Happy New Year to everyone. Hope your Christmas was joyous. The older Tom and I get, the quieter our Christmases get. Well, at least early in the day. We sleep in (no little ones to wake us). Tom walks the cross down one of our main thoroughfares, stopping as people come up for prayer. What a joy to pray for people on this special day. Back at home, I let the hens out for some early morning exercise and whatever they can find to eat. Its quiet, overcast, and a little damp. A perfect Christmas morning. Back inside, I walk around our home, turning on Christmas lights, enjoying a nice hot cup of coffee and the silence. I make my list of what needs to go into the oven when, line up the bowls, pots and pans, boxes (yes, my au gratin potatoes come from a box, Betty Crocker does a fine job), set the table with the red table cloth we've used for 20 years. I remember to put my santa candles over the grease stain. Christmas tree dishes, green napkins and gold flatware finish off the table. Check. Make sure all the presents are wrapped, I found one two weeks after Christmas last year. Just enough time to shower and dress before Tom gets home. Many people stopped him, a man who was heartbroken with his pet in the hospital, others with family troubles. Prayers for all, God bless them. Ham goes in. Oops, don't forget to call the chickens back into the coops so the dog can go out. It does my ego good when I go outside and the hens come a running."Whatcha got" is their cry. Crumble for everyone. One pullet goes into the wrong coop, but everyone is so hungry they don't even notice the new face at the trough. I grab her up and put her in her coop with her two friends. Hopefully in the new year we'll be able to combine the coops to make one big run. We'll see. Time for the family to arrive. Two daughters, a son in law and a granddaughter around our table. Two sons, a daughter in law and four grandchildren couldn't make it. We talk on speakerphone so it feels like they are here. After lunch a rest before heading over to brother's house for second round of food. There are many more people there and lots of laughter crosses the table. Present time is a mad house. Its a miracle itself the everyone gets their own presents. Yes, we can tell we're getting older. We head home at a decent 8pm but all the younger cousins are staying for Guitar Hero. Back to peace and quiet, Christmas lights a glow. Another beautiful Christmas.
At the end of this week, New Years. A big party night filled with food, games, and laughter. Ending with fireworks, trumpets and this year thanks to my husband, an air horn. Welcome 2010.