New Year's Eve Day, and today, New Year's Day (yes, I did listen to U2 today), were both good days. Tommy was in Tahoe, Lauren was at her mom's, and we had the place to ourselves. After the fiasco of trying to help find Tommy's snow gear, and the frustrations of finding crap stuffed into his closet (where'd he learn that?) including things I wanted/needed, I spent a couple of hours pulling out, going through and putting away about 60% of the things in his room. I left many things status quo while clearing random crap like wrappers, firecrackers (disposed of, of course) and clothes that are well beyond their need for laundering. I'll be revisiting the simple expectations about laundry, towels, food wrappers and such on Monday. I used the time to start listening to "Antkind" (quirky, surreal, abstract, as expected) and chatted with my dear cousin Jeri awhile. She's in New Mexico seeing her mom, my aunt Paula, who's undergone another surgery for brain tumors and is struggling with recovery. We're getting old, she's lost her father and sister in the past year or two now, and these things weight heavy on us. How'd we get so old? We're lucky we have. With some help doing this inside vs the BBQ, I made us dinner, Ribeye with richly caramelized onions and mushrooms, topped with Blue Cheese and accompanied by a 2014 Malbec. It was delicious. Met with friends in Zoom including one who'd had a heart attack 1 week ago to toast the new year on Central time. It was good to see everybody, it always is. I cracked open the "Uncle Nearest 1856" and it's dammed good! I had a chance to try that, Makers and the 23yr old single malt. I can't say one's better than another but I can say I tried too hard to figure that out. I'm gonna be stepping back from the drink for awhile again while working on reclaiming some lost ground on weight-loss-hill. I also scarfed down more peanut butter ice cream than I should have or needed, resulting in a pretty upset stomach. Made it to bed right at 12, calmed Scottie as fireworks went off all around us.
Having not slept well, I work rethinking my actions, the ice cream, whiskey, wine, etc. Decided to setup some simple reminders and use the Strides App again. I'm not looking for a method that'll accompany me to writing a book, but I'm looking at this journal and how capturing routines like cleanup, parenting focus, mediation and such made a big difference in my adopting those mindsets and turning them into habits, like brushing teeth A n instinctual act. Simple easy behavior and focus oriented goals. I thought them through, set them up and started capturing them there. I'll be using the space as a means to capture experiences and reflections but less about specific accomplishments and progress. It's evolved, continues to, and it's still serving a valuable purpose. Meanwhile, Lauren came at 10am while Tommy's in Tahoe through Sunday PM. Jen made some amazing banana bread muffins, keto and regular. I spent 1hr+ just chatting with Matt C, really enjoyed the conversation. We took off for a hike at Calero, driving through the "Golf Links" homes we love so much, on the way there. I found it a bit annoying to have to manage the dog while bikes were coming and going from both directions throughout the hike, but it was still a great way to get some fresh air and movement. We then took off through "New Almaden" (an awesome area too), past Quicksilver Mines, to Hicks, then back down the hill and home. Took Lauren to practice driving at the Camden Park-n-Ride, she did great. I'm going to continue working next week on getting her approval for at least getting a provisional permit. She's fully capable of navigating safely, IMO. She just has to learn to not panic if something goes unexpected. We can work on that. :-) Ended the day with home-made Pizzas on Cauliflower crust. Talked to Linda for ~20+ minutes to work out some logistics/plans for Lauren's upcoming wisdom-tooth removal on 1/20. Inauguration + Teeth extraction on the same day? If it was Trump, it'd make sense. We don't talk often, I'm always hesitant about things going south but it went relatively well.