12 Oakdale

Resolution for 2025 - be more social. I could hardly be less, so to that end, we invited our neighbors and Steph et al for drinks and appetizers* New Year’s Eve. At 5:00 PM. I didn’t completely loose my mind and consider staying up until midnight. No, Gracie and I were happily tucked in bed at 10:30, listening to the fireworks. The theme parks started their shows, which we can hear but not see, at 6:30. Across the street, Vanessa and Ross shot off some at 9:00 for their daughters and friends. Gracie shot to the window to see what was happening. After that, she retreated to our bed, seeming unconcerned. I was surprised. The rest of the evening, especially 11:00 - 1:00, was a continuous thump from houses around the lakes. No need for the city to spend money when all the local residents will spend theirs. Grant came to bed eventually. His foot is still really sore, and it is swollen all the way of his calf. He got a by from exercising from Denny this week, which meant I got all the attent...

Well, that was an underwhelming New Year’s Eve. Since it was Sunday night, no college bowls to watch. In the NFL, the Greenbay Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings, 33-10. Never a doubt as to who would win.  After, I wanted to see the ball drop in Times Square. As we struggled with the TV streaming service here, I got out my iPad and watched Paul Anka sing John Lennon’s “Imagine”. Then, it was time for the count down. The glittery ball was not impressive on an 11” screen, but 2024 was here. At least on the East Coast. Since we’re on Mountain Standard Time, it was only 10:00 PM. However, the household is on baby time, as well it should be, so we followed Molly and Spaulding to bed. Maybe a champagne toast today. My 2023 resolution was to catch up and stay caught up on reading my magazines, which I did. There are a couple of new ones waiting for me to come home, but I’ve developed a satisfying routine of reading an article in one or two each morning, What to do this year? I’m enjoying ...

Getting there:  At 3:33 AM, there were the fewest cars I’d  ever seen on I-4. Our drive to the Marriott Lakefront to park and the bus ride to the airport were easy, unlike for the people traveling on Sunday. Our driver said it took him 54 minutes from the hotel to the terminal.  Once there, an outside skycap grabbed our big bag and checked it. Inside, as he said, was a madhouse. I hadn’t gotten around to make a reservation for TSA, but the lines didn’t look too long. As we walked over, an agent said the position in front of him was open. Not a person in line. (Like lemmings, everyone had just gotten behind someone else. We were going to too.) We waited less than a minute. At the X-ray machine, an agent told me to take off my boots since they had metal zippers and would set off the alarm. Nope. I said I was old and had metal in me and would likely set it off anyway. I got patted down, not for my boots, not for my knee, but something suspected in my shoulder. Who knows....

Annie and I started 2021 just like we’ve started most days recently: I got up a few minutes before 6:00 AM, although she’d be happy if it were an hour earlier. Some days she has tried to encourage me by just barely touching her small, damp nose to mine. Occasionally she will try licking my hair. Once recently she took a mouthful of it and gave a tug. Then I absolutely refuse to get up for at least a half an hour. Once I give in, I know she’d work the kitty alarm so that we’d be getting up at 4 o’clock. I have to hold my ground sometimes. In any case, I get up, pee and wash my hands with her meowing at my feet. I grind coffee and get the pot started. She meows. I get her bowl, put her 1/3 cup of kitty chow in it and try to put it down, without being tripped while she weaves between my legs. She eats; I sit with my coffee and read, meditate, or write; Grant sleeps for another hour. A peaceful start to the morning and this new year. Last night, the fireworks started at 5:00. Grant put the...