It's a New Year, Everybody Dance!

I am so glad to have the holidays over! No, I don't do one fifth of what many of my friends do in preparation.  But now I don't have a list of things I must do.  So here I am writing to you.

I was telling a friend at work that I felt a blog post coming on, but I didn't have any nifty photos to put in it.  And I still don't.  So I'm going to steal one from YaoYao.  She was nice enough to send me some pictures of her New Year's Eve in NY with her friends.  Obviously, I want to become one of this family!

I call this picture "Chinese Feast."  I can just smell the pungent aromas, surrounded by warm, moist kitchen air!

And that picture certainly brightened up my morning.  It snowed a couple of inches last night and now it's raining.  In between, we became a city of ice.  I would take a picture of the trees outlined in ice crystal, but it's much cozier in here and I'm listening to CBS Sunday Morning as I type.

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I don't usually make New Year's Resoulutions, but this year I resolved to be less snarky.  And, of course, I'm going to break that now.

So I was watching the Kardashians' show on TV.  Yes, it's a dirty secret and I can usually only stand no more than six minutes of their nasal whining, but this was a life changing bit.  I was flipping channels and I see something I've never seen before.  I see Kris (the mother) and Chloe (the daughter always ridiculed for being overweight) from the rear.  And I do mean rear.

My Lord! Now I know why that was so unusual.  Both ladies (and I use that term broadly) have always been photographed from the front and I never thought Chloe was particularly chunky.  But this shot plainly showed the two biggest female gluteus maximi in Christendom.  You could serve a four course meal for two on one of those butts.  

I think it's Kim who went on a cover of a magazine featuring her naked butt (I always confuse her with Kourtney who is a baby factory with her boyfriend) and perhaps hers is the smaller one of them all.  I don't know. I do know that she's a "model."

This is definitely not envy talking! I have long wondered at the fame and fortune of this family who are famous for being famous.  Their accomplishments seem to be miniscule, but then again, nobody pays me to follow me around with a camera and watch me fight with my mother, partner, business associates and everybody else.

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How come everything is so big?!?  No, this is a different subject.  I bought a "fryer" chicken and it was over five pounds.  To me, that's an oven stuffer roaster.  So I did that.

And then, my mouth really wanted a New England boiled dinner and I went in search of a Daisy Ham.  (My friend said they had never heard of that so I read the label carefully today.  It's pork butt in a roll.  I'm so proud of me that I remembered to get the second inner wrapping off!)  This ham was/is huge! (It's boiling away now and I'll change the water in a bit to get rid of some salt.) I might actually have to cut it in half and freeze half.

While I was at the supermarket, I looked at the Rock Cornish Game Hens.  Mom used to make those and they were yummy.  (I never liked wild rice, so when I made them, I made an Uncle Ben's rice stuffing.)  They too are now huge!

So there you have part of our national obesity -- even the food we prepare at home is bigger, grander and more calorie laden than ever before.  Yeah, I know: eat less.  Maybe I should live with a bad cook and then I would eat less ...

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I pulled out a coffee mug today that's from 1987. How do I know? That's when I started working for the Town at the Police Dept.  I was a part time secretary in the Chief's Office.  His favorite phrase was, "I'll put my best man on it."

This mug, plain white, says in Italic script, "The best man for the job may be a woman."  It was an interesting time.

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Note to self: Remember to read labels very carefully.  The fat free half and half for my coffee's carton looks VERY similar to the store brand of Egg Beaters.  Ick.

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I admire people who send end of year letters.  I never can seem to do that.  However, if you are a friend/relative, you probably are reading this blog.  So you know what I've been up to.

And you also know that I did not climb any mountains, SCUBA dive, run any races or accomplished major surgery.  However, I have had a good time on the whole.

I have been able to delight in my daughters' accomplishments.  I have great memories of time spent with my Mom, including that cruise last year.  I have had fun times with friends, from a Piggy Painting Party to dinners and a musical review. I have had a great time at work with our own special A Team in the Office.

But mostly, I have come to realize that I live really well and I am grateful.  I wish the same for you all.