The end of the year

The end of the year.

Well, here it is the end of the year.  It is hard to believe I have lived here or a year now.

First of all, it has been a while since I last posted.

In November, I had the happy privilege of going to the US for a visit and seeing my daughters and grandsons.  I also visited my aunt Emily, saw some of my friends, played a bit of golf, at some good ole American food and, generally had a good time.
We had Thanksgiving at my daughter, Lindsay’s house and it was a very enjoyable time for me.  Lindsay, Jonathon, all the boys, Aunt Emily, Shannon and Steve and me.  A wonderful family time for me.
Later, Lindsay and I played pool upstairs, drank too much and generally had a father-daughter bonding time.  It was great.  Both Shannon and Lindsay took me shopping on different days because I had a list of things to buy that I cannot get here.
My good friend, Charlie, took me golfing two days.  He provided me with an entire set of VERY good clubs, tees, ball markers, etc. for our golf outings.  I sucked, but I loved every moment of it.  We were luck enough to play two days while I was in the U.S.  It was even warm enough to go without a jacket while I was there.
It was wonderful to be back there and to spend time with Lindsay, Jon, the boys and Shannon.  I’m very thankful for that opportunity.

Unfortunately, I did not take pictures while I was there.  Sorry.

Then, I came back here - to home, so to speak.

I got back into my teaching routine for a few weeks.  Then, Christmas.
Christmas is a big holiday here.  By law, it is a two-day holiday.  Last year, we went to Lidzbark-Warminia.  But, this year, Alicja said we needed to host the family.  So, we did.  Our guests were her mother and father, her son and son’s girlfriend, Dominika.
Christmas eve dinner was traditional Polish - carp (yes, carp the fish), pierogi, etc.  I think everyone enjoyed it.  On Christmas day, I prepared a large baked ham with potatoes, corn, etc.  ) because I told Alicja I wanted a bit of traditional American.  I also baked a pecan pie.  We had brought the pecans here from Oklahoma in our luggage and kept them in the freezer.  The other ingredients I had to make from scratch.  I cannot buy pie shells here, so I made the crust from scratch.  And, I had to use the “syrup” I could find here.  But, generally it was pretty good.

We had a good visit and a good time.  But, Alicja was exhausted.  I told her that, next year, we will go somewhere.  Almost every hotel near some historic site has a Christmas special that includes a lot of food , drink, etc.   And, it is very inexpensive.  Next year, we will not have a house full of family.

So, now, it is New Year’s Eve.  We went out for lunch/dinner this afternoon.  But, we do not have big plans for the evening.  It seems that many people do since we are already hearing fireworks nearby.  I am all geared up to watch OU play Clemson tonight.  The game starts at 10:00 p.m. here.
One of my resolutions for next year is to blog more often and not wait for “significant” events.  We shall see how that goes.
Anyway........................
Happy New Year everyone!