Happy New Year!

Last night was a very laid back night,at least for me.We had decided a while ago to stay in this year. Our plan was to have appetizers,I would have a drink or two,and we would have some champagne at midnight ( Rick actually said he would have glass this year).

Rick and Zach started assembling his new entertainment center/TV stand. We wanted to help create more space in Zach's room,since it is rather small,so we bought him a 26"flat screen TV and a horizontal TV Stand. He had our old corner entertainment center,which stuck out a bit. This new stand has all kinds of storage space,which is behind doors,so the games,books,and movies are out of sight. Since the TV in our room was beginning to go on the fritz,we now have his old TV in our room. They began this project at 2:00 PM.

One thing I forgot to mention is that Rick has been put on Ritalin,to help with his organizational skills. Many of the issues that those with TBI have are the same as those who have ADHD. They are not acquired in the same way,but Ritalin works the frontal lobe of the brain in the same manner. He takes this at 8:00 AM and again at noon. He says he can feel it working. It does help,though he still gets confused,but he is more focused than before.  He has also been getting more accomplished and has more drive.

At any rate,the building of the TV stand hit some bumps along the way. The instructions called for building the unit upside down,but then when they turned it over,Rick and Zach realized that the instructions called for them to put the back on the wrong  way. So they had to redo it. Then the doors were put on wrong. Zach kept coming out every so often saying," I have good news,and I have bad news..." I felt so bad for Rick,but he did not want my help. They stopped at 6:00 PM for our dinner of grilled chicken quarters,rice,and green beans. They then went back to work. I told Rick to just leave it until tomorrow(which is today),but he said he had promised Zach that his TV and stand would be done and he was determined to keep his promise. So while they were in Zach's room, I sat in my recliner watching Dr Quinn and knitting.  I then lit my candles and finally figured out how to shut off the flash on my camera so I could take some photos...it only took me over a year to think about and do it!

This gives you an idea of what our house looks like on any given winter night,with the exception of the Christmas decorations,of course!

At 8:00 I made the appetizers ( frozen mozzarella sticks and pizza rolls -they were awful...next year I will make my own.I know...what do I expect from frozen,right?)
Rick was going to have unbreaded buffalo wings,but wound up not because he was concentrating on the stand. By 10:00 PM,the stand ( with the exception of a couple shelves) and the TV were done. We sat and just watched New Years Eve coverage on CNN with Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin. Midnight rolled around,and I did not feel like drinking champagne. I was tired and didn't want to open the bottle,so we are going to drink it today. Brother B was down at Brother Dale's house,so I would've had to drink most of it myself,and I knew that was not going to happen. We all went to bed by 12:10.

This morning we woke up at 8:00. Brother B came in and was looking out the kitchen window when all of a sudden,he said,"Quick! Look out front!" We did,and there,across the street,were 10 wild turkeys.

You can't really see too well in this photo that Zach took,but you might be able to make out a couple of birds to the left of the tree in the foreground. Apparently,according to our neighbor Kelly,they came out of the field down Avon Lane,and there were 20 of them in our driveway. They then proceeded down the front of the yard( we can see their tracks),down the pathway,and across the street to the woods. By the time we saw them,half of them had already made their way into the woods,and a few were hanging back.

Rick and Zach finished putting the doors on the stand,hooked up his game system and DVD player this AM. It took two hours.

Today our New Year dinner will consist of ham,potatoes,yams,peas,rolls,and pineapple. We will have that this evening. I haven't forgotten the champagne!!!

Happy New Year!!!!