More Entertaining!

It has been so nice to entertain in my new home. With a bigger kitchen and more dining room space, I have been enjoying having people over.

On Friday, December 21, I had Peder and his family over for supper. They were so surprised to see how big my apartment is. When they were here the first time, I had only moved in the day before and there were boxes, boxes and more boxes stacked in the kitchen, living room and my bedroom. This time everything had been put away. Sadly, I forgot to take any pictures that night.

On Sunday, December 23, my brother and sister drove up from Rochester and my cousins Pat and Pudge (back from Arizona for 10 days) drove over from Willernie to have dinner with me. It was wonderful to catch up with everyone and Pat, Pudge and Jerry wanted a tour of my building. I think they really liked it. Pat, bless her heart, managed to make us a plum pudding, so the tradition continues. The recipe for the pudding is from our grandmother, and is well over 70 years old. Our kids aren't fond of it, but our generation sure is. While we we eating dinner, the pudding was being steamed (reheated) on the stove. The sauce was also being warmed up. It is so delicious!

L to R: Janet, yours truly, Pat, Jerry

This past Friday night I hosted another dinner with friends I know from my church—specifically the choir. Each of the three women helped me with unpacking at my new home and I appreciated their help so much.

L to R: yours truly, Laurey, Max

L to R: Judy, Pat, Ed

Another dinner is coming up this next Friday night. I'm looking forward to that one, too.

My First Company

This past Wednesday I had my first company—ladies who sit next to or behind me in choir. It was really fun getting my place ready and for the first time, having extra space for appetizers.

Once everyone arrived, I gave them a tour of my home. Two of them had been here before, but it was while there were stacks of unpacked boxes and nothing yet on the walls . They loved the transformation. Also, none of my Christmas decorations were up, so this time things looked festive.

We had a nice visit and the ladies raved about my casserole (hotdish) and asked for the recipe. It was my hot chicken salad. I served it with a chopped kale/broccoli salad and raspberry/cranberry jello, plus banana bread. For dessert I served peppermint ice cream. Those present are (L to R): Bonnie, Debra, Joanne, and Nancy. Unfortunately Anne couldn't make it due to illness.

The following day my friends Jolene and Mark came over and baked Russian Tea Cake cookies with me. Actually, they did nearly all the work. I merely showed them where things were. Both of them love to bake and they thought my spacious kitchen was really nice. I agree.

Getting Settled

October and November days were filled with preparing to sell my home, showing it, and after five days on the market, marking it "sold," with a closing date of November 16. Next came the huge job of packing everything up and getting rid of things I no longer needed or wanted. I donated a love seat, two chairs, two ottomans, a night stand and a cedar chest to Bridging, a local charity who helps immigrants. I made trip after trip to another charity with my car trunk full of "stuff." How did I accumulate so much of it? While I was packing, Nels took it all in stride—sleeping most of the time.

November 10 I closed on my new apartment at Valley View Cooperative and the next day the moving van came to move my things. It took them an hour and a half to load everything and over two hours to unload. For a few weeks the living room was full of boxes and tubs. There were some in the kitchen, too. Steve Oates, a VP at Bethany House, came to my home and put together a new tv table and book shelves for my library. He returned and installed a  hub on my new tv so that I could use my DVD player and VCR. I have quite a large movie library, and he hung pictures, plates and shelves.

And now things are settled. I have some things in my storage unit that will remain there for a time. I am a bit weary of moving and want to enjoy the Christmas season.