The New Year

Well, we've had a mixed-reviews start to the New Year, so far. I saw a HUGE, mature bald eagle right out our window on NYE, flying in circles over the water, then diving down & just brushing the ice... he did it 3 times! It was beautiful. Then, after I worked a couple hours, we spent the evening at the church playing Mexican Train & eating. That was fun! Dennis Reasonor (the town drunk - not that he's the ONLY town drunk, just the one most people would finger as THE town drunk) showed up around 11:30 so we made him sit & play also & he was there for ringing in the new year (which we actually RANG in - the boys rang the church bell). He is someone that always makes me sad - he is EXACTLY the type of person that dad would have really been able to help and identify with. The guy has always been a pretty heavy drinker, but has a great heart inside him. But, his wife was thrown from a horse & died this summer & that has kinda pushed him over the edge. I just feel like this town has let him down - no one who can truly identify with him & his disease and still be a man that he can respect. Instead, people just ignore the problem - or enable it. I do what I can when I'm at work & he comes in or like when he came to church NYE... but it can never be enough. He needs someone like dad.

Anyway, we stayed there WAY too late... didn't go to bed till 2am. So, all day New Year's Day, I had a terrible headache - so unfair to feel hungover when you didn't even drink! Jeff was totally psyched about the Rose Bowl, his Penn State Nittany Lions had finally made it back there - but we didn't get the channel on our tv - so we rented a motel room & watch it so Ben could see it too. Unfortunately, his team lost so that was a bummer.

So, home & to bed early!