Happy New Year

Just taking a moment to wish you all a very happy New Year.  I am really missing my computer, but am remaining patient.  This tablet is nice, but not for blogging.  It is super slow and hard to maneuver. ..Although that very well may be my inability to grasp this new technology.  But, the most frustrating part of it is that Chrome freezes and Firefox crashes. 

Tomorrow is a super new moon and there will be a second one on January 30th.  Looks like we are in for a very special year.  I have so much I would like to say about it,  but right about now I am taking a chance. 

So, with that being said, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a happy and healthy New Year.
 

Friday Roundup

Friday has arrived. It has been a very busy week, I really need some down time. Christmas with my family was wonderful, and I could not ask for more. I now have that letdown feeling that I go through those first few days after the holiday. It  happens every year. My guess is that after putting so much into it, it seems to pass by so quickly that one hardly has time to enjoy it.

Unfortunately despite all my hard work the other day, I could not save my computer. It will no longer turn on and is past the saving stage. No word when I will be able to get a new one. This is not really helping my mood any.  Bah humbug.

So I am doing my best to compose this on my tablet, but it is far from easy. I am still learning so please bear with me. These new gadgets are so complicated, and I don't pick up on things the way I used to. This takes me so long I may not be able to post everyday.

Some holiday cookies that I baked.

Hubby's shrimp has become a holiday tradition.

Just some cheeses and pepperoni.

Miss  Minga's gifts under the tree. Boy she sure did gobble the shrimp dish.

No chocolate Yule this year. Instead we had the above ice cream log. Boy was it yummy.

Well, I sure wasn't my long winded self today, what I guess it wasn't so bad for the first time. At least I learned how to do the pictures. Maybe in time I will learn how to make it look pretty.

Have a wonderful weekend.

The Day After

When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things—not the great occasions—give off the greatest glow of happiness.

Bob Hope

Wow, how quickly Christmas 'present' becomes Christmas 'past', but I am not complaining.  I had a really nice time this year. On Christmas Eve we all gathered around the tree and ate all our little hearts desired.  No big, elaborate meal.  We munched on cold cuts, cheese, crackers, and other goodies whenever we felt hungry. My youngest hates to shop so he gave us all a gift card.  Now I can get myself that new purse that I need.  My eldest enjoys gifting and always picks out the nicest tops.  Hubby surprised me by buying me  a Tablet.  He saw how much I enjoyed my Smartphone, but also noticed the struggle I was having because the print was kind of small for someone who doesn't see as well as they used to.  

And none to soon, I may add.  My computer died completely on me.  Just wouldn't work.  I figured I had nothing to lose since I'd already lost everything, so I pressed the restore button, and here I am.  My computer is working as if my hubby had just brought it home.  For how long, I don't know.  It is quite old.  I did lose my Legacy program, but thankfully, have everything saved on my Ancestry tree. My only concern was the fact that I'd lost my Norton, but with the help of Andrew, a young man and computer whiz I follow here in Blogland, I was able to upgrade to Windows 8 and install Microsoft Essentials, a great, free antivirus.  

The following are some photos taken in Dyker Heights, a very rich area in Brooklyn.  Here you will find million dollar mansions.  And every year, people come from miles around to see the decorations. Cars actually line up just to drive down the block.  Maybe it is me, but this year, I find the decorations a wee bit gawdy.  This year they went over the top.

G

Hoping you all had a wonderful Christmas.

Merry Christmas

Every time a hand reaches out
To help another....that is Christmas
Every time someone puts anger aside
And strives for understanding
That is Christmas

Every time people forget their differences
And realize their love for each other
That is Christmas

May this Christmas bring us
Closer to the spirit of human understanding
Closer to the blessing of peace! 

Holiday wishes to you and yours. 

Christmas Eve

Lots of little last minute things to do today, but at least I don't have to leave the house. Bought all my cold cuts yesterday. Have to cut up my cheeses, fix the cold cut tray, and prepare the potato salad. Later, I'll stick the wings in the oven and cook hubby's shrimp.  Haven't found my tree skirt, so I guess and old sheet will have to do. That's okay with me today, though.  Not going to stress over something so insignificant. Life is too short. And, I am hoping on a nap.  (Good luck) Miss Minga really hates me to nap during the day. Usually it is a matter of dozing in my chair. 

So, as I begin my day, I would like to leave you all with the following beautiful poem by one of my favorite poets.  

Oh, hush thee, little Dear-my-Soul,
The evening shades are falling, --
Hush thee, my dear, dost thou not hear
The voice of the Master calling?

Deep lies the snow upon the earth,
But all the sky is ringing
With joyous song, and all night long
The stars shall dance, with singing.

Oh, hush thee, little Dear-my-Soul,
And close thine eyes in dreaming,
And angels fair shall lead thee where
The singing stars are beaming.

A shepherd calls his little lambs,
And he longeth to caress them;
He bids them rest upon his breast,
That his tender love may bless them.

So, hush thee, little Dear-my-Soul,
Whilst evening shades are falling,
And above the song of the heavenly throng
Thou shalt hear the Master calling.

Eugene Field

Monday This and That.

