There are 56 minutes left in the year

We had ravioli and meatballs (made by me) for dinner. Mike got himself a cannoli cake. He offered me some but I had a tin roof sundae instead. That's a sundae with vanilla ice cream, fudge sauce and peanuts.

Later, I made some bacon-wrapped crackers I forgot to make Christmas Eve.

I had 3 of them and gave five or so to Jamie.
I gave most of them to Katherine to have over at her place with her downstairs neighbors. (Who are also our friends!)
No liquor tonight. I probably would have if someone else was here. Mike doesn't really drink, except the occasional beer. And I don't feel like making a cocktail, anyway. It'll be five o'clock many times in the next year, :)!

Some nights, I look up from reading, or whatever show I happen to be caught up in, and realize it's after one in the morning. Other nights I want to be in bed before eleven. Tonight, I'm hoping the fudge sauce on my sundae and an afternoon cup of coffee mean I'll be up at midnight and saying "Happy New Year" to my husband!

New Year's Eve

Today is the last day of 2015. It's been a pretty good year, except for not getting a puppy. We're still looking!

I don't like New Year's very much. It's a big bore to me and sometimes I even sleep past midnight. We might go to Patty and Mark's tonight, but we all agree it probably won't be a long visit.

I do not make resolutions but have already starting tweaking my diet to cut a few calories. I really need to lose weight. Cutting the sugar in my coffee by more than half should help a little. Weight Watcher's helped a few years ago, and I looked great minus 20 pounds. But I gained it all back. I just can't stick to something I have to constantly monitor.

But I learned a few things along the way. One, I will try very hard not to 'drink' my calories. (Except my coffee--step away from the Keurig and nobody gets hurt). Two, I will  up my intake of fruits and vegetables. We had a very nice pineapple/orange/banana salad with dinner twice this week!

That's a start, anyway.

Christmas Eve, 2015, final page

Melody wants some shrimp!

Janelle and Katherine

Janelle, Angelina (with T-Bone the Hamster), Theresa and Katherine

More Christmas Eve

Jamie waits for his favorite, scungilli and sauce with linguini.

Theresa gets in the spirit!

Michael and Megan enjoyed their gifts and had fun going through their Christmas Stocking!

Christmas Eve, Part II

Mike prepares the scungilli

We found out Janelle is getting married next year!

Nick is laughing at a scene from Home Alone 2

Dinner time!

Christmas Eve Party, part I

Jimmy and Janelle

Michael and Megan

Katherine

Party Prep

This is ridiculous. It is Christmas Eve and this is the outside temperature here on Long Island:

75 degrees F! Not a record, though. When Michael was 2 months old, it hit 90 degrees on December 20th. I actually was able to walk him in his baby carriage with only a light blanket!

Been busy since early this morning, and this is what the house looks like, so far:

The coffee table is a holder for things until the dining room table gets it's pretty red cloth in a few hours.

This year, I get to use some beautiful Christmas plates my mother gave me. More on those, later.

My Home, Decorated

Here's what it looks like in my house this morning, 2 days before Christmas:

Lights on the railing, lights on the piano around the manger scene, lights on the tree. Very warm and cozy and pretty!

Decorating the Tree

Michael and Katherine came by and decorated the tree for me, with help from Mike. I just took pictures:

The tree is short and stubby and looks really cute!

Speaking of cute, Michael and Megan might have found a puppy for me. She is a six-month-old chihuahua mix. Mike and I are going to the shelter on Wednesday to see her. I'm a little nervous, to be honest, but Michael reassures me they are nice, easy-going people there. These days they practically want blood to get you to adopt a dog. I hope I can come home with her. They call her Jingles, but she will be my Sophie! Ha, ha, Katherine wants me to name her, "Sophie Jingles Santa's-Little-Helper."

We'll see how it goes.

Getting the Tree

Michael and Katherine came by for baked ziti, then we went with Mike to get the tree at Home Depot. I actually liked the first one we picked up, which was good because it had been raining all day and was a little drizzly at 7:15 p.m.

Me, and Mike. Our tree is short but nice and chubby. Plenty of room for all my ornaments!

Katherine and Michael.

Busy

This morning, I took Nick to work and bought some provisions to make Baked Ziti for dinner tomorrow night, when Katherine (and, I hope, Michael) will come for dinner before we get the tree.

