New year, but same old same old

I always approach the new year with great ideas. Then the new year comes and the kids go back to school and all of my great ideas disappear. So far my excuse this year in the stalling department has been the cold weather that appeared out of nowhere and chills me in the early morning. Instead of hopping out of bed and kicking ass I've been going back to bed and snuggling under my warm Steelers blanket. Tomorrow I tell myself. Tomorrow I will do big things. Today I've decided that next week I will conquer the world. In the meantime here is a peek into my new year:

• The eldest returned to college. I worried because she was clingy over break. She told me ten times a day that she loved me and hugged me. I thought maybe school wasn't where she wanted to be, but since she has been gone I've only received one Snapchat and one FaceTime conversation. I tell myself that is good thing.
• Madison bought me a knitting kit, and I taught myself knitting. I use to knit years ago when I was young. My mother had us all knitting scarves and hats for winter, but that was so long ago and I had no memory of how to do it. The book that came with the kit wasn't all that great so I learned via YouTube. The problem with these activities is that I have no patience. I went the project done now so that I can do another. 
• I have started walking again after my long hiatus over break. My new Apple watch makes me stand up every hour and move. My goal next week is to hit the gym, but if that doesn't happen I'll try to walk three times a day. Maybe I should walk every time my watch dings. 
• I'm alone a lot of the time. It's a good thing I like being alone, but I realized that Madison was nice companion even if she was asleep. It was nice to have a house full of young people over the holidays and now the house is very quiet. Except for the dog. The dog drives me crazy. But I love him anyway.
• My mother had tons and tons of shells that she collected over the years. We found them while cleaning out The Condo and I came up with the idea of sprinkling them around the beach at night. I figured this holiday would be a good time to do it with all of the family here so we took one night and did so. It was very healing for me. As I walked along the shore throwing handfuls of shells each way I thought about how much I wanted to find great shells as a kid so that my mother would be happy and proud of me. I so wanted to please her. The releasing of those shells let me release some of those feelings. We can't always make our parents happy. It isn't our fault. I'm sorry I spent so much time trying to do so. I forgive myself. I forgive my mother. So far this new year I have thought about some of the funny things we did and said in our lives. I remember happy times. I feel better.
• My good neighbor is dying. He has been given three months. That makes me sad. I enjoyed our times outside in the various garages chatting. My neighborhood has changed so much in the last several months with deaths and moves. It is weird to thing that I was the young one when we moved in. Now I'm the old one. I hope I can give these youngsters as much happiness and fun as my neighbors brought me. I hope my neighbor has a great three months. I'll miss him.
• Madison and I learned how to arm knit after the holidays and one evening we knit scarves. I've been able to wear mine almost every day due to the cold weather. Yesterday a cashier in the Walmart Marketplace complimented me on my scarf. I offered to make her one. She wants a purple one.
• I have been working on my resolutions. Not all of them, but several of them. I realize if I do a little bit a little at a time I can make it work. Besides I have twelve whole months to work through it all.

Monday morning NFL recap - playoffs

I couldn't get this posted on time because frankly I hadn't recovered from Saturday's ... I don't even have an adjective... game in Cincinnati. For the last ten years the Bengals haven't even been a blip in my radar. I didn't think the rivalry was as bad as the one we have with the Ravens. It use to be, but the Bengals haven't played well for so long that it was like playing the Browns. Then suddenly they started getting their act together a few years ago and bam! the rivalry was on like donkey kong. The last game was out of control resulting in over $100,000 in fines for both teams. This game wasn't any better and the NFL had better make some changes, and just in case they happen upon my little blog I'll give them a few:

1. Take a page from kids soccer - Move the benches farther back from the field. Paint some lines and tell the players and coaches that if they cross this lines there will be penalties. And stick with that rule. Right now it isn't working. Coaches and players are constantly moving past the sideline paint and on to the field. We've had coaches trip players. We've had people injured from a running player mowing them down. Steelers coach Mike Munchak was penalized for messing with a Bengals player on the sideline. Outside Lineback Coach Joey Porter wasn't the only coach on the field during an injury timeout as CBS Sports reported. Many Bengals coaches came on to the field during an injury to their player (and my fantasy player) running back Giovani Bernard. It's time to take a harder stance with the rules of who can and can not be on the field.
2. Take another page from kids soccer - When a player is injured then everyone on the field, and hell, lets add both benches, kneel while the injured player is being attended to. It's that simple. This way the trainers can do their job, players can pray if they choose to or fuel their anger or better yet take some deep breaths, and the injured player can be the focus of attention.