For centuries men have kept an appointment with Christmas.  Christmas means fellowship, feasting, giving and receiving, a time of good cheer, home. 

 W.J. Ronald Tucker

Wow, I can't believe it is already the Monday before Christmas.  Two days to go.  Am I ready?  No, but I will be.  The gifts are wrapped and ready to go under the tree...once I find my tree skirt...and I had thought I was so organized last year when I put things away.  There aren't as many gifts as in Christmas past, and that is okay because Christmas is not really about how many gifts one gives or receives. It is the season of love, and many of us forget that there are various ways to show love that do not necessarily mean spending cash.  Time is one of them. There is nothing better than spending quality time with family.

Over the weekend I thought long and hard about how it was for me when I was growing up, how my parents treated me... especially how they were never able to find time for me...and tried to make up for it by buying my love...especially at holiday time.   Christmas and birthdays were especially full of gifts. The only thing lacking was the gift I needed the most....love and the feeling that I was wanted. 

This Winter Solstice was an especially quiet one for me. With the temperature way up, it felt more like Spring than the first day of Winter.  No traditional Solstice dinner either.  We had pork chops with rice and beans, candied carrots, and homemade applesauce.  I'd planned on a walk in the evening, but by the time I was finished with my Sofrito, my back hurt too badly so I just lit a few candles and spent some time in quiet contemplation. I just like to close my eyes and allow my mind to wander over the images of my ancestors  to capture a feeling of what the Solstice was like for them.

For those who don't know,  Sofrito  is a sauce used as a base for cooking.  I make mine with... 

red, green, orange, and yellow peppers, 

garlic (lots of it), 

one red onion, 

one large sweet white onion,

 Goya Sazon with Coriander and Annatto

...Some people also add Cilantro, but I like to add that separately as it has quite a distinct flavor, I like a variety in flavor when I cook.  I take everything above and chop, then I put it in the blender.  Afterwards, I put it in containers, keep one out, and freeze the rest until needed.  This saves me from my daily chopping of onion and pepper.

As a family, we celebrate on Christmas Eve. Nothing elaborate.  For hubby I make a traditional shrimp dish and for me and the boys...buffalo wings.  Then, I usually have some homemade potato salad (trying a new recipe this year), cold cuts, pickles, Italian peppers, and choices of rolls or bread. Of course, all evening we munch on little appetizers...cheese, crackers, pepperoni, chips and dip, etc.  Then, afterwards there is candy, cookies, and a traditional Yule Log cake at midnight. 

Christmas day it is just me and hubby for our traditional Dominican Christmas feast...pernil, gondulas and rice, okra for him, and for me, probably some fresh brocolli.  This year I am thinking of doing something different.  I am hoping to attend Church on Christmas morn. 

Well, it's time to get a move on.  Wishing you a great beginning to the week.

 As long as we know in our hearts what Christmas ought to be, Christmas is.  

Eric Sevareid

Friday Roundup

The winter solstice has always been special to me as a barren darkness that gives birth to a verdant future beyond imagination, a time of pain and withdrawal that produces something joyfully inconceivable, like a monarch butterfly masterfully extracting itself from the confines of its cocoon, bursting forth into unexpected glory.

Gary Zukav

Hard to believe, isn't it?  Already the last weekend before Christmas.  And I've much running around to do today.  Have to go to the bank and get hubby's gift. He is definitely the man who has everything, and as you all no, he is a hoarder, so the less I bring into the house, the better.  For years now I have always given him money which he uses to winterize his car.  This year I did also purchase a book for him. The book is called "History Decoded: The 10 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time" by Brad Meltzer.  The author was being interviewed on the morning news, and I just knew I had to get this book for hubby.  He loves conspiracy theories and can ramble on for an hour on the same subject.  I sure hope this book doesn't spur him on.

Aren't these some of the ugliest looking Christmas trees you have ever seen?  They are selling these all over in my neighborhood, especially the one on the end where the leaves fall into circles.  I can't believe people actually buy and use these things.

We had the annual Christmas party at the Center yesterday.  The meal was fantastic, but I know it was far more sodium than I should have had.  We began with orange juice and fruit salad.  Then for the main course we had 2 cheese manicotti,  a meatball, and a tossed salad.  For dessert they gave us some type of cream filled Italian pastry.  What a feast for a dollar, huh?  The party itself was kind of blah, and I left fairly soon after they started with the music and dancing. It was the same music that they play over and over again at every other party.

So, tomorrow is the Winter Solstice/Yule, the shortest day of the year, but it sure as heck doesn't feel like it.  In the low 60's tomorrow and the upper 60's on Sunday.  I've no idea how I am going to celebrate yet.  With everything that is going on, I've not had much time to think about it.  But, I know I will come up with something even if it is to just to cook a special meal, light some candles, and spend some time in quiet reflection. 

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend and a Blessed Yule.

On the first day of winter,
the earth awakens to the cold touch of itself.
Snow knows no other recourse except
this falling, this sudden letting go
over the small gnomed bushes, all the emptying trees.
Snow puts beauty back into the withered and malnourished,
into the death-wish of nature and the deliberate way
winter insists on nothing less than deference.
Waiting all its life, snow says, Let me cover you.

Laura Lush From:   The First Day of Winter.