2010 - Day One...

Okay, well I guess we are starting all over again. That last year went by pretty darn quickly, so let's just see if we can make the best of this one. What better way to start off the new year than with a nice big egg loaf? Jody is not feeling that great this morning, and so I made up a quick egg loaf, and that is not too hard on the stomach. This is an egg loaf in progress, waiting for the varietal cheeses to be added, and whatever else I can think of to throw in on top of it. In this case, just cheese. BUT STILL, a great way to start a new year.

Last night I went to Mimi's Cafe and met our friend Gary for dinner. Jody was REALLY not feeling well last night, so he stayed in and I went to meet Gary, since we already had the dinner planned. It was a very nice evening and we sat and talked for a long time. Gary and I became friends in the hay-days of the Palotta AIDS Rides, and we have kept in touch ever since, but we do not really get an opportunity to see each other that much. He is in the middle of renovating his master-bath at his house, and he showed me photos; it is going to be very very nice when he gets it all done.

On the way home last night, it was kind of odd. I got home about 8:45, and Jody was already in bed, but the drive home was odd...I knew all the other drivers on the road were (maybe) going to celebrations, and I felt odd being out on the road all alone. I was VERY HAPPY when I got home. I passed the fireworks stand on 972 and they were pretty busy, and I took the long way home (on purpose) down 1105 to see if this one guy had his longhorn lights on his barn lighted up for the New Year. Yes indeed they were. Usually he only lights the barn when the Longhorns win, but I guess it was a special enough occasion for him last night. I would say these lights span about forty feet across his barn, and you cannot even see any evidence of them at all in the daylight. I love this stuff!

This morning, after breakfast, Jody crawled back in bed, and I went outside to putz around. I removed the pallets I had in the back of the truck from last week, and sat them around where I THOUGHT I would be putting the bee hives. That is another story, a couple paragraphs down. Then I went into the pastures and turned the water back on to the troughs. I think I got down to about 30 degrees last night, so I am glad I shut off the water. I will need to check the newscast this evening to see what the low is expected to be, but I expect I will be shutting it off again tonight.

When Jody woke back up, he was feeling better, so we headed off to Hutto (they have a Lowe's there). I was interested in getting some shelving units and stuff to continue organizing the office at home. Just before we got to Taylor, Konrad (the bee keeping instructor) called and asked if I could come and pick up my hives today instead of tomorrow as we had planned. That kind of changed my plans JUST a little bit, so I stopped and got gas (and diesel for the tractor) at the Wal-Mart in Taylor. I was going to do that on the way home, but...plans change.

ANYWAY, we got what we needed to Lowe's, and headed on over to the bee warehouse and we loaded up my five hives in the back of the truck. I have been paying attention to all kinds of beekeeping programs, and you always see the hives in very close proximity of one another. I asked Konrad how far apart the hives needed to be spaced, and he said, oh about 40 feet! Well, that changes plans again! I am not going to have mine spaced that far apart, maybe 15 or twenty feet, but not forty. I want them to be in the front of the property, and under a grove of trees we have up there so the sun won't cook them in the summer. ANYWAY, we will figure out where to put them in the morning.

On the way home, we stopped at the Dairy Queen in Georgetown and had a spoiler. YUM! Now I am hungry again. We got home and Jody went back to bed for a while, and I started putting shelf units together, and rearranging things. I am at a stopping point now for a while, and there is always tomorrow. Kind of like the diet my friend Jamie is on, the Starts Tomorrow diet. Whatever...

THIS JUST IN: I heard this noise and was about to ask Jody if Michael and Hubert were in the pasture cutting hay, and I looked out the office window and there were three motorized hang-glider things flying around. I do not know what they are called, but they are pretty cool. You never really know what you will see out here. They landed somewhere in a pasture probably between here and Schwertner. Interesting!

So, what would the New Year be without making something like a resolution. I am not sure if I am making any resolutions or not this year...I made one a couple months ago, which had to do with using my indicators when I am changing lanes or making a turn. It is still a work in progress. But, just in case, here are some things that I would like to work on in this New Year.

I would like to be more tolerant, more patient. I am always in a hurry, and I do not think I am alone in that area. I think tolerance (of drivers?) is a good thing, and patience is a virtue. I know a few virtuous souls, and I am going to try my best to emulate them.

I am going to try and contradict myself less. Although I am going to contradict myself before this post is finished. I would like to be happy with less, and in the same breath, I am hoping to purchase a new car by the end of the year. It it was just a new car I was after, I could go get one today (or tomorrow), but I am really hoping to be able to buy a plug-in hybrid by the end of 2010, and I have my eyes on the Chevy Volt. We shall see...

I am going to try to take just a little bit better care of myself physically this year. It was pretty darn stupid of me to wait two years to have my knee fixed, and most likely that waiting caused more issues, and it could have been better to have had it taken care of earlier. I am not much of a going to the doctor kind of person, though, and if I get sick, I never know if I got better because I went to the doctor, or because I was fixin' to be better anyway, and I just wasted the money for the doctors visit...I just never know.

Okay, this one is a throw away...I would like to lose about 15 pounds. That is not anything earth shattering, and I think I can do that pretty easily, probably in a month or six weeks. So, that is something I would like to accomplish. It should be especially easy if I can get back on my bike any time soon. The Orthopedic guy said I should be back in the saddle two weeks from the surgery, but even I think that is optimistic. See patience two paragraphs up.

So, that's it...I hope you all have a very happy New Year. Please be kind to someone that may not be expecting it of you. Remember to say please and thank you. Make a small change that will benefit all of mankind and have FUN!