An old friend comes home - SPHRA

1) fake bubbly 2) all the kids + one 3) Pat & daughter Jammie 4) Lisa & brother Steve 5) Heather & daughter 6) Pat & lisa's daughter Alanna 7) P-bubbly 8) Rick & Lisa 9) Rick & Heather The last day of 2006 was upon us. I crawled out of bed around 8:30am and began my day like most others. I prepped a pot of coffee in our new Cuisinart brewer and then made quick work of my morning calisthenics. With my exercise behind me, I took Ykraps for what would be his last morning walk of 2006. Unfortunately, due to the gray clouds, the weather wasn’t as nice this morning, although the temperature was still very mild. I took my camera along in case I found the shot of a lifetime. Our walk was routine. Nothing unusual about it. Once we returned I made a cup of coffee and took to the computer to download pictures of our evening at Mitchell’s. Mindy made her way downstairs a little later. She said that she didn’t even hear me get up. We spent a little time together talking and having coffee before we casually planned our day. The only thing on our agenda was a trip to the grocery to pick-up the recipe ingredients for the New Year’s Eve party at our neighbors, along with a few items we’d need to get through the coming short work week. Mindy planned to reheat the steak and potatoes we brought home from Mitchell’s to accompany our morning eggs. She did this while I went for a run – the last of the year! It was a fine run for such a drabby day. The temperature hovered near 40 degrees and a cool breeze blew out of the southwest. I was back around 10:15am and breakfast was just about ready. I couldn’t wait. I was really hungry! The leftover New York strip was sliced thinly and then baked along with the ‘taters. Everything was really good! We puttered around the house for another hour or so until we decided we’d better get to the grocery. By then we had decided to hit both Wal-Mart and Kroger. We’d go to Wal-Mart to look for Bella’s piano & to get as many of the grocery items we needed, and then we’d go to Kroger for the beer and anything else we needed. Before leaving, we baked the chocolate chip cookie for the cheesecake and placed on the stove to cool. We chose not to shower before going shopping. We simply dressed and left. We’ve only been to grocery together a couple of times. At Wal-Mart we first shopped for storage tubs to better/further organize some of our Xmas stuff. And lucky for us, we found an electronic keyboard/piano as well as the accompanying drum set we saw on Target’s webpage. Together they were only $30. Wow, now that’s a deal! They’ll be perfect for Bella. After picking up a few other items we found our way to the grocery section. We found everything on our list except for beer. After dropping $200 we left Wal-Mart for Giant Eagle in lieu of Kroger. They have an excellent beer selection. Giant Eagle is pretty much right next door. We beelined for the beer cooler. Wahoo, I exclaimed! Spanish Peaks Honey Raspberry Ale is back in our market. What a great New Year’s present. I grabbed two sixers of that, one Alpha King Pale Ale, and a sixer of Rogue Porter for Mindy. While standing in line, I decided to grab myself a pound of Goetze’s caramel cream Bulls Eyes too. I eat them every Sunday at Gloria’s. It was 2:50pm and the kids were expected home by 3pm. As soon as we pulled up in our drive and opened the tailgate to unload, Jim pulled up with the kids. Good timing! We got started right away on our party recipes. I browned the sausage for the bake and diced up the onions, habanera and chili peppers. And to give the recipe a twist, I added half a bag of sauerkraut. After getting that in oven, Bella and I put the finishing touches on the cheesecake. That didn’t take too long. She helped by licking the beaters and bowls. J Meanwhile, Jacob obsessed over the NFL games taking place. He through a mini- tantrum when the Bengals lost in OT. I gave him an earful, not for being upset but for slamming his football around and kicking furniture. And geesh, he’s only six! At 5pm I took a shower. At 5:45pm Mindy took one. We loaded the car and left for Pat 7 Lisa’s at 6:45pm. Even though it’s literally around the corner we drove because of the heavy downpour and the amount of stuff we were taking (food, gifts, and party favors). I’ve spent many of the past New Year’s Eve’s at Shultz’s. There’s usually about four or five other families there with kids. It’s a lot of fun. And while this is the second year that Mindy has gone, this is the first time we’ve taken the kids. It was a really good time. Pat and Lisa go all out with food. They made gyros, onion rings, jalapeño poppers, & cheese sticks. Pat used his deep fryer to prepare everything except for the gyros. Lisa’s sister-in-law brought some of that delicious buffalo chicken dip along with sauerkraut balls. Needless to say, there were lots of goodies to eat. Rick, an old neighbor of ours and who’s about two years into an ugly divorce, showed up, too. He’s very funny. We have a few single women in mind that just might the perfect match for him. Mindy fit in well and made quick friends with everyone. The kids did the same. It doesn’t take long for kids to hit it off. One hour or less into our visit, they were playing like old friends. Just before midnight we found our way to the finished lower level to ring in the new year. Thee, Pat poured several glasses of champagne and some sparkling grape juice for the kids. At midnight we jubilantly toasted in the new year. To give the party a kick, we broke out the party favors- poppers, silly string, and those little packets of gun powder that explode on impact. Pat 7 Lisa’s basement family room was trashed in a hurry. Mindy found the broom and swept up most of the mess left behind. We left for home just before 1am. The kids were more than ready for bed. Mindy and I got in an argument just before going to bed. She’s so argumentative! J