Happy New Year!

So my K1P2 friend Tink sends me this You Tube video way too late to help me.
My sisters (I’m the baby of the 3) and I are kinda bitter we didn’t have the earmuffs, or repellent spray, or the darts, or Dr Phil in a can…
At some point we realized that it had been 5 years since we were all together last (to celebrate the 45th anniversary of my mother’s 15th birthday). Now I remember why.

My trip started with the news from my sister that her exFIL died the afternoon before we left. My older sister (we’ll call her Marsha) and Niece were already in Florida when she got the call, so CFO and I decided to take a detour to meet up with them and drop off Nephew at the funeral service in Lake Alfred, FL.
How bad can it be? It’ll only be about a 3 hr detour.
As usual, famous last words. Thanks to traffic and an accident (not us thank GOD), we finally arrived in Ft Lauderdale 24 hours after we left MD.
JOY.

So we finally arrived and were greeted at Mom & Dad’s with a purple Christmas tree!



My middle sister Jan got it for us as a surprise. We spent the next day getting ready for the 24th. That was the only night I got any amount of knitting done.



Christmas Eve was spent HERE watching the Ravens/Steelers game. I must say, if you’re ever in the area, this is the best place ever! Good food, good service, good people.
When I called STT to tell here there were some Steelers fans there with their terrible towels, she had me buy them a round to thank them for being there to bug CFO.

After the game it was back to Mom & Dad’s for Christmas Eve dinner.



We got to hang with relatives that I haven’t seen since I was about 14 or so. I must say; 24 years between visits is not nearly enough time for some people.

Christmas Day was spent at Jan’s house with her in-laws in from Hungary. It is their first visit to the U.S., and my “bus” amused them.



Here's Jan's tree. Yes, those are gumballs she strung as garland. All the ornaments are either gingerbread or chocolate. She also painted the picture in the background.



No, it does not run in the family.


The day after Christmas was spent at the beach. We hung out, bbq'd, and searched for seashells.
It was kinda chilly and rainy, but heck! We’re in Florida! Who cares?





The next morning we headed up to Middle of Nowhere, GA to get to Marsha’s house. Now, keep in mind that we are 3 sisters born and bred in New York. I’m the only one of us who has ever been camping.
She now lives on a farm with The Man and Niece, and keeps bees, chickens, and has a pet potbelly pig named Heidi (Frack kept calling her Hiney).

We went for a hike in all this nature and crossed 2 creeks never leaving their property. It was a good visit.

I’m not sure what was funnier:
Marsha with a pig in her arms,
Frack chasing the chickens waving Barbie shouting “Shoo! Shoo!”,
or Frack's rendition of Jingle Bells sung while jingling the reindeer headband that she put on Heidi.

I have it all on tape. I see many a fun evening when Frack starts dating…






This New Year was rung in with STT and girl, banging pots and shooting off fireworks (if you are in law enforcement and reading this, it was a few kids that we didn’t recognize, they went down the block.)

All in all, as much as I wish I had pharmaceuticals for some of it, I am very happy we went. Nephew will be sent to Iraq in a few months and this was the only chance we had to be all together. We’re not sure how long it will be before we get another chance.

I don't think I’m looking forward to this new year. I’ll spend some of it worried about him going, then the rest of the year worried because he’s there. Frack sent him off with her mini Duckie and many kisses. I hope God keeps them all safe.