Those would be the black eyed peas we're eating for the first of the year. This is the first year I attempted to make them from scratch and they were...better with Tabasco. Next year I'll get brave and try to make the peas and the turnip greens from scratch. This is one of the days that I am uber-superstitious about. You have to eat black-eyed peas for good luck, turnip greens for wealth, and whatever you do the first of the year is what you'll do all year. So far things are looking good! Rang in the new year with friends and family in Huntsville, drove back home (in the worst rain and lightning I've ever seen - it was so bright it hurt!), slept in, ate a huge delicious breakfast, watched Bama (Ben's team) and Mississippi State (my team - there was much cowbell ringing) dominate their bowl games, Roger picked up the huge pile of paneling and moulding that had been an eyesore in our backyard, ate our black eyed peas and turnip greens, and now I'm cleaning and waiting for Ben to get off work so we can eat paella at his parents.
Normally, I'd try to avoid cleaning on New Years Day, but I'm sick of looking at the mess left over from the move, Christmas, and me being sick during all of it. December ended up roughly for me and I am so glad to start out the new year in our new house! And with a new puppy!
Meet Little Miss Zoey!
This little cutie was my sister's, Shanna, Christmas present to me. And she is a-freakin'-dorable! My family have a small herd of Boston Terriers completely by accident, sort of. They bred two a couple of years ago with the intent of selling them, and I knew better. Three years later, they have: Jackie, Spot, Rufus, Zeke, Lily, and Malia. Accidentally Rufus and Lily had a litter, and Zoey was one of four. And of course, the Culpeppers won't be able to part with all of them. Or really, none of them since the two they're giving away are staying in the family, haha!
I had forgotten how tough having a puppy was, but thankfully I am a much more patient person now. And even better, I know about crates! Foster and Ceti weren't thrilled to begin with, but she's won Foster over. Ceti, however, gets so stressed out about Zoey that he will start coughing up hairballs when she gets near him. Poor guy!
As far as house happenings go: we moved in!, had our first houseguests, Ben's brother Ray and his girlfriend BaoNhi, got all our furniture and appliances in and assembled, got our new king-size mattress!!, put up some of the baseboards, put down a couple of new thresholds and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned. Once I get rid of all our boxes, I'll post some pictures, but the rooms are all still in the very working-on-it stages.
