Sunday Stealing - New Year!

 Linking up with Bev over at Sunday Stealing.

1. Something that made you cry this year? First of all, I’m normally not a big crier. When I was much younger, I made the decision that crying made me too vulnerable. The craziest things make me cry now – like when the firefly (lightning bug in the south) dies in The Princess and the Frog or when Ted Lasso lets his wife go. I did cry at Bill Arnold’s funeral this year. His wife died a few years ago and there was such finality when he died. I also cried this year when someone hurt my feelings – they basically accused me of being a thief and that was not and is not true.

2. Something you want to do again next year? I want to travel internationally. I know I’m a broken record – I have mentioned that in just about every blog post this year.

3. Talk about a new friend you made this year. We met a couple back in 2020 (so not actually in 2021), but I feel like our friendship has grown much over the past year. Also, we are participating in our neighborhood supper clubs and I feel like we are making friends that way.

4. How was your birthday this year? I turned 63 but I do not feel old! The week before my birthday we were at the beach with our family and had lots of fun. A few days after my birthday, we ate at a new restaurant – Blueprint on Third and really enjoyed it. We had a gift card which made it even better.

5. Favorite book you read this year? I’ve read too many good ones this year. I loved Four Winds and I loved American Dirt. I also enjoyed Our Woman in Moscow and The Personal Librarian. I also read the first two Harry Potter books and loved them. I know I read at least 67 books this past year.

6. What’s a bad habit you picked up this year? I’m desperately trying not to pick up the habit of stress eating. I thought I had conquered it but I find myself eating more when Mark is staying with his mother. I do not want to “pick it up” again.

7. Post a picture from the beginning of the year. This was on January 7, 2021.

8. Post a picture from the end of the year. You said 3 pictures, right?

we toasted the New Year (before midnight)
with sparkling cranberry/apple juice
this year. Mark doesn't like the
taste of champagne and we
saw this in the store - problem
solved!

These two pictures are out of order.
We make gumbo on New Year's Eve
so this picture is finished product
along with cornbread (no sugar in our cornbread).

This is the giant pot at the beginning.

9. A memorable meal this year? We ate at Blueprint on Third (see above) for my birthday and it was yummy. We also ate at Hot and Hot and their meals are always memorable.

All four of these photos were
from our meal at
Blueprint. Mark's appetizer
was fried oysters.

Mark had shrimp, alligator,
and fried fish.

I had grilled snapper - yum!

My appetizer - love shrimp!

Actually, the most memorable meal was one we didn't get to eat. One of the nights we were at the beach, Mark and I were at a restaurant eating dinner. We got a text from one of our nephews that their dad had been caught in the undertow. He said he was going via ambulance to the local hospital. We literally asked the server for our check and left our food on the table. Just FYI - he is fine. He did get caught. He did swallow a lot of salt water. They did release him from the hospital after several hours. He actually felt bad for a couple of days. We joke about it now because our nephew's text made us think that our brother-in-law was not going to make it. This was one of those events that happen in families and it is terrifying at the time but becomes a story to be told over and over.

10. What are you excited about for next year? See #2 above – we have a trip planned this year and possibly a second trip and we are hoping covid stays away enough where we can travel.

11. What’s something you learned this year? Just last week I learned how to change the sim card from my husband’s old phone to my old phone plus I set up both phones. What did I do before YouTube videos? You can learn to do almost anything with a YouTube video!!

12. What’s something new about your place of residence (room, home, or general location) now vs the start of the year? We bought a new sofa this year – same exact design as last sofa with a heavier duty fabric. We commissioned our niece to paint a picture for our kitchen and that is new, too. This picture is large. We needed a large piece of art for a large wall. 

13. Favorite place you visited this year? Ireland – hands down.

14. Did you keep any New Year’s Resolutions? I’m not big on resolutions. I have made a few over the years and have definitely tried to keep them. Sometimes I do . . .and sometimes I don’t.

15. Will you make New Year's Resolutions for 2022? I haven’t written down any resolutions but I have thought about goals for the year.