Hey, Roger Goodell, I'm available when the owners meet. Call me. I'll help you sort through some things.

Steelers:

• First of all, kudos to the two Steelers running backs, Fitzgerald Toussaint and Jordan Todman, who stepped up from their reserve positions to take the place of our injured running backs La'Veon Bell, out earlier in the season, and DeAngelo Williams, injured in last week's game. These two knocked it out of the park with Toussaint running for 118 yards and Todman for 65. They took the heat off of Ben Roethlisberger and kept the Steelers running game alive. 
• The Steelers owned the first half of the game. They played smart. They played it safe. Ben had help from the running backs and the passing game wasn't too bad. It wasn't pretty, but it was Steelers football. Then it all went to hell. Ben got hurt and the defense let the Bengals right back in again. We have got to control our own emotions when we lose our quarterback.
• Second of all, let's discuss the latter part of the game. The Bengals fans were atrocious. I get it. The team hasn't won a playoff game since football started. It's annoying. But to throw trash on to the field during a game? To throw full cups of soda at Ben Roethlisberger as he is carted off the field after being injured? Classless. This is a football game people not life and death. These players are real people and deserve some respect when they visit.
•  I like Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, but I blame him for some of the loss of control in this game. The Bengals players and fans were frustrated by the fourth quarter. Shut out by a team they despise and losing another playoff game, emotions were out of control. The Bengals players were mouthing off and pushing and shoving. I saw players push off of tackled Steelers players as they stood up, shoving heads into the ground. The refs were doing their best to control the situation, but it is up to the coach to control the players. Lewis stood stoic on the sidelines and later said that once players are out on the field it is out of his hands as he isn't allowed on the field. I know that was a slam at the Steelers sideline, but I disagree. These players are not suppose to behave the way they behaved, and if you have to get a penalty for marching out on the field to get these players under control then you take it. Anything would have been better than doing nothing and letting players get hurt. "Marvin Lewis shouldn't be on the sidelines if he can't control his players" was the theme after the game by both analysts Bill Cowher and former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Boomer Esiason, who had plenty more to say about his former team.
• "This was a disgraceful performance by the Cincinnati Bengals. An ugly performance by Vonataze Burfict who should not only be fined, but should be suspended for a significant amount of time," an emotional Boomer Esiason reported after the game ended on his CBS postgame show. "I'm a former Bengal and I'm embarrassed by the way this game ended and by the way these guys acted on the field today." 
• What saddens me is that after the game, and days after the game, Marvin Lewis is still in denial that his players lost control. Seriously? Has he not watched the game on replay? 
• Vontaze Burfict, who has since received a three game suspension next year for his hit on Antonio Brown, has a nasty reputation and unfortunately once you have that you are open season for penalties. Just ask James Harrison. That being said he has got to play nicer. He racked up almost $70,000 in fines the last time he played the Steelers for face masks and roughness on the passer and players. He was fined $50,000 for a hit on the Ravens this year. I'm not necessarily referring to his hit on Brown. This is football after all and those types of hits happen more then the NFL would like to see, but I'm not sure that can be changed. I'm not saying he targeted Brown, but add up all of his actions from the game and tell me this is a player that deserves a place in the NFL. 
• Also, tell me why Burfict's action after an interception, running, with other players by his side, off of the field and up through the tunnel toward the locker rooms, wasn't a penalty. The refs called excessive celebration for William Gay shaking his booty after scoring (only it was overturned) after an interception, but leaving the field was okay? That should have been the first flag and perhaps that might have put a stop to the craziness that then followed.
• Bengals' Adam "Pacman" Jones was flagged at the end of the game after Antonio Brown was hurt. He intervened in an argument that had nothing to do with him, and instead of pushing back his teammates and stopping the debacle, he got right into the middle of it and ended up shoving a referee that resulted in the last penalty and allowed the Steelers to kick the winning field goal. He later videotaped himself shouting the f-bomb word over and over and over again as he shot down the Steelers players, Joey Porter, and the referees and posted it on Instagram. Yep, that did nothing to help your case Jones. He later removed the video, but has now come out and said that Brown faked his injury. Again, Marvin Lewis, step up and control your players. 
• I don't excuse the Steelers from their part in the madness either. Joey Porter on the field? He shouldn't have been. Arguing with the opposing players? Man up and keep your emotions under control. Pushing and shoving players? Stop it. If you want to retaliate, then beat the other team. I've said that once and I'll continue to say it. The only way to get back at a team, its players, and its coaches is to be the better person, shut your mouth, and kill them on the field by playing the better game and winning.
• Lastly, the good things about the game. Kudos to Ryan Shazier who had the forethought to pull the ball out of Jeremy Hill's hands as he was being tackled. That fumble was the saving grace for the Steelers that allowed them a chance to get back into the game.
• During the week Big Ben called out Martavis Bryant on his radio show challenging him to step up and play better. Bryant heard. Bryant listened. Bryant did just that making a ESPN SportsCenter top ten worthy touchdown that included controlling the ball while somersaulting out of the end zone.
• Big Ben Roethlisberger is no doubt the leader of this team. He went off the field with a shoulder injury only to return and agree to go back out on to the field to try to win the game. He kept the players in it, making huge passes to get them down the field and within the kicking target. We talk so much about his past and his mistakes and his rape allegations, but I think it is time to talk about a guy who has served his time, changed his ways, and manned up to lead a first rate franchise. I couldn't have been more proud of him then I was on Saturday.
• And yay for Chris Boswell who walked out on to that hostile field cool as a cucumber to score the winning kick. He came out, did his business, and turned back to run off the field without any excessive celebrating. That's the way it is done folks.
• The Steelers were told to get off of the field immediately and they had to zig and zag their way into the tunnel as the Bengals fans threw water bottles and cups and all sorts of debris toward the running players. I'm thankful that no was hurt both in the stands and on the field. I'm also thankful that several Bengals fans have written to the editor of the Cincinnati paper to voice their displeasure with the team and with the fans. As a fan of the NFL and my team, I agree we have to do that. Not all of us are ruffians with murder in our hearts taking this football as life and death. Those of us that understand the game and what it stands for in this country have to stand up and say, enough is enough. I cringe to think of next year's game between these two teams. Lets just hope both organizations hold the players and coaches accountable and control this now before anything worse happens.

