New Year!

It's a New Year!

2018 had both happy times and sad, which when I think about it, is life. Either way, I'm looking forward to what 2019 will bring, and I have plans for what I want to focus on. More about that later.

We had Bill and Renee over on New Years Eve, and since we're no longer big Party People (have we ever really been big Party People? 😂), we started later afternoon and into the early evening. We nibbled on appetizers, sipped sparkling wine (remember the Cranberry Secco from Trader Joes?), talked about whatever, and played a game of Catch Phrase which I've never played before and absolutely loved. Then when people went home, Bruce and I watched some episodes of the British Baking Show, our latest evening obsession.

I'm thinking that there should be more game nights with friends in the future ...

We drove up north for a night, just to check up on things and clear the snow. Twin Pines Resort happened to be open, so we went there for supper. They had their salad bar/broasted chicken special for $10.95, which I always end up getting. I love that little place. And the colors of the sky were so beautiful that we had to go for a walk down the road before driving home. I finished reading my book for January Book Club, and of course we always remember to do our Sudoku as we drink our morning coffee.

Now, onto my big ideas for the New Year.

I decided to challenge myself to an eating out of the pantry (mostly) this month. People who know me well, know that for whatever reason, I love to grocery shop. I don't know why, but I always have, and it gets me into trouble because this house is too full of food. And I can't stand wasting food. So, in the spirit of getting the food situation under control (and also save a little money post holiday), I plan to make most of our meals using what we already have in the freezer, fridge, and cupboards. The food combinations may turn out to be weird. One night this week already, we had leftover meatballs, leftover stove top stuffing, and canned pineapple. Which actually turned out to be tasty. We can still go out a couple times to eat, and I can still buy things like milk, but no intense grocery shopping trips! Bruce is a good egg and will eat whatever I make, so this challenge is really for me.

My next big idea is that I will need a new laptop at some point. I love my macbook, but it's already almost nine years old and starting to slow down. So expensive they are, but I really want another! I've decided to try to squirrel away money over 2019, and by the end of the year hopefully have enough saved to get another. I've even designated a jar to squirrel the money away into.

It feels good to have some goals to focus on. I will continue to focus on things like exercising, getting restful sleep, and stimulating my brain, of course, but a new challenge or two is a good thing.

Happy New Year!