Thursday

Well Wednesday was mostly an overcast day with rain showers most of the morning and it was a rather cool day to start as well. It didn't get much out of the 60's but with no sunshine which is rare it felt even chillier. We had a big family get  together planned at GG's house later in the evening where she had the usual New Year's Day feast and we were happy to have Bobby and his kiddos, Amy, Tyler and their kiddos, Betsy and Braden and of course Nancy and myself. After eating we got into a game of Apples to Apples until Bobby and the kiddos had to make that long trip back to Riverview.

The first morning of the new year was much like any other morning except we tried to sleep in as we were up until after midnight. I managed to stay in the sack until nearly 7 but my internal alarm had me awake at the usual before 6'ish. We did our usual quiet times and then lounged around as the rain was falling and it was a little chilly in the house. We made a breakfast of eggs and grits somewhere around 9 AM as our mountain mom gave us a call from the frozen mountains. It was in the 20's there and expected to get even colder as the day wore as well snow was in the forecast for later in the week. This has been a really cold winter so far but the heavy snows have stayed away.

She mentioned she is having to replace a culvert that runs under her driveway as its rusted out leaving a somewhat dangerous situation should the road give way while traveling across it in her car. Her son Rick noticed the severity of the problem while he was visiting from Florida over Christmas. We had a nice conversation about all that was going on there and got caught up on all their health issues as well. Joe her brother is slowly recovering from gall bladder surgery as well is her sister Martha from back problems. We wish them a speedy recovery.

I tuned into a little of the Rose parade before finding some college bowl game around 1 PM. It use to be there was a game on just about every station and you could watch which ever game had the closest score. I did watch S. Carolina beat a good Wisconsin team and the bowl game in Tampa was a good game until the very last few minutes when LSU ran over an Iowa team. We headed out around 3:30 for GG's with a large pot of black eyed peas cooked with a smoked hog jowl and some smoked ham added for additional flavor. I savored a bowl of them around 2'oclock for my lite lunch and were they ever tasty.

GG had a pork roast roasting in the oven along with kielbasa, Nathan dogs and sauerkraut and the aroma was throughout the house; definitely one of our favorite meals. There was smashed taters and a nice salad as well. Betsy brought some bread and Amy made a delicious dessert of crushed oreo cookies, puddings, whipped cream layered in dish with chocolate syrup. Our friend at Cornerstone makes this dish and I don't know what it's called except delicious. I broke down and had a huge portion. It's that decant. Oh well what a feast that was and we all love sauerkraut except for Jill who stayed home and worked on some business paperwork. We did get in a little of the Rose Bowl Game while playing games. After Bobby and the kiddo's left around 8:30 we decided to played a game called Hedband with Ava and Sam. They were hilarious and it's really a fun game. I think we all enjoyed this game and it was fun to play with the little ones. You wear a headband and a card is placed in it with a subject and you have to ask folks around the table what you are and this is done in a timed space. The kiddos were hilarious and really asked some great questions. That was the first adult/kids game we have played with them and it was a hoot.

Well after the cleanup and putting the table back we got ready and headed out around 9:30. I got into the late game until about 10:30 then it was time for some horizontal lab. We hope all of you had a good start for the new year with good food and fun with the family. We ask blessings to all for a healthy and prosperous year ahead. Many thanks to all who find my ramblings refreshing and just a hint of what goes on in our life. Speaking of life we are still waiting for the little one that Amy is about to give birth to any moment. We are anxiously awaiting to meet this little one that we know not what it's gender is. That will be the big surprise for the start of this new year. We also are expecting to meet a couple of other new babies this year as our niece Kelly is expecting a boy and our niece Liz in Michigan is expecting another girl. Lots of new babies this year at Element as well, LATER