Other:

• Now I'm torn because the Steelers now have to play a chosen Peyton Manning starting Bronco team next. Sigh. I want Peyton to do well. I want the Steelers to do well. Why? Why?
• Once again the owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have fired their coach and done it in an unexpected and disrespectful way. Coach Lovie Smith had no idea that his job was in jeopardy and now word is that the thought of losing their offensive coordinator is the reason why he lost it. Will these three Glazer guys ever do things right? The Tampa Bay Times writer Tom Jones called them the Three Stooges, and I thought that nailed it. So they fired Smith so they could give offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter the job because they were afraid he would go elsewhere? Watch. He will go elsewhere because the Bucs must, per the Rooney rule, interview minority coaches before they make a hiring decision. Someone else will snatch up Koetter because why would he want the job? The Bucs owners have had five coaches since 2007. Would you want that job?
• Losing Lovie Smith, a Tony Dungy prodigy, makes me nervous about quarterback Jameis Winston antics off the field. With Smith, he had a chance. Without him? Hopefully, like Roethlisberger, he will rise above it and man up. We shall see.
• I'm sorry for the Minnesota Vikings who played a great first half and a respectable second half of football only to lose it in the last 22 seconds on a missed 27 yard field goal. WHAT? That poor kicker Blair Walsh wasn't anywhere near the goal posts. Heartbreaking way to lose a game. 

Wrapping up Christmas with photos

Something tells me that Rosie our elf did not chose this as her hiding place.

Two peas in a pod playing Reverse Charades. 

The view from the Boos family condo on the beach

Shopping for Christmas dinner

Darcy thrilled that she can still pick up Ewan...and he lets her.

Kelly won the best wrapped gifts award. She was pleased that she bought this wrapping set that included paper and bows and ribbons.

Tom's gift from Darcy. No one figured it out.

