Day: January 2, 2012

On the Ninth Day of Christmas

I did not have to drive the van today.  I thought I might need to, since Hallmark decided the Monday after New Year’s Day would NOT be a holiday (day off from work) for it’s employees.  But I spoke to my newest rider (a second Hallmark person) and she said she had already planned to drive herself to work today, so I got to sleep in (by about ten minutes, since I forgot to silence my alarm before falling asleep last night).  I brewed some tea and finished composing the previous blog post (the one I forgot to finish last night and publish before falling asleep).

I woke Rachelle up just before nine o’clock since she had an eye doctor’s appointment after ten o’clock.  On the way to Leavenworth, we detoured to Dillons so I could fill up the Bonneville, taking advantage of the eleven hundred points I earned in December.  I opted to use five hundred points to save fifty cents per gallon.  It still cost over $45 to fill it up (because I had waited too long and only fumes remained in the sixteen gallon tank).  While at Dillons, we picked up a half dozen items we needed to make brunch after the doctor’s appointment.

I read about half of the January 2012 edition of Astronomy magazine on my Nook Color while waiting for Rachelle to finish her eye doctor’s examination.  The prescription for her contact lenses wasn’t ready yet, so I told them to just mail it to me.  We stopped at Walgreen’s so I could get a second ‘backup’ arch bandage to help my left foot heel and arch pain, especially since I’m attempting to increase my physical activity.  We also stopped at K-mart to price other Wii game titles, but decided not to purchase anything at this time.

Back at home, Rachelle and I sifted through all of her jewelry boxes and separated out the jewelry she does not want.  Some of that may end up as donations to our local Good Will store.  We also stripped the pantry bare, wiped down the shelves and re-organized the contents.  We did this prior to our ‘real’ trip back to Dillons to stock up for the coming week.  Rachelle’s Christmas gift to her father included cooking meals for him over the next week or so.  Tonight she cooked Garlic Honey Chicken with Sauteed Asparagus.  My contribution included Parmesan Garlic Bread (made with the Italian bread I made last week).

I learned a couple of Yoga positions today, did a couple of strength training exercises and got better at the step aerobics programs via Wii Fit today.  Both Terry and Rachelle are also using it – Terry to help maintain his current weight and strengthen his muscles and balance.  Rachelle makes us all feel old, of course, since she’s twenty-two and in great shape.

Our after-dinner relaxation includes watching Ironclad, a movie about the aftermath following the signing of the Magna Carter.  Not sure how historically accurate it is, but it’s gritty enough.  I’ll review it in a separate post later this week.

On the Eighth Day of Christmas

I wished everyone I met a very Happy New Year!  2012 has arrived, whether I was ready or not.  I even forgot to photograph the first sunrise, but at least according to my dad (who arrived at my house just minutes before said sunrise), the photogenicity of the dawn was suspect (i.e. no clouds).

Dad had dropped by so early on New Year’s Day to say goodby to Derek and Royna, who planned to return to North Texas.  I was the only one awake in the house (normal even on non-holiday days).  I woke Derek up so he could say goodbye to his grandfather and soon after Dad returned north to his home in Leavenworth.

Very much later in the morning, everyone finally woke and began packing.  At ten ’til noon, they boarded their rental and left Lansing.  They had lunch with their friends and eventually headed south towards their home.  I received Royna’s final Tweet a bit after ten o’clock while I was drifting off to sleep when they finally made it safely home.

I treated Terry to Planet Sub at a ‘new’ location I was previously unaware of on Johnson Drive.  He often complains about my easy access to Planet Sub (only a block from where I work).  After enjoying our Super Heroes, we drove back to the Legends (we passed it on the way to lunch) and enriched Nebraska Furniture Mart by purchasing a Wii (with Super Mario Kart for Terry) and the Wii Fit Plus bundle (and an extra controller) for me.  We spent the rest of the afternoon setting up the Wii and fighting my Denon AV receiver (which doesn’t automatically convert Composite video to HDMI so I had to find an RCA cable in the black hole we call a basement storage room).  I spent some time trying out the balance board only to discover, once Rachelle got home, that I had the board facing backwards (so no wonder all the balance activities kept failing for me).

We finally took a break from Wii Fit and sat down to relax and watch the latest episode of Leverage on TNT.  I wondered off to bed soon after, forgetting to finish typing up this blog entry that I started at the crack of dawn on New Year’s Day.  I will publish it before the crack of dawn today, no doubt.

My New Year’s Resolutions:

  • Increase my book reading goal.  Last year I read 75 books.  This year I have challenged myself to read 80 books.
  • Increase my activity level.
  • Healthier eating habits:  While I eat a good portion of vegetables routinely, I have a hard time consuming fresh fruit.  So I am making a concerted effort to eat fruit daily.

Happy New Year!

I pray 2012 brings all of us peace and prosperity.