Eight Maids A-Milking

Happy eighth day of Christmas and happy New Year!

My folks and I had a nice time last night, just a quiet New Year's Eve, watching TV and occasionally eating.

We watched my DVD of "The Snowman," a short (25-minute) animated story that I just love. It has no dialogue, only animation with music. It's enchanting. Later, we watched a New Year's episode of the Red Green Show. My dad had never seen it, but I knew it was just the kind of humor he would like, and he did. It's a Canadian show, hard to explain in a way, but just goofy skits about guys saying and doing silly, funny things. It plays on ideas like the extensive use of duct tape to build things, the desire to modify old junk into some ingenious machine, guys hanging out at "Possum Lodge." It's very clean, very slapstick "guy" humor. Closer to midnight, we watched the local Channel 5 (KING) coverage of the fireworks at the Space Needle in Seattle.

At 12:00 we had our glasses of champagne ready and clinked them and wished each other a happy New Year. Here is a slightly blurry photo of myself ready to toast and clink:

This morning, my folks and I drove out to CJ's Beach House Restaurant in Birch Bay, stopping to pick up my sister-in-law on our way, and had a little brunch. Outside the windows of the restaurant, we could see a lot of traffic and milling around related to the Polar Bear Plunge that takes place at Birch Bay every New Year's Day. The thought of running into the ocean water on a near-freezing winter day does not appeal to me.

It was a beautiful day today, though cold. Here is a picture of me with my parents just outside the restaurant with the waters of Birch Bay behind us. The Polar Bear crowd had dispersed before we left.

I hope and pray that 2011 will be a happy, healthy, safe year for my family and me -- and may I wish you the same, with many thanks to you for visiting my blog. Happy New Year!