High Fiber—Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year!

Christmas was good, but my birthday, which started at a few minutes after 10:00 PM, which was a few minutes after midnight in Florida, where I was born many, many years ago, sucked! Well, this was supposed to be the "Big 70." It was, actually 70, but it was by far the worst birthday of my life, if you don't count the ones when I was too young to remember and therefore can't judge. Just after 10:00 PM, Christmas night, the stomach flu hit. It had hit DH a couple of hours earlier. This was the worst stomach flu either of us has ever had. After I gave away my Christmas dinner, which I hadn't finished enjoying, I had chills and dizziness lasting well through the rest of my birthday and for several days thereafter. Loren, our niece's DH, preceded us in the ailment by about 24 hrs. Everyone else in the house had had the same thing before coming to visit. I really hope none of my readers have to suffer through this experience this winter! 

Fortunately, the kids had all had it already, but Soren came down with a cold, which spread to his dad and the other two kids. We managed to have a good time, though. (I'm still waiting for the cold to hit DH and me, though.)

Daphne and Zachary played "together" (that is, in the vicinity of each other with some of the same stuff) with some of my Tupperware. They got some wonderful toys, which they enjoyed, but Tupperware is fun to play with for a change.
Daphne really enjoyed her new dolls, and our niece gave her a set of 'baby" stuff to go with them, which was a hit. DDIL1 gave her a purse with a "cell phone," keys, lipstick, debit card and other pretend goodies, like what women usually carry in their purses. Still, the Tupperware was worth playing with.

Grandma got to play with Soren, some, too. He's not as mobile as the other two, but he's pretty active (and interactive).

Zachary surprised us by taking his first steps at our house! Here is a photo of his actual first steps. He's taken many since this photo was taken. He can even make U-turns now.

Daphne had a good time, too. She enjoyed watching Squeekers, our resident squirrel, from the couch. She also enjoyed playing in the snow, going for walks with the family and showing off her stylish snow gear. (I see lift ticket purchases for grandchildren in our future.)

Our niece, Amanda, had a good time in the snow, especially with Daphne.
My birthday breakfast out, usually done on Dec. 26th, happened on the 31st instead.

Here's Grandma with Zach, one of my little men.

On the knitting front, I gave myself enough Swish DK in Lava Heather to make DH a sweater, which was his present, too, including labor. Here's the pattern I plan on using, but the gauge won't work, so there will be some math involved. Two of my kids gave me quilting fabric for either Christmas or birthday, so my stash is even better than before. I'll try to take photos of the yarn and fabric. I've been...um...tied up.

What's on my needles: Soren's BSJ, some progress made. Will have to ship, as Soren has gone home.
What's my app of the week: Zoo Train. Wonderful for preschoolers! (Recommended to me by a schoolteacher.
What's on my iPad: Finishing up Dean Koontz's Odd Interlude. Coming to the end.
What's in my wine glass: Chateau Ste Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon 2010. Very nice!

Note: This blog post was produced entirely on the MacBook, using the iPad for photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for or cleaned.