Starting A New Year

Depending on who or what you believe, this morning's temperature is either in the single digits or low teens. Whatever the case, it is very cold. After walking from the parking garage I am very happy to be in my office. True to form, however, by the weekend it will be in the high 50's and it will feel like spring.

Now the holidays are really over. I like the starkness of January and the more normal pace and routine but it is a bit daunting to face the long winter months ahead after five or six weeks of being in the holiday spirit and having many days off from work. Spring seems a very long way off. Chloe came over on New Year's Eve and spent the night. We made "pigs in a blanket" from scratch and baked some small Bagel Bite pizzas. When I put the food out she questioned, "Are we having a party"? Later in the night we discussed the deeply philosophical question, "Where do elephants pee"? Yesterday, New Year's Day, my wife, youngest son, and I visited my father who is still in a nursing home. He was very alert, and mostly in good spirits. He does want to come home because he misses my mother. Speaking of her was the only hint of sadness I saw in his eyes. The nursing home where he is staying is part of a larger facility that includes facilities for assisted and independent living. It is "gated" and you must sign in with the guard when you enter the property. Since my son was with me, he sat in the front seat and my wife sat in the back. As we were leaving and stopped at the guard station, the guard looked in the back seat, saw my wife, and then asked me, Will you be returning tonight"? I think he thought my son and I were taking my wife out for dinner! I should have told him that we would have her back by lock down!

It is a tradition at my home for things to break down right after the holidays so you can begin the New Year in debt. This Christmas my wife bought a new pre-lit Christmas tree. It worked perfectly until Christmas morning. She picked up the remote to turn on the light s and nothing happened. It will be shipped back to the Home Shopping Network or wherever it came from. The next day I went into the room where I have my computer and discovered my monitor had died during the night. Well, at least it wasn't my hard drive.