My brother with the trash bag that our father introduced at Christmas. This year Rusty introduced clapping after every person uwrapped his gift. We thought it great fun although some people ended up with headaches after our three hours of opening of gifts.

Elliot enjoyed having everyone around, but he enjoyed relaxing in the 80 degree weather more.

I found this recipe for bird's nest and made it for Christmas breakfast. It wasn't bad.

Ewan won for most StarWars gifts.

Darcy and her gifts.

He annoys me when we play...mostly because he wins in gin.

Pooped from Christmas

More playing of Reverse Charades

Anya hanging with Elliot

Recreating the above picture from Christmas 2009

Cards and lots of card playing.

My family's spot on the beach

Watching the sun set

Beach life

Another napper after a day at the beach

Jay not afraid of the riptide warnings

Uh oh...Jay?

There he is! What a relief.

Enjoying the heated pool that came with the condo on the beach

Dinner at Lulu's Oyster House

Beach photo taken by a northern couple walking by

Kendra saying goodbye to the water

Dinner at Crabby Bill's

Susan and Rusty's modeling session on the beach after dinner

New Year's Eve Celebration

Dinner again at E&E New Year's Day

It was a wonderful holiday with family. Now for a great year with family!!

NFL playoff picks

Last Week - 9 - 7

Season Overall - 139 - 117

Kansas City over Houston - I think the Chiefs are a team to watch. I think the Texans are lucky to even be in these playoffs.

Pittsburgh over Cincinnati - We shall see. The media either loves us or dismisses us. I feel it will come down to who wants it more.

Seattle over Minnesota - Well, I had the Vikings and then I had the Seahawks and then I just decide to stay with the team that had more experience in playoffs...especially in the last two years. 

Washington over Green Bay - I thought I needed a crazy pick! Plus we need some new blood in these AFC playoffs.

It's the thought that counts

My family draws names at Christmas time, and long ago I put myself in charge of this drawing. The reason being is that we aren't together to draw the names prior to the holiday. So someone has to do it and since I threw out the idea and since everyone comes to Florida I took charge. I make a list of all of the people involved and usually one of my kids (or in the past my mom) draws the names. Immediately, I realized there could be a problem in that spouses could get spouses and parents could get children and since these people buy for one another anyway I had to do some rearranging so this didn't occur. For the most part it worked out well, but lately it has worked out to be the same each year. This year Kelly and Tom actually drew from the pile themselves and got each other's names. They refused to let me rearrange when the time came and so it worked out that we bought for each other; I had Maya, Maya had me, Marilyn had Rusty, Rusty had Marilyn, and so on. The kids name drawing worked out much better and I didn't have to rearrange a thing.

Once the names have been drawn people make wish lists on Amazon. I'm not sure how long ago this was established, but I do know that every other year I'm bored with the whole arrangement. Once upon a time gift giving was a thoughtful process and now we just buy to be buying. I hate it. Somewhere in our giving we have lost that excitement that one gets when watching the recipient unwrap a gift that was hand picked. As we get older we take the easy route to get things finished or we don't feel we know one another well enough to be able to pick out something. That makes me sad and so this year I decided to hell with what everyone thought and decided if I thought of things that I wanted to give I would. And I did.

A year ago while visiting my brother and my SIL during her chemo treatment my brother mentioned a book that he and my mother use to read together. He made a comment about that being one thing he would have liked to have had out of my mother's stuff, but that the book was long gone. I made a note of that (because I don't remember things anymore) and tried to find the book for his birthday. I couldn't find it, but gave it another go this Christmas. Turns out I had the name incorrect and once that was corrected I found the book on Amazon and ordered it. Even though I didn't have his name I wrapped it and gave it to him anyhow because I was so proud of myself and excited to see his surprise. I think he was touched.

While working on my blog one day I was looking back at old photos I had scanned and a thought came to me. My dad was the photographer in the old days and because of that I wondered if Maya, my gift exchange partner, even had those pictures. Knowing that I had them all, I scanned them and created a "Family Christmas through the years" book for her. Then of course, I got worried she might think that wasn't enough and so I bought her something from her list too. Bam!

