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.

For over 20 years we have been having a nice little party. Started the first year we were married, and none of our friends were. All of us right out of school and no money to go out to the big scene. We used our silver wedding dishes and leftover napkins from the reception. Had a really fun time. Then in our first house we would have the babies asleep, and people could bring their kids and playpens. Low key fun with friends. Onto the house we raised our kids in. Everyone could bring their kids to the party, so no one had to pay for a babysitter. Somehow the kids all played together famously, and managed to stay up past midnight and be a delight. Everyone brought an appetizer to share, so it was a casual party and not much work since the house was already deep cleaned from the holidays. This is the first year in our new (empty nest) house. Our kids are in college, and they are still coming to the party, except now they are all old enough to take part fully. When we told our friends we were moving, usually the first thing they wanted to know was if we still planned to have our new years eve party. It has become a really nice tradition. I think that us and all of our friends like to get together, not spend any money, and not shout over a loud bar scene. It is really a nice time. Just wanted to put this out there in case anyone else might want to start a nice little tradition like this too.

Yahoo has a link to Mariah Carey singing this.

Well it's paying off already! I walked out to dig up my money, After I finished I turned around looked down and right there at my feet was a shiny penny! I decided to play it safe and stashed the penny with the previous buried bills. Here's hoping that we all have a prosperous New Year.