At the top of my resolution list: Learn when to say when. Starting the new year with a horrible hangover is a lousy tradition. But every year, except 2000 when I had a newborn baby, I have insisted on drinking stupid amounts of alcohol that inevitably result in feeling bad and dumb and tired and apathetic to the optimism of a new year. But I must say, John and I were the hosts with the most last night! And, it's no small feat seeing as the adults were outnumbered by children (four couples and a parent flying solo, each with two children).
Friend Helena, with whom I planned this dinner, insisted that John and I not do any cooking since we were hosting. So we agreed doing the meal potluck. Helena and her husband brought the main course (pork tenderloins, marinated in a soy/sherry/ginger/garlic concoction then baked, and roasted potatoes); Shawn and Annika brought a lovely tossed green salad (with red peppers, pears, blue cheese, and caramelized walnuts) and a focaccia; and Dave and Sarah contributed dessert (miniature tarts and truffles, raspberries and blackberries—the fruit was a treat). John and I provided pre-dinner nibbles—an excellent salmon tartare (capers, scallions, serrano chile, and lemon juice mixed with diced raw salmon), duck foie gras, salted mixed nuts, and an assortment of olives (black balsamic, fat green olives stuffed with citrus, and teeny nicoise).
Naturally everyone brought wine—a few good Bordeauxs in the bunch—and sparkling wine (cava and a bottle of Mumm Napa, which would have made a great contrast to the Mumm Cordon Rouge we bought). At the end of the evening, the bottle count was 8 wine, 2 sparkling wine/champagne. So, slightly more than a bottle per person.
Oh, and, we finally have snow. Yesterday's drizzle turned to sleet around 3 p.m., which Simon and I noticed as we were running errands. When we returned home we were so busy with party details that we hardly noticed that the snow was beginning to pile up.
This morning was bright with sun and clear skies. The outdoors, fresh and crisp, beckoned, but my head was so disconnected from my body that I couldn't get going. So we blew off the sledding party that had been organized last night in favor of whatever sleep or rest we could manage with wild kids, screaming in the den.
Later in the morning, I had the kids bundle up and head outside to put some fresh human tracks in the yard. Simon reported that he saw deer hoofprints, which is exciting to think about, and I heard/saw a woodpecker going to town on the tree just outside the front door. I love our neighborhood.
If I had felt more ambitious, I would have packed up the ornaments and decorations, and taken down the tree, but it was nice to just lounge around the house, feeling no urgency toward anything. I finished reading Charlotte's Web to Simon and had a little cry over the scene when Wilbur asks Charlotte why she was so nice to him and she replied, "Because you're my friend." Then we both curled up on the couch for a long afternoon nap.
Since I'm beginning to feel more human post-nap, I'm starting to look forward to the new year. Lots I want to accomplish. Most of our friends at the dinner last night had similar resolutions: eat better, exercise more. And, my resolutions follow those lines. Though I feel like I eat well, I definitely will exercise more—starting tomorrow even when I intend to take my first lunch-hour class at the Skyway Y. I also have some reading goals that I hope to achieve before my birthday in October. And, I have some culinary goals—restaurants to eat in and food items to try making at home, all of which I hope to blog about here. Some professional goals: get that managing editor position at a certain glossy magazine. Travel. Invest. Landscape our yard. Take a wine class. Go camping and do more cycling with my little family.
Let the wild rumpus begin!
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