New Year's Eve

We got up at the normal time this morning, and I headed straight for the treadmill. I wanted to be sure to get an exercise session in today, because I'll probably skip it tomorrow.



Once I was ready for the day, I spent the rest of the morning in the kitchen making another batch of fruit salad for our New Year's Day meal, a recipe of baked fruited popcorn for Hubbie (the last for this season), and another batch of dog biscuits for Shih Tzu. We left the last batch out on the counter, and some of them got moldy before they could be used. This time, we put a few of them in the fridge to be used over the next couple of days, and the rest in the freezer to keep them fresh until they're needed.



After lunch, I baked another loaf of lemon bread. I made this because there was a lemon in the fridge that needed to be used. I'd bought two in anticipation of making two loaves of lemon bread...one for Mother, as one of her twelve days of Christmas gifts, and one for a friend. But I didn't get around to the second loaf for the friend, so I gave her something else, and baked the other loaf today for the freezer.



After that, we started the process of putting away Christmas decorations, except for the Christmas village, which we'll leave on the mantel through January. We'll leave the trees up until New Year's Day. Taking those down will be our job for Friday.

After a week-in-review supper, I made a big bowl of trail mix from whatever I could find in the kitchen...Cheerios, Corn Chex, walnuts, dark chocolate chips, Craisins, golden raisins, and stick pretzles...as our New Year's Eve party snack.

We enjoyed the munchies as we played Exactica, which is a bidding and trick-taking game. At the beginning of the game, players declare how many tricks they can take, based on the eight cards they are dealt that are numbered anywhere from four to twelve and contain multiple suit symbols (cones, balls, stars, and cubes).

Once players declare the number of tricks they can take, they have to hope they get the exact number, because any tricks they take over or under their bid declaration count against them. The first player starts by laying down a number card and calling out a symbol number (like "nine, three cubes). Everyone else has to match that card number and symbol, or play any other card if they don't have that one. If no one can match the card, the first player catches the trick.

If someone else matches the card, they catch the trick, or if someone else can match the symbol and has a higher numbered card, they catch the trick. This game is partly guess work, partly skill in determining what order to play your cards to either catch tricks, or avoid catching them.

We played nine games...I won four, Mother three, and Hubbie two. We quit playing just before 11 p.m., when Hubbie poured Golden Spumante wine for the two of us, and made a wine spritzer for Mother. We toasted the New Year as the ball in Times Square in New York lit up. After that, Mother went home, and Hubbie and I stayed up until midnight. I saw the New Year in, but Hubbie dropped off to sleep and didn't rouse until two minutes after.