Is It 2012 Already?!?

Please forgive me. My composing will left me for a couple of months due to a bout of self pity, which I will disclose in a later post. Don't worry, nothing major, just Communism at its finest. I'll also catch up a season's worth of activities and musings...slowly but surely.
2012 snuck up on me. I believe I thought the same thing last year. We thought about spending Christmas somewhere tropical, but decided on a homey, quiet one instead after receiving word Larry's brother passed away. He went to Seneca the Sunday before Christmas by himself to make arrangements. He spread Mark's ashes over the graves of his parents, said goodbye and was back home the day before Christmas Eve tired, emotionally drained and carrying several well stocked suitcases.
Santa must not have been watching all the time as everyone ended up on the Nice list. He brought Barbies galore, iPads for the twins and me as well as a MacBook Air for Katie, and two sets of golf clubs; Taylor Made R9s for me and a pink Calloway set for Katie. We went to the Intercontinental for its Champagne Brunch, stayed until they kicked us out, eating and drinking until we were bulging at the seams. The celebration continued at our house with an impromtu party with several friends. Luckily, I had some appetizers and cookies on hand, all of which were huge hits. It's amazing how many of our European friends have never had Ranch dip and think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. They also raved about the Chinese noodle cookies. Ironically, one cannot find those crunchy lo mein noodles here. Larry brought two cans back just so I could make the cookies.

Initially, Larry and I wanted to spend a quiet evening at home New Year's Eve with the girls. We made a bunch of snacks, and while he was pouring a glass of wine for me, I tracked down the girls at their friends' house. They were hosting an open house party and had already ordered pizzas for the girls. They asked if we wanted to join them. Sure, why not. An open house means come whenever and leave whenever. We brought our snacks and drinks over and did not leave until after fireworks at the front gates of the compound, and a New Year's shot of Bailey's, which pretty much put me over my limit. I spent the first day of the new year in bed nursing a mean hangover. When will I learn?
Trying to get the girls' heads up and away from their new electronic dreams, we went to 'Walking Street', with the promise of new boots for school for the twins and ice cream for all.

The streets were crowded and the stores had all kinds of sales. We went to one department store and on the fifth floor found the childrens' shoe section. Close to an hour later, we left with two pairs of shiny, black boots. Since we'd had an early lunch, the girls were anxious for ice cream. Evidently, I was too. In my haste to put the van's trunk lid down, I managed to clonk myself smack in the middle of my nose. Yep, I'm pretty sure it's broken again (third time's a charm, right?) I foresee a nose job in my future.
Dairy Queen was my choice until Larry suggested Haagen Dazs. Ground beef or filet mignon? The choice was obvious. Our eyes bugged out of our heads as we read the menu. Our tongues fell out of our mouths when the waitress brought our frozen wonders to us. Larry and I had ordered smaller treats figuring there would be plenty of leftovers. Wrong! Sarah may be small, but that girl can put away ice cream without any problem.

With a sugar high and three weeks of vacation from which to come down, their sleep patterns needed serious readjustment, along with my nose. However, 2012 appears to be off to a sweet start.