The book was a hit especially with my brother who once told me he didn't want any of our family pictures, not even his own birth photos. Times change, of course, and he grabbed the book before Maya could look through it. He took photos of the photos and posted them on social media, hugged me, and told me I had done well. Guess what he will be getting this year for his birthday?

I did a few other little things for people, giving out items that belonged to my mother and that I thought might be special or sentimental to each person. I was very excited about my gifts and it was everything I wanted it to be on Christmas morning. Little did I know that my girls were doing the same thing.

Darcy made handmade gifts. For Madison she made a jar of little sayings that Madison can pull out and read when she is lonely at school or feeling down or feeling sad, etc. It made Tom and me cry, but then I opened my gift and cried even harder. For Tom she found handmade puzzles at the mall. He is a puzzle nut and she got him a couple that kept everyone entertained.

Maddy made handmade gifts too. For Darcy she made stickers with sayings on them from Darcy's favorite TV shows. She also made her a BuzzFeed sweatshirt. She made Kelly a shirt with a saying from Modern Family's Phil Dunphy. She got Tom a CD from this group he listens to and who had just released a new album. For me she noted something I had said a while back about learning to knit and got me just that.

They were both very excited to give us our gifts and we were just as excited and touched to get them. I loved all of the gifts I received from everyone, but handing out and watching everyone else open theirs was my favorite part of the morning. Now I've got to start working on two years from now so I can top what I did this year.

Family Christmas #2

My brother's family was the first family to arrive in Florida. They drove this year and came straight through in twenty hours arriving at 3:00 the next morning. I had decorated The Condo very festively and so it was a nice welcome despite the terrible hour. My friend SueG had sent me a picture of a Christmas tree made out of books, and when I saw it I knew that was what I had to do with all of my mother's books at The Condo.

One day while our good friend, and my mother's former cleaning lady/caregiver, was over cleaning from our last guest I decorated and attempted the book tree. Gigi was very interested in the idea and would bring me the books while I stacked. "Your mother would have said, "Why didn't you do this when I was alive?" she said as we worked. It was a very true statement and made it even more personal. When it was finished it was not as high as the photo.

It was also leaning to the right, but I was too pooped to start over. Gigi suggested I put my mother's Santa hat on the top to make it taller and I agreed that would add to it. I told her I would bring it back the next week after Madison had arrived home. I also knew that Madison would want to fix the tree, and I was right. She took one look at it and began to fix it.

We took it down most of the way and rebuilt it. We used more books and started closing it in sooner. The result was a higher tree which we added lights and ornaments to. It still leaned, but only when looking at it from one side and it wasn't the side from inside the living room. We labeled it a success.

Madison and I drove up to have brunch with the family after church on Sunday. Rusty made us all eggs and bacon and we sat around talking while we waited for Darcy to arrive from youth group. The plan was to finish last minute shopping at the mall, but as we started cleaning we ran into a problem. The garbage disposal at The Condo decided to die right then and there...just as Tom walked into the door.

We left them to replace the disposal and went to the mall. We spent the entire day shopping. While I thought I was done with presents I ended up purchasing a bunch more since both girls were with me picking out clothes they needed. Rusty eventually joined us and we had dinner and then headed back out to shop some more.

The next day Gabby went down with a stomach bug. The day after that my brother. Two days after that Austin and his girlfriend. Susan was the lone survivor. Beat cancer and you can beat anything!

My mother's sister, Auntie Marilyn, and her daughter and family arrived at their beach condo on Wednesday afternoon. It was an overcast day and the only one they saw the entire time they were here. The weather was unbelievable. We set records daily for the 85 degree sunny weather we had. It was a wonderful week of weather for the northerners.

Our annual E&E Stakeout dinner was three short. Kelly was off finishing up her shopping and Austin and Kendra were still down with the stomach bug. Rusty gobbled down steak and a margarita, but paid for that later that night. The next morning he worked out and declared himself cured. It did only seem to linger for less than 30 hours. Christmas Eve a few of us went to my church for a candlelight service, and then Kelly and I watched our traditional A Christmas Story while finishing the last minute wrapping jobs.

Christmas day everyone was healthy and at my house by 7:30 a.m. It was a whirlwind day of present unwrapping, food, swimming, game playing, and picture taking. A few tears were shed. A few glasses of Evan Williams were consumed. A lot of laughs occurred. It was a very merry day.