Tonight mommy, LF and I will have the last of the turkey in a turkey divan and whatever remnants there are will be turkey stew. I'm also doing a fish chowder. Last night was the beer Ed left in the fridge I couldn't bring myself to throw out and 4 cups! of sharp cheddar cheese into beer cheese soup. Well, I wasn't gonna drink the beer and he's not gonna drink the beer, but it sure was tasty! However, tonight's dessert is not going to be leftovers. Maybe molten lava cakes or lemon custard cakes, both made in the same containers with almost the same ingredients. Mom is planning on leaving at 9 or so to go home. But I'll do the champagne and sparkling cider thing with LF later on, I hope! I've finished my one and only New Year's tradition early. I did the budget for this year, my lawyer required it. I have two; one for the current situation and one for when the house sells and I'm debt free, once again. The part he didn't make me do... when I am debtfree, I plan on trips, a new "used" car (four door so I can transport people and give the red convertible a rest/fix up, and maybe no more red, hm), new dishes, a knife block, pots, pans, clothes, and memberships to the Zoo, Nashville Shores, Adventure Science Center, the Y, you name it. Things I've lived without for too long. I have my clean house and then some since I had company last week. I just cleaned out the attic, put superfluous things from the house in the attic, went through the filing, found all of my recipes and put them in their respective folders (the pile is about 2 1/2 feet high! The dessert one alone is probably about 6 inches high. Figured out my weight problem. heh. I think I'll make a resolution to try recipes and then throw out whatever isn't 5 star.), painted closets, put in wallpaper, floors, and am working on bedroom walls. I'll hire somebody in two weeks to come put in a new window and beg them to put in 3 out of the 4 missing doors (have to wait on door 4 until the kitchen gets its remodel), and buy books for school. I am gearing up for everything to come to a complete hault for the next 129 days. I can imagine how high the pile of things to do is going to be, but it'll have to wait. I have three classes this semester, so I have to dedicate ALL free time to study. The last thing I'll do before all the organizing and project work ends... figure out what things I can do to relax and when they are to be. Spring break and weekends must be rejuvenating. Maybe it's time for one of those trips I've been doing without. Short car one, but a trip. Hm.

Well, I'm about Bowl Gamed out! I enjoyed the Parade this year....specially since I found that HGTV had it on without breaking for commercials! I put the sashings on a quilt, got a cheater I Spy pinned and ready to sew on the lines and have my I Spy Swap ready to mail on Wed. I didn't do anything I thought I'd do today.....like to practice meandering. Oh well.... I got an email from my 13 yo DGD who has been up north since the 22nd, she's more than ready to come back home. She and I usually put a jigsaw puzzle together and watch the ball drop on New Year's Eve.......I miss her.... SharonG/FL

That's a great tradition! And some day all those cans will come in handy! My husband collects quarters, he started with the state quarters but just kept collecting the states even though he had a set. He has a a small duffel bag full of them. He was about addicted to Altoids so all the tins are filled with the quarters. He no longer goes through the Altoids but still saves the quarters. I had no idea how much he had saved till I opened the duffel bag one day. That definitely will come in handy some day. I collected dimes when I was a kid, my grandfather got me started on it with some dime banks. He brought me to the bank and opened a savings account in my name, he started it off with some money then we would go deposit all my dimes when I had filled all the banks. I think that was a great tradition and taught me early about saving money and watching it grow.

Make Black-eyed Pea Chowder and stay in my jammies all day. Here's my recipe for the Black-eyed Pea Chowder - Black-eyed Pea Chowder 1 c. chopped celery 1 c. chopped onion 1 c. chopped bell pepper 2 large cans black-eyes 1 can beef consommé 2 cans stewed tomatoes 1 lb. bacon, fried and crumbled Sauté first three ingredients in bacon drippings. Mix all ingredients and heat through. This recipe is best if you prepare it the night before and let it sit in the refrigerator before heating. Excellent with cornbread!