"Coffee in hand, ready to tackle a brand new year. 🌟☕️🎉"

I ended up watching the ball drop. 
I was into a very good murder book, and time slipped away.
I read the last page around 11:50 p.m. and figured, since I was already awake, I may as well turn the TV on.

I sent Uncle a text just before midnight. 
I’m not sure if he appreciated it.

Cowboy got home from work at 1:20 a.m. 
By that time, I was well on my way to snoring.

I managed to actually sleep until 8:30 a.m. 
I’m usually up well before then.
I took a hot wash‑up in the cold house, gritted my teeth, and took Ms. Turtle outside.
The disadvantage with her, besides chicken coop pooping, is that she has a bladder the size of a pea.
She always has to pee.

I came in, curled up in my fuzzy, not‑so‑warm blanket, and did a bit of designing until the house woke up.
I miss designing. 
I took a lot of classes for it online.
I don’t have Paint Shop Pro (PSP) anymore, and I can guarantee I’ve forgotten most of what I learned.
I’m lucky I still remember just enough coding to keep this blog designed.

Once my housemates were awake and had eaten breakfast, we hit the road.
Oddly enough, there was very little traffic going to M., and very few people in the stores.
That was pleasant.

I guess it’s a holiday, and a lot of people were still recovering from last night’s partying.
Others may have decided to make it a holiday and stay in.

We got our groceries at Walmart. 
It was nice not to have Cowboy rushing us through.
I did feel bad, though.
He’s in a good deal of pain today, and he kept stopping to prop himself up against the cart.
We’re perfectly able to go in alone, but he’s been going in with me ever since we married.

The Goodwill was open, but we didn’t find anything.

Rural King was also open, and Cowboy got his chicken feed.

We grabbed a coffee from Dutch Bros. 
I’ve still not really warmed up to that place.
Badger loves it, but when I want coffee, I want coffee, even if it’s flavored.

Our final stop was at Food City.
Raven wanted hog jowl. 
I told Cowboy I had bacon, and I wasn’t fixing that nasty stuff.
He said if we could find it, he’d fry it.
He’s been frying it every New Year’s because I can’t stand the smell or how badly it pops.
They didn’t have any, and the guy in the meat department looked at me like I was crazy when I asked.
This is the South. 
You cannot tell me that boy had never heard of hog jowl.
Then again, he looked like he was still in high school, and kids these days may never have heard of our old‑time Southern traditions.

We made it home at 2:41 p.m., which is something we can’t do on a workday.
We got the groceries unloaded and put away.
Cowboy went out to take care of his chickens.
Badger and I keep telling him to get rid of them, but he says the chickens are the only reason he gets out of his recliner.
If they didn’t need to be taken care of, he’d stay in that recliner until it was time to go to work.

I grabbed some lunch because I hadn’t eaten all day, and my Dutch Bros coffee was pure sugar, which is never good on an empty stomach.

Badger started dinner, her version of a hopping John.
I stayed out of her way.
It’s not fair for her, when she’s not feeling well and has been running around all day, to come home and cook a huge meal alone.
But she doesn’t like me in the kitchen.

Cowboy fell asleep in his recliner, Raven was redoing his room, and Badger was in the kitchen.
I stayed on the computer.
I did offer to cook, but I burned her tater tots just once, and she told me to stay out of the kitchen.

She made an amazing dinner!
Her version of Hoppin’ John, a creamy turkey and potato dish, Canadian bacon, spinach, and cornbread.

She’s the better cook of the two of us. 
She actually likes cooking, and I absolutely hate it.

My plan for the night was to open a can of black‑eyed peas, open a can of spinach, fry bacon, and make cornbread from a mix and call it good.

The rest of the evening has been naps and TV.

We’re not exciting around here.