New Year's Eve 2015

I found this website which suggests keeping a happiness jar.  It suggests you write down something that made you happy every day for the coming year then read all about it next year! 

On password security

We finally woke up to some snow yesterday, it was heavy and wet and it really helped to use the snowblower.

I came upon this article on poetic passwords. The poetic password site will generate a password poem for you that they say would take 5 million years to crack.

On Monday morning son K found an email that was confirming his activation of a new cashback credit card at our bank.  I called the emergency customer service number in alarm because he had done no such thing.  After checking his online profile we were told it was likely just a spam email, not to worry.  Whew, and at the same time we will keep checking his online profile just in case.

An Enjoyable Evening

My godmother is usually in town over Christmas and she had invited me to her sister's house for dinner on Boxing Day.  She has known my mother since elementary school, so they are 77 years old.  I told her I would be able to bring my mother along and she was delighted.

My mom, who has some dementia, remembered her good friend.  

The large home was full of people and fun conversation.  The host made up his own prayer as we said grace before the meal, it was thankful yet funny. 

I had forgotten how lavish their dinners were, the food was absolutely delicious.  Here's my plate:

One of the host's brothers apparently always wears colourful clothes. That night he wore orange jeans, a pink shirt, pink socks and a burgundy red vest.  Someone asked where he gets his clothes.  He said he shops in the women's department.  The reason is that he finds men's clothes dull and are in fact more expensive.  He will just have the ladies jeans altered with deeper pockets. His long time girlfriend was also at the party.   I would guess he is in his seventies and I think it's great he is just being himself (non conformist) and in fact looked good, very dapper.

My mom had a wonderful time, ate well and was very animated.  I must say I also enjoyed the evening.

Eggnog Latte

Husband M and I had gone for a walk just before lunch on Christmas Day.  The weather was mild and yes, the squirrels were out.  I heard they have gained a lot of weight with the extra foraging time due to the warmer weather. We stopped in at a rather crowded Starbucks, it was about the only thing open on Christmas Day on Main Street.  I decided to try a small eggnog latte, it was 'comforting' to say the least!

Have a look at this fabulous photo taken by a Nunavut photographer showing a friend throwing iced tea behind his head in -40C temperatures.

Christmas Eve Recap

Here is a link to Chocolate Banoffee Biscuit Balls that Beate asked for the other day in this post. I had referred to them as chocolate covered cookie caramel pops.

These are some photos from our Christmas Eve dinner with husband M, daughter L and her boyfriend, son K and myself.  I started cooking at around 4.30 pm, I was roasting chicken.  All the dishes turned out perfectly including the homemade apple pie my friend had given to me.

After dinner, we decided to watch the Star Wars IV movie, it was very good considering it is a 1977 movie.  It was well after midnight when the movie ended and we decided to open our gifts so that we could all sleep in on Christmas morning.  We planned to attend M's extended family gathering that afternoon.

 It was an interesting coincidence knowing that it was the first full moon on Christmas Day in 38 years.  The last full moon on Christmas Day was in 1977, the year Star Wars IV was released and here we were watching it in the wee hours of Christmas Day 2015.

Dinner Table

My Dinner Plate

Dessert

Homemade Apple Pie

My dessert plate

Boxing Day 2015

Hope you had a good Christmas, I know many are still celebrating in the next couple of days, with all the extended families.  Thoughts must now be turning to the New Year.

Here are 13 facts you never knew about Food Network chef Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa.  Most interesting is that she can fly a plane, worked as a budget analyst for the White House, excelling in school in science.  Her most popular recipe is her balsamic roasted beet salad, I will have to try this sometime.  Do you watch her Food Network show?  I own one of her cookbooks.

Paint Party Friday - Christmas Camel

For Paint Party Friday, I did a Christmas Camel in acrylic on good quality (6" x 6") textured orange cardstock. I kind of just whipped this one up in half an hour as I didn't know Kristin and Eva would be running the co-op on Christmas Day (why not)!  Thanks ladies!  Merry Christmas everyone!