Renovations II: Welcome 2009!

Happy New Year!

Usually this holiday depresses me. I get a little anxious or wistful on New Year's Eve over the inexorable pace of time marching on. NOT THIS YEAR! First of all, I was glad to see 2008 go. Between losing half our 401K and the turmoil at work, it was not exactly our favorite year. Secondly, we did just what we love to do on New Year's Eve: enjoyed a quiet night at home as a family, just the four of us. No anxiety - just contentment.

In the afternoon we huddled together listening to the wind and snow and watched A Christmas Carol (Clive Donner's version). For dinner I prepared a simple meal of salad greens, discs, of fresh mozzarella with blueberry vinaigrette, and pasta with garlic, Parmesan cheese, and sun-dried tomatoes cured and canned at home from her own garden by one of the nurses at St. Boonie's - delicious! (Thank you, Nurse BR!)

After dinner we laughed over the cute Star Trek: The Next Generation episode entitled "Rascals," talked for a while (despite my hoarse voice from laryngeobronchitis), made music together at our out-of-tune piano, then tumbled into bed, where it was as if the labors of the year suddenly piled up on me and anesthetized me for TWELVE WHOLE HOURS. Sleep! Wonderful, much-missed, much-needed sleep! It was a delightful New Year's Eve - second only to the time we spent making s'mores in our cabin as we ushered in 2007.

I see this new year the way I see our kitchen renovation: out with the old, in with CHANGE FOR THE BETTER. Here's to a bigger and better 2009!

Before:

After:

We're still missing the floor, the pot rack, and a new dishwasher, but we're hoping to have a kitchen-warming party anyway when we get back from our trip to the Philippines. Blogging may be a little off-and-on this month - we leave for our trip on Saturday - but I'm hopeful I'll be able to continue to write overseas.

In the meantime, don't forget to check out the latest Grand Rounds, put together by Moneduloides in honor of this year's bicentenary of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species. Enjoy!