Monday, January 02, 2017

2017, Huh? That's Weird

Well, well, well, what have we here? A brand new year, full of unsullied days just waiting to be lived to their fullest?

Don't worry, we'll fix that.

In the meantime, I enjoyed what is my very favorite day of the year. I spent it knitting (all right, belatedly finishing promised Christmas presents, if you must know) and eating party leftovers. In the interest of full disclosure, I have meringue-cookie crumbs all over the front of my shirt. Yup, it was that sort of a day. Because, oh yes, we held our annual New Year's Day party yesterday. And the prep was pretty much as grueling as ever, except Susie really represented by cleaning up THE ENTIRE BASEMENT while I was at yoga on Saturday morning.

Long-time readers will recall that this is the same child who, at the age of 7, actually replaced a roll of toilet paper on her own initiative. Yes, she is a keeper.

Theo, our Army officer, showed up last Friday, home from the Middle East after 7 months. I spent all day Friday cooking things I knew he would like, and I was amply rewarded by his saying, "I forgot how good American food can taste." So, yes, he, like Susie, basked in the glow of my unadulterated adoration for the weekend.

My Facebook-famous candy carousel
What with getting ready for the party and Theo's homecoming (not to mention Chanukah, and oh yeah the annual gingerbread house party), the week between Christmas and New Year's was crazy busy. I kept thinking, "This is vacation week. I should be sitting around knitting!" But that never happened. Maybe because Larry, with his supernatural ability to pile on, decided that this would be the PERFECT week to start looking for a new car.

Seriously.

We all know Larry by now, right? The spreadsheet guy? The "go big or go home" baker? This was no ordinary car search. I kept saying, "There's no rush - we're not selling your old van to David until March. We don't have to make a decision right now." But every time I came within shouting distance of the man, he'd start saying things like "What do YOU think is the difference between a 2-year-old car and a new one?" and "Maybe I should get an 8-year-old car real cheap" and "Do we need another minivan or should we go smaller?"

This happened so many times a day, I can't even count. When I would remind him that we had already discussed these issues and I had already given my opinion on all of them, he would look hurt and huff (as is his wont), "I'm only trying to make a good decision here."

All of which is really cute if you aren't trying to get ready for a big party and you don't have a house full of kids, grown and not, waiting for you to make dinner. As it was, it ended with me saying, "I DON'T CARE. BUY WHAT YOU WANT." Which, come to think of it, may have been his ultimate goal all along.

Made by Susie, when she wasn't cleaning the basement

So, yeah, somewhere in there he bought a car. And we cleaned the whole house. And I went to the grocery store gazillion times. And now, here we are, in 2017, and I have no idea how that happened.


12 comments:

  1. Okay, this is a first - NO COMMENTS. Is this what 2017 holds in store for me?

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  2. Yeah, I'm not sure how we got here so quickly. Happy New Year - may this one be a little slower and have a lot less insanity in it.

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  3. Until told otherwise, I will believe that the new car is a small pick-up truck with an extended cab.

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    Replies
    1. He WAS eyeing one at the dealership, to my surprise. But then he saw the price tag. He ended up with a RAV4.

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    2. Great! One of those HoT cars (Honda or Toyota).

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  4. Hey! We have a RAV4! It handles great in the snow, which is all I care about right now -day after snowpocalypse.

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  5. I want to get an SUV, but my husband says we have to wait until all the kids are finished college. Waaah.

    Hooray for Susie for cleaning up the basement. We need a Susie around here.

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  6. How did I miss this?! So glad you had Theo at home and Susie helping, and now a new car, too!
    So no more minivan for you?

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    Replies
    1. Larry got the new car. I'm still pretty happy with my 2009 Sienna, so I let him have the fun for once.

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    2. Minivans: may they last for as long as we need them to last!
      I keep whispering sweet nothings and patting my 2006 Kia Sedona's dashboard to keep her going at least another year.

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  7. Heh. We had a 3 day long New Year's House party. While some knitting occurred during the weekend, any internet was superceded by washing endless sinks of dishes (I don't have a dishwasher), putting things in the fridge in an attempt to stave off food poisoning, and generally making sure that people could find the things they wanted (like the guy who was trying to open the box of plastic wrap refill instead of using the dispenser *right in front of him* on the counter...)

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  8. That Lego sculpture is awesome!
    You are living the dream. Glad you got to have your son home.

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