Dear 2024:
It's time for me to tell you goodbye. In your defense, you were kinder to me than your predecessor 2023.
There were no huge expenses or repairs to the house, garage, and the Silver Bullet like in the year before. For that, I am thankful.
You kicked off your year in grand style with the Old Man's 90th birthday party. For that, I am thankful.
You are ending your year with the Old Man still happy and content. For that, I am even more thankful.
Your friend, TWIT and me.
A couple of nights ago, we noticed the security light on the barn wasn't on. I went out with a flashlight and reset the button on the power box, hoping that would fix it. Of course not. So the next morning I called our electrician who said he'd be out first thing Saturday morning to check it out. Ordinarily, I wouldn't have bothered, but the power box on the barn is where I plug in the extension cord for Large Marge's heated waterer. If I hadn't been worried about her water freezing, I would have let it go.
He was here promptly at 9:00 like he said he would, and after testing things, he said the light needed to be replaced. I told him I'd go to Lowes and get one as soon as he left, and he said he'd be back this morning to install it.
Flash forward to this morning when I was coming back to the house from getting the newspaper, I noticed a piece of gutter on the front of the house sagging. It should be an easy fix. I took a pic of it to show the Old Man, and then texted the pic to Neighbor Nick. He replied back that he would check it out and fix it if possible when he gets back from Cincinnati.
As the Old Man says, this is part of being a home owner.
Christmas is over, but not the bills for presents bought on credit. This reminds me of the old school Christmas Club Account. In case you don't remember or haven't heard of such a thing, you would make a weekly deposit into the account and withdraw it before Christmas to do your shopping. That way you would be able to pay cash for your presents and not go into debt.
Gram had a Christmas Club Account that she opened long before I was born. She would deposit $2 or $3 faithfully into it every week. That was a lot of money back then.
I hope your day was filled with good food, family, friends and good times.
I just finished making a batch of Chex Mix this afternoon, and the first thing that came to my mind was my great-aunt Sybil. She was married to my grandpa's brother Paul. But I digress. Way way back in the day, we visited them in Rineyville during Christmas, and that was the first time I ever had Chex Mix. She had a huge batch of it in the old school Tupperware cake coverer and plate. I was blown away. It sure is a great Christmas memory.
I didn't do my usual Saturday morning grocery shopping trip because I wanted to get some fresh peel-and-eat shrimp for our traditional Christmas Eve snack supper, so I went this morning. I can't imagine it would be any busier tomorrow on Christmas Eve. I needed a drink when I got home to steady my nerves.
One thing stood out to me - I saw at least half a dozen shoppers with an aluminum roasting pan in their carts. They could have gone to Family Dollar less than a block away from Kroger and bought one for $1.25 instead of paying over $5 at Kroger. I know this because I bought one at Family Dollar yesterday to use to make my Chex Mix. Maybe they'll learn.
Since Neighbor Nick's trees were trimmed down to the trunk, the Old Man and I have noticed that the squirrels and birds have been acting a bit crazy - they have had to find new homes. It's more noticeable in the squirrels - they used to run on the top of the fence and then jump over to a tree, but now they can't. Oh well. That's progress.