Then I went down to Ulta and bought Katherine's gift, as well as an extra I'll either give her or Theresa.

Came home and started making cookie dough for chocolate chip crescents. I watched a favorite holiday movie, "Snow Globe," too. The cookie dough had to chill, so I went out again.

First, I stopped at the Salvation Army Store and dropped off some donations that have been taking room in the back of my car. This includes two cute stuffed animals that should make some kids happy at Christmas. They were a moose and a bear that are in excellent condition, but I just don't have room for them. Also gave a nice Christmas pillow and some Christmas fabric.

Swung around and hit Tuesday Morning, where I found some nice things I'm going to give Nick: shot glasses with gel inside so you can freeze them, mixers to go with rum and a bartender set. (Later, I ordered a bartender's guide for him.)

I got Megan a nice art set. Michael says to get her a gift card to a crafts store. I'll do that, but it's always nice to have something to open, as well.

I came home and made the cookies. They still need to be dipped in chocolate, which I will do tomorrow. But, of course, I had to taste one!

I've made several kinds of cookies this year, but haven't made cutout cookie dough yet. I'll probably do that Saturday!

Just a Day

I took Nick for a haircut and shave today, while I dropped off an Rx at CVS. I found out they can only fill for 1 month, then after that I'm stuck doing it via Mail Order. I hate having to learn new things that don't interest me, but at least I have until mid-January to figure this out.

Opened an email from my agent, and found out I'm missing a royalties check! Mike thinks I probably just misplaced it, but I don't think so. I look forward to them and even though I don't deposit them immediately, I know I put one a month in the bank! Anyway, a nice surprise that I'll be getting a few hundred dollars before the end of the year!

Mike and I went to Big Lots tonight. I picked up a few things, and Mike finally got himself a much-needed new chair for the living room. The one he sits in now is really worn out!

I can hardly believe Christmas is less than 2 weeks away, and I still have a few more cookie batches to make. I already have the dry ingredients mixed, it's just a matter of putting them together. I also have most of my Christmas Eve appetizers done and in the freezer.

A Night Out With Friends

Patty had the great idea that, instead of buying Christmas gifts, we should all get together and go to a restaurant. She picked out Gasho, a Japanese steakhouse where they cook in front of you. We had a wonderful time, and the cook was hilarious! Patty asked his name and she couldn't pronounce it, so we shortened it to Sushi:

The food was really good. I had the chicken and rice hibachi combo.

Afterwards.we posed for a photo outside. Mark, Patty's husband, took the photo:

Left to right: Jimmy, John, Mike, Patty and me! And Mark's shadow :). Mike first met Jimmy, John and Patty at the gym. They have become good friends. John is 90 and still walks on a treadmill!

We hope to make this a yearly tradition. It was a wonderful Saturday night with friends!

After, it was too early to go home so Mike and I drove to Northport. I took some pictures, including this one of the pier reflecting on the water:

Busy Saturday Morning

Mike and I spent about 2 hours cleaning the carpet this morning. John gave us their old rug shampooer a while back, but this was our first chance to use it. It's been too long since we last had the rugs cleaned so we went over each area several times.

One bad thing is that when we took off the water/soap tank to refill it, this little plug with a spring popped out and we couldn't get it back in. So any soap I put in there just came right out the bottom! Mike put the tank back on empty and we just filled it like that and it seems to have worked okay. I can still see a few spots but in the long run, at least it smells a lot better.

Tonight we are going to a Japanese restaurant with friends, in place of exchanging gifts. I think its' a great idea and hope this starts a new tradition!

Atlantic City

This is becoming a favorite vacation for Mike and me, being just a few hours' drive away. We always get comp rooms which means we can gamble without much worry.

The dumb thing I did is that we left on December 1st and we weren't supposed to be there until the 2nd! I don't know why, because I knew we had the room from the 2nd-4th. But I guess I must have put Tuesday (the day we went) and Two together in my head.

Luckily, it was off-season so there was no problem getting us a room. As a matter-of-fact, we got one with an ocean view, which never happens.

We could see waves on the Atlantic and part of the Boardwalk. Alas, it was rainy the first day.

We were caught in a cloud on the second day.

On the third morning, we got to see a beautiful sunrise!

Didn't win any money (we never do) but we had a really good time. And I found out Johnny Rockets makes the BEST hot dog I've ever eaten!