It took a little more effort to get our minds psyched to get ready for the new year. Actually preparing for the new year is a bigger deal for mom than Christmas.
You have to get your house organized and clean before embarking on another year. I remember mom making my brother and me clean the baseboards with rags and a bucket of water when we were kids. Needless to say, we don't do that anymore.
However, we do a few things that mom just insists on. She just has to make her signature macaroni salad.
It's a very complicated dish. I was her sous chef in charge of bringing her ingredients, peeling and grating carrots and garlic, peeling eggs, etc. Oh... and washing a lot of pots, pans, bowls, etc. etc.
My brother was more than happy to come over for his share. She was sad that we couldn't all be together to celebrate the new year this time.
Art washed our car and van and got the laundry done. You need clean sheets for the new year.
He also did all our donations for the year.
I finished our thank you notes for our Christmas gifts.
The job that we really don't enjoy is to clean and organize the 12 year old refrigerator and freezer.
We took out everything in the freezer, itemized and organized it so we know what we have.
We had to defrost the cooling vents in the fridge so it can hang on a bit longer until we get our vaccines and can go shopping again.
We tossed out expired items in the fridge and cupboards.
After I'd made a bunch of dinosaur masks with material I'd bought at Walmart for my grandsons, my daughter, Tiffany surprised me with MORE dinosaur fabric 😆 and thread at Christmas so I could sew masks for her nephews.
It was meant to be a surprise to keep me occupied during the lock-down. Tif was rather dismayed when I told her what I'd purchased at Walmart after she'd already bought the fabric and had mailed it to me for Christmas.
It doesn't matter. My son says JD and RK will be thrilled. They LOVE dinosaurs! If they don't grow up to be paleontologists, I'd be surprised.
(I know. I know. I didn't have to work so hard to finish the masks, but I had a flat rate box ready to go off to Maryland so I wanted to get them done and out to the post office before the new year. Yes, it's true. I can be crazy sometimes.)
I now need to cut our hair.
One thing we are actually hoping for is a little rain on New Years Eve. The illegal fireworks in Hawaiian neighborhoods are absolutely nuts these days. As if the almost professional-like aerials weren't bad enough (though quite stunning), those concussion type firecracker bombs that make car alarms go off are horrible!
So yes, a little rain would be nice. 😁
Happy New Year, everybody!
I would be too exhausted to stay up until midnight after all of that work. Oh nevermind, I won't make it anyway. lol
ReplyDeleteYou have exhausted me and it is not the New Year yet. Yours will be a clean one and a happy one with Mom's macaroni salad.
ReplyDeleteNever really thought about it but having a clean start to the New Year sounds good--especially after this past year. Gee thanks, now I know what I'll be doing today. Probably skip the baseboards though:))
ReplyDeleteWhew, exhausted just reading about all you do to see in the new year. I like to think I keep on top of all that through the year so no need to rush to get it done now. Happy New Year. It's got to be a better one that we have had.
ReplyDeleteYou have blogged about getting the house ready for the new year before, and I thought of you when I tackled a cleaning project (JUST ONE, THOUGH) yesterday.
ReplyDeleteLike Kathy, I too thought of you doing all your end-of-year preparations for the new year. I would be a better person if I did that, but it's unlikely I'll get much accomplished on this last day of 2020.
ReplyDeleteI am doing laundry and will have a nearly empty hamper for the new year so maybe that counts for something?
I'm baking a bread pudding today after doing all the prep yesterday. It has to sit overnight in the fridge, which just happens to have some room because we've been eating up all the leftovers and I cleaned out all those jars with just a dib or dab of their contents. The bread pudding will be delivered to a few friends on new year's day.
I also hope it will rain tonight so as to keep the fireworks from exploding.
happy new year kay, art and mom!
ReplyDeleteI did clean out my storage closet and organize it and also my printer cabinet is all organized too. Of course, today is Thursday so I cleaned the apartment too. That's the most I will do for awhile.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to all of you! (Never thought about fireworks being so strong as to set off car alarms!) Stay safe! (Could wear a mask outside due to the smoke?) Those dino masks will be a big hit for the kids. Aloha, Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteI wish I could send you some of our rain. (we have plenty!) Those masks are very cute! I wish I could get motivated to clean. I've been doing more of it with my house remodeling, but that's out of necessity.
ReplyDeleteI'll hope for pouring rain for you. The Seal bombs always get to me.
ReplyDeleteYes, mam, I will go get out a set of clean sheets to start off the new year.
I wish you and your lovely family a very Happy and Healthy New Year! Stay safe! Warm regards from snowy Germany!
ReplyDeleteWow, that’s a lot of masks, and a lot of cleaning. My grandma was the same. Everyone had to be clean and no job could be left undone. She said if a particular chore wasn’t finished, such as ironing, you would be behind in that task for the next whole year! Happy New Year to you all!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year Kay Art and family! The masks look professional. You are all set for the New Year!
ReplyDeleteThe cleaning of the house is an interesting tradition. Don't worry about the masks. They will be needed.
ReplyDeleteI remember learning about this tradition from other posts in earlier years. I am afraid I'm too lazy to do any of that! You are a wonderful daughter, and you have done your part and then some! :-)
ReplyDeleteI used to love the fireworks when I was young. The thrill of making the loudest noise and burning money (via fireworks). Now that I am older, I really don't like it. Our dogs get so scared and upset and they don't know what to do.
ReplyDeleteThe only tradition I still so is making ozone as our first meal of the new year. This year it was rather difficult to get mizuna - I found a couple of very sad looking bunches at the new Kahala Foodland Market just before they closed last night.
A happy new year to all of you, Kay, and enjoy a spoon full of that macaroni salad for me.
ReplyDeleteWe are cleaning house, but a little slower than you, and perhaps not quite as thoroughly. And yes, clean sheets are a requirement the night before surgery, after I have given myself a scrub with that special soap. It will all be done by Sunday night.
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