Taste Like Chicken Wed Dec 27

Chele, glad Iggy did so well on the new handbag. I got out of that habit of carrying one during Covid, but still have quite a selection of backpack handbags that I just can't part with. I guess I do have that shoe addiction, but they are mostly athletic shoes. Dale got me a new pair of running shoes for Christmas. I'm anxious to hear how the bean/cabbage dish turns out. Have you finished season 6 of The Crown? I caught the last couple of episodes yesterday. Good cookbook. Did you get the most recent edition? I think the original version that I had came out in the 90s and there has been an update since then and even the older version has a lot of recipes in it. That should keep him busy for a while. She published a lot of cookbooks and I still have her tofu cookbook on the shelf. I hoped that winter weather wasn't going to affect you. I saw an article in the NY Times about how far above average temperatures have been in Minneapolis in December and how they are having a lot more accidents on lakes that are usually thick with ice by this time. Climate change strikes again!

Kathy, which Garmin did you get? Really cool surprise! That's been my go-to brand for several years and I'm currently wearing a Venu 2s that I can use to download music and listen through my earbuds at the gym. I just downloaded a new watch face yesterday, after replacing the Christmas one I used during the holidays. I agree on Ruby Sunday and where or when she came from, especially since the interviewer noted that it was a worldwide database search. Yes, Ruby's adopted grandmother, Cherry, seemed quite familiar with the Doctor, so I'm interested to see how that develops. 29K matches is pretty impressive for you. I'm guessing that's worldwide. Arya reluctantly ate dinner from one of the new bowls last night and tentatively ate breakfast from one this morning. Maybe there's hope. Sometimes I think it might help if I did know what she endured so young in her life, but then maybe it's one of those things I'm better off not knowing. Dale's alma mater played their first bowl game last night and beat Rice, but it was an ugly game and moved very slowly because of all the flags thrown, and about half of them were overturned on review. There was one play that they originally said Rice was getting hit with 35 yds of penalties, only to have it determined that penalties offset when they sorted things out, but it took 10 minutes to do it. We went to bed about 4 hours into the game when they still had most of the 4th quarter to play. The Vols QB just announced he's sitting out the Citrus Bowl to concentrate on the NFL draft. So it will be Nico at QB and that's a good thing.

Linda, great that you're feeling better and more energetic and enjoyed the roast beast. The Honeybaked Ham for NYE is a good idea. Staying off the roads is a good plan, too. No real plans here for NYE. I have stuff bought already to make a vegan quiche and we'll probably have apple nachos to go with it. Dale is getting fresh blackeyed peas for New Year's dinner (it's a southern thing). We'll probably be in bed before you on NYE if you stay up til the ball drops in NYC. Hopefully we won't be inundated with fireworks at midnight. Most of the nearby houses are unoccupied this time of year, so that helps.

We're still in the 50s so far today, but tomorrow the temps will be dropping like a rock. Like Chele, we may get some flurries but not much more. Please send good vibes in Liz's direction today and tomorrow. They were supposed to come home from her DS's yesterday and she is scheduled to work in the city both today and tomorrow. It's been several months since she had to endure that level of intensity. She'll be ready to crash on Friday.

Chele, that's a nice cookbook. Will you substitute something for the coconut oil or just leave it out? I'm not planning on monitoring my sleep for now. I tried it for a while with my old FitBit and didn't really see anything that interesting. I rarely wear heels anymore either. I got a pair of Easy Spirit ankle booties a few weeks ago that are so comfortable. I put some miles on them in Vegas and didn't have any issues, so that was a good test. The base of the shoe is basically a sneaker, but they look a little nicer. It's in the upper 60s here and dreary looking. We might get some rain later and then it's supposed to cool off some.

Karen, the watch is a Garmin Venu SQ. I went through the initial setup, but haven't really customized anything yet other than changing the face to one of the ones that came with it. Are there any faces you'd recommend? Yes, the 29k matches are worldwide and most are more distant than 4th cousin. There are about 1500 matches with 4th cousin or closer. About 2/3 of the matches are on my mom's side. It would be extremely rare for someone not to have any matches unless they were from some remote and isolated area. Or if they weren't completely human or were from a parallel universe. That sounds like good progress with the new bowls for Arya.

Other than the playoff games, the bowl games almost seem meaningless with so many players opting out. I saw FSU's depth chart for the Orange Bowl and didn't recognize a lot of the names. They'll be starting the inexperienced freshman QB that played in the ACC championship game. Well, at least he has that experience already! He won't have the same team around him though. The one area where everyone seems to be playing is special teams, so at least we didn't lose the kicker and punter on top of all the other opt outs.

Linda, you have had a pretty rough year, so don't blame you for being glad to see it go. I think I'll look back on 2023 as a pretty good year and hope my family does as well in 2024. They already started with the fireworks here the last couple of nights. I really don't get the fascination with setting them off for hours on end. My brother-in-law has headed to Michigan for their annual family party. With 10 siblings and all of their spouses, kids and grandkids, it's a huge party. My sister was just up there recently, so she is staying home for some much earned peace and quiet! We may get together with our mom on New Year's Eve, but there is nothing definite yet.