Starting the New Year Off Right

As Dorothy said in The Wizard of Oz, "There's no place like home" and we were happy to get to ours after a week of Christmas in Baton Rouge.  Amelia came back with us to spend a week.  Let me say to start with that she gets more fun and easier to see after every time she's here.  She spent Saturday night with her Aunt Ashley and cousins, Avery and Madison.  This gave Bubba and me a chance to buy some badly needed groceries and get a good night's sleep.  Ashley returned her to us Sunday afternoon and Amelia enjoyed playing with her toys for the rest of the afternoon.

The weather was dreary and cold so we didn't even attempt a camping trip this time.  Monday we went to Mexico Beach because Amelia has always enjoyed feeding the sea gulls every since she was a little thing.  The beach was so serene and calm even though the skies were gray.

She still enjoys the swing her Paw-Paw made her.  She always wants to go higher.










Tuesday, New Year's Eve, started with lunch at Golden Corral.  We chose that restaurant because she would have a choice of mac and cheese, pizza, anything she might be willing to eat.  She chose a roll and plain rice.  She ate only the roll and then was eager to try out the chocolate fountain.  She dipped marshmallows in chocolate, a brownie in chocolate, and a Christmas tree cookie in chocolate.  She was a very happy little girl.

Then we went to see Frozen.  Bubba claims to "hate" animated films, but I think we all enjoyed the movie.  We also visited Party America where Amelia picked out some items for celebrating the New Year later that night.  She had plans to stay up until the count down and the ball drop in New York City.

Our New Year's Eve party started out with a "rock and roll dance party".  We had to say our names into the microphone.  Bubba was "Mirror Man" (shiny hat), I was "Purple Feather" and she was "Star Light".

Bubba thought he looked like Abraham Lincoln in his hat.  I was a little sceptical.

Amelia used the karaoke microphone to announce our activities as they took place. My dance put my pacemaker to the test.  For refreshments we had chocolate cookies, peanuts, popcorn and hot chocolate.  My dance really put my pacemaker to the test, but Amelia said I was the best Nana ever because I danced with her.   It was going to be a miracle if all three of us made it to the eastern time zone new year, but we had horns to blow and we were ready.

She made it to 10:00.  We tried to wake her up to  blow her horn when it was time, but she wouldn't wake up.

I was afraid that Amelia would be disappointed the next morning when she realized that she did not make it to the new year, but it didn't seem to bother her.  After all, you can blow horns anytime.  It was fun.  It's funny, but we spent $28.00 on our Party America purchases which is the grand total of all money spent on New Year's Eve celebrations over the past 47 years. 

Note:  Amelia is covered up with a princess quilt which was made by a lady I worked with.  I bought it when she was just a few months old.  She was admiring it and said, "It's so pretty.  I wish I could needle."

Amelia loved her hat and it was well worth the $10.99 spent on it.

The celebration concluded with pancakes for breakfast.

Amy came on Friday to visit for the weekend and pick Amelia up.  We had a good visit and I even persuaded her to go through some of her boxes from high school and college.  We were able to clear three boxes which gives me a little extra storage space in that closet. 

The holidays have been great.  This is the first year that I haven't really cooked for either one.  I missed it, but I enjoyed it even more.  We are very grateful for the time we had with Amelia and look forward to next time.