We built our home in 2009. As with most homes, it has aged. Most particularly, light bulbs have gone out. Usually, it’s an easy repair. The under cabinet lights, however, were another matter.

What I did on the first day of the new year. Talked to a dear friend. Talked to my daughter just home from Maine. Napped in my recliner. Watched a bit of TV. Ate some lunch. Walked down Back Forty road.

The end of the year. Surprising how much importance we attach to it. It’s just a day. In a long line of days. On a planet that is billions of years old.

Once upon a time, we bought a honey baked ham. We ate the ham and cooked the bone in Navy Beans. It was delicious.

The cold still lingers. The days or nice, but the nights are hard and cold. I’m happy to be inside. We’re in that period of time, where the old year lingers as well. Done. A little tired.

So far, I’ve had a brilliant Christmas season and a brilliant Christmas day. I’m sure there’s more to come because this, now, is the twelve days of Christmas and it lasts until January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany. So, I can be in the Christmas spirit for at least another ten days, and that feels pretty good.

As always, I’m waiting for the kid to get up. Kid as in one, and he’s not a kid, although to me he’s still about six. In the old days, it was the kids, as in three.

We had a nice family Christmas yesterday although we missed the brother, son, and middle child. He was home ill. We ate, we drank and made merry then swapped presents. It was fun all the way around.

I finally did it. Bought a cheap, hang on the wall, outdoor thermometer. It’s on a porch pole right outside my kitchen window. This morning the little red column of mercury stands at 10. That is shiver my timbers cold.

Spent time wrapping presents yesterday. I need to up my game. I’m good at wrapping presents by family group so that I know which paper goes with what group. But the little touches are missing. Ribbons and bows.

Here’s some news I’ve yet to share. Just down the road from me, they’re building a multi-unit apartment complex. It’s one piece of property over. I can hear the construction vehicles constantly.

Baby, it’s cold outside. Random song line to describe today’s weather. No point really. It just seemed the thing to do. This tendency toward randomness often happens when I get a good night’s sleep and I got one last night.

Well, that was interesting. A night of dreams. Literally. I went to sleep, dreamed, woke up and did that four times. Four dreams.

I was dawdling in bed this morning, enjoying the warmth of the covers, when I realized I had to get moving. I had things to do. Well, a thing. Get a haircut.

Well, dang. I anticipated rain all day yesterday. It never came. At least not to me. It was just warm and muggy. Real Texas winter weather.

It looks as though it will be a day where we anticipate rain. I like that sort of day. Gray. Full of promise.

I’m wondering what next year will bring while feeling good about the possibilities. And that’s good medicine…

All the recent tiny rains, the ones the drizzle down over long hours, have done wonders for our bluebonnet crop in the back lots. The ground is wet as far down as you care to dig, and the plants love it.

Fried a pork chop last night. It came out just right. Golden brown with crispy fat. No pink inside. That’s a first. I won’t bore you with the details, except one.