. Yum. Ned's homemade hooch was a big hit; it was especially enjoyable to see his 'shine served up in Waterford crystal. How much more festive can you get? (Apple Pie is a homemade liquid refreshment involving apple cider, brandy, Ever Clear, cranberry juice, cinnamon sticks and a touch of maple syrup. It is simply delish!)

And now it's New Year's Eve. Evan will be coming home from Minneapolis today after yesterday afternoon's check up. He's going just once a week lately; he appreciates the reduced appointments on many levels. It's less driving, less expense and less time focusing on medical issues. Although he's lost weight, he looks great and could even use a shave. A good sign for the New Year. By my count, he's on Day 76, give or take a day. Day 100 is the next milestone. That is when his "permissions" will be evaluated again to see about mingling with the public and children and life in general. He's been pretty content to spend his time with his dogs and just plain healing. Even so, it's clear that he looks forward to normal. So, on Day 76 and counting, I'm wishing Evan and all of us and all of you a Normal New Year!