Elgan speaks
...and her words thunder across the land

Time to put up the new calendars, folks!

Sunday, Jan. 1, 2006
12:13 p.m.
I promised you a real entry last night, and a real entry you shall have. First of all, thanks so much to all of you who left me messages and notes wishing me a happy new year. I am moved, if not to tears, then to a lump in my throat when I think of all the wonderful people out there I have befriended through Diaryland. I hope each and every one of you has a great year, good health, good fortune, and good friends.

As for yesterday, all went well, except that I was a little behind schedule for dinner preparations which meant that Little Princess didn�t actually get to eat with us before heading out to her own party. Our guests from NYC (en route from the Ottawa valley) arrived around 2:30 p.m., having lunched at the restaurant I recommended in N0rth HatIey (The PiIsen, a fine establishment) and enjoyed it mightily (except that the younger daughter was a little affrighted by the taxidermed wild boar�s head [what we took to calling an �oxymoron� when we came across them in a chambre d�h�te in the mountains of Thorenc] affixed to the wall above her), and we proceeded to have an excellent visit. The little girls (ages 6 and 8) played in the snow (it was -10�C, so they were made to bundle up well) while the parents started drinking inside (I have never seen one woman, who must weight as little as I, put away so much white wine. I think she drank close to three bottles all by her lonesome). The boys pulled out the guitars (Buddy Boy on bass) and I launched into another latke extravaganza (again they were a great success) and barbecued way too much teryaki-marinated salmon (we have so much left over), accompanied by a green salad and topped off with a banana-chocolate mousse (which is made with silken tofu, so it�s actually good for you) which went down much too easily. There were no complaints about the food whatsoever.

After dinner the girls watched videos until bedtime and the adults continued drinking and playing guitars and then board games until midnight (one of the great things about having a chiming clock is it tells you when to pop the champagne corks), at which point we all kissed, hugged, drank champagne (I don�t really like champagne, but I was polite) and wished each other a Happy New Year. I think I got to bed around 2 a.m. and slept soundly until 8:00 this morning.

Our friends have gone now and I�m thinking that another couple of hours in bed would be a great way to spend the afternoon. Maybe I can convince Hubby to join me (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more), or maybe I�ll go solo and just sleep.

|

<~~~ * ~~~>