Monday, Dec. 31

The last day of 2012. It had its ups and downs, but overall, I can't complain. Hope 2013 will be peaceful, productive, and prosperous for everyone, and that we will all be healthy and happy. That's a tall order, but we can try.

Woke up around 5 a.m. this morning, and had trouble falling asleep again, but Hubbie hopped out of bed at 7:30, so I did too.

Did a treadmill session after breakfast. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house around 9:30, and she started another jigsaw puzzle.

Before I got ready for the day, I put a ham in the oven to bake. Since Hubbie was already dressed, he ran errands.

It was sort of a spa day for me, so it took a little longer to get ready this morning, and by the time I got back downstairs, it was time for lunch. For Mother, I fixed a bowl of homemade tomato soup, with crackers and pimento cheese. For Hubbie and me, I fixed hoagie sandwiches...deli turkey, muenster cheese, lettuce, and onion...served with veggie chips.

Afterward, Mother continued with her puzzle, while I submitted a monthly report to the Literacy Council, and Hubbie read one of the novels I put on my e-reader for him for Christmas.

Once the ham was cooked and cooled a little, I used the electric knife to slice it for the refrigerator. In the past, Hubbie sliced meats for me, but he is having trouble with his right hand, which hurts in the palm, has some numb fingers, and has one finger that locks up on him sometimes. His doctor knows of nothing to do for it. Since he has difficulty gripping with it, I have taken over the meat slicing duties.

When I'd finished my report, I read my Jan Karon novel, "Shepherd's Abiding," until it was time to begin supper preparations. Mother, who had tired of the puzzle and had taken a short nap, helped with supper.

We had waffles, and egg substitute scrambled with ham. Hubbie did the honors of making the waffles on an electric waffle iron we've had forever, but rarely use. The waffles were light and crisp and delicious. We should do this more often.

Afterward, we played a few rounds of Skipbo, with Hubbie winning two games, and Mother one. Zilch for me tonight. Mother was ready to go home after that (around 9 p.m.), and Hubbie accompanied her.

Then he and I decided to enjoy the hot tub. But when I set foot in it, I discovered the water was cold. Guess the cats had jumped on the cord and pulled the plug out of the outlet. Phooey. I was really looking forward to warming up in the tub on this cold night.

Instead, we sort of watched Dick Clark's Rocking Eve, with Ryan Seacrest, while I played on my laptop, and Hubbie read his John Grisham novel (he's less than a fan of the current pop stars' music).

The last hour or so of the show was scheduled for after our local stations broke for news. So we saw the ball drop in Times Square at midnight our time, though it had already happened earlier in New York.

Funny: while we were playing cards, Hubbie mentioned that he was already three-quarters of the way through his book, so I commented that the reason he read it so fast was that he had spent all day at it, whereas, I can only read a few pages a day, while I'm in the "library."

He advised that if I didn't play on my laptop so much, I could read more. The main time I play on the laptop is while we are in front of TV, after my chores of the day. I find it difficult to concentrate on reading while the TV is on.

Mother joked that if I didn't spend so much time in the kitchen, I could also make time to read more. Hubbie agreed that he doesn't want me to get out of the kitchen. So I guess I'm just not organizing my time well enough!

I think we'll have to go back to turning off the TV for at least one hour each evening, and assign that time strictly to reading.