Tuesday, Dec. 31

Today is New Year's Eve. 2013 is nearly over. 2014 is hours away. I didn't accomplish all that I wanted to this year, but I'm not one for making resolutions that I'd probably abandon before the end of January. I seem to have trouble just planning for the next day or week, because things come along that thwart me. So planning for a whole year, except in the broadest terms, seems useless.

We were up at 6:30 this morning in anticipation of the guy who is working on the upstairs bathroom coming around 9:30. Naturally, he was delayed and didn't come until 10:30. Sort of aggravated me, since I skipped my exercises in order to be dressed before he arrived. If I'd known he'd be so late, I could have gotten in a 30 minute workout.

Today, he put new plywood down on the bathroom floor, sheetrocked the wall where the plumbing is, caulked around the shower, where it appears to have been leaking and soaking the wood around it, and did other very noisy things that required some sort of air compressor at the bottom of the stairs that nearly blew my eardrums out. I decided ear plugs were in order. Hubbie seemed not to be as bothered by the noise, since his hearing isn't as acute as mine (though he'd never admit it).

Mother opted to stay home again today, but she came over near suppertime to join us for a meal. I sent lunch over to her.

I put a ham in the oven mid-morning, hoping to get it cooked and sliced for the refrigerator today. But I turned the oven off when Hubbie and I decided we needed to run errands. I don't like to leave the stove on when we leave the house.

Our first errand stop was a discount flooring outlet store down the road from our house, where I selected vinyl for the upstairs bathroom. We took along the vanity top sample, and surprisingly, within minutes of entering the store, I found vinyl that is an almost exact match in both color and design to the sample. The lady who helped us remarked that she didn't think we could find a better match anywhere, including at their retail store downtown. And we agreed. 

Next we went to the art gallery downtown to deliver the bill for the supplies for the Christmas cookie house workshop. Then we went to the post office, where Hubbie bought a supply of Forever stamps before the price increases from 46 cents to 49 cents later in January.

Since Mother opted to stay at her house today, we came home in time for me to prepare her lunch, which Hubbie delivered to her. The worker joined Hubbie and me for lunch, though he had brought along burritos that a friend of his had given him. We kept the meal in our refrigerator until he was ready for it. We did provide him with a soft drink, and I shared our Italian cream cheese ball and crackers with him.

After lunch, he ran errands to pick up supplies for the bathroom, and to go by the flooring store to pick up the vinyl and a bucket of glue.

While he was gone, we ran more errands...first to the home improvement store to look for new faucets. Again, within minutes I found two sets that will blend nicely on that vanity top. They are brushed nickel, a very light brass color. These look so much better against that light beige granite than chrome ones would. And they are an excellent brand that were on a clearance rack at half price.

From there, we went to the WDCS for a few incidentals and groceries. Back home, I checked the ham, which had been baking in the oven, but which I'd turned off again to run more errands. The meat thermometer showed the ham to be at the correct temperature. Obviously, it had continued to cook while we were gone, even though the oven was off.

I removed it from the oven to cool enough to be sliced for the refrigerator. I decided we would sample the ham for supper, along with baked white potatoes, which I put in the oven around 3:30. also had corn-on-the-cob.  Around 4 p.m., Hubbie had checked to see if Mother wanted to come over to our house to join us for supper. She did.

In the meantime, the worker continued with his task, and finished what he wanted to do around 5 p.m. He joked that he'd been tortured with the smell of that ham all day, so he was looking forward to having some tomorrow, when he was to come and lay the vinyl.

After supper, we played several games of Skipbo, using the new deck I gave Mother as one of her twelve days of Christmas gifts. Hubbie and I each won two games. None for Mother this time.

Around 10 p.m., we retired to the den to watch a couple of comedy shows, followed by the New Year's Rockin' Eve show. Mother lasted until 11:30, before asking to go home. I don't know if she saw the ball drop or not.

About fifteen minutes before midnight, Hubbie decided to open a bottle of bubbly, but he had all kinds of trouble getting the cork out of it. He finally grabbed a pair of pliers, and moments before the ball dropped, I heard the cork pop in the kitchen. We toasted the New Year just as the ball completed its drop.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!