Thursday, January 1, 2009

Bringing In The New Year

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Click on pictures for a larger view.

Bringing in the New Year with food that is good and bad for you. We had blackeye peas with hog jowl and onion and mixed greens (turnip & mustard fresh from the garden) with hog jowl, onion and homemade pepper sauce... both dishes have other ingredients that I'll keep a secret. I can't tell all my recipes :-) We had corn bread and some sweet taters and pork chops too. It was all good. Lots of the greens went into the freezer, but some will be for tomorrow's dinner.

We always eat our big meal at midday. It makes it a bit easier to sleep at night. We eat very lightly in the evening... sometimes not at all. Today may be one of those days that I eat no supper. I ate so well at dinner.

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I hope each of you had a good New Year's Eve. We just stayed at home and listened at our neighbor's children and their friends. The boys were playing basketball until very late. The girls talked, giggled and squealed. We were awakened at 12:05 am to the sound of fireworks and gunfire! Some people are so crazy and fire into the air. Hopefully when the bullets landed nothing was harmed.

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Before going to sleep last night we thought about our first New Year's Eve together as man & wife. Frank had finished Army basic training and was sent to school (The School of Music) at Little Creek Naval Base (Norfolk) Virginia. I went with him and after we arrived we found out that I wasn't suppose to come with him. They let me stay :-) ... I would have hated those six months without him.

Our New Year's Eve was spent at the Old Dominion Motel. It is no longer in business and I can find no trace of it on the internet. It was not the greatest motel. As I pulled back the covers that night I saw a sheet covered in rusty spots. I didn't want to stay there, but we didn't have any choice. When you have limited moneys you can not be very choosy :-)

We managed not to contract any diseases at the motel. The next day we found an apartment close to the base. The one bedroom apartment rented for $75 a month. The bed was horrible. I was pregnant with our daughter at the time and my back was not doing good then because that is where she decided to nest... in my back. Frank managed to find a piece of plywood to put under the mattress to make it almost bearable to sleep. I didn't get enough sleep at night and would take naps during the day. The bedroom had a day bed that was a bit better than the bed, so that is where I took my naps.

Frank had long days at school and I kept myself busy at home. We did our laundry on the weekends. We took long walks on the beach and flew kites on the beach.

I had my clock radio that I had gotten as a graduation gift, so I was happy with my music to listen to.. Frank had a record player and I had a few records to add to his collection. We would go to sleep every night listening to the record player. Frank wanted something besides music so he bought an old tv for $10. We did not get much more than snow on that old tv.

That is how Frank and I started out our first New Year together as a man & wife. not an exciting story, but part of our story :-)

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I hope your dreams take you to the corners of your smiles, to the highest of your hopes, to the windows of your opportunities, and to the most special places your heart has ever known. -- Author Unknown

3 comments :

  1. I loved your story of when you started out married life. Makes you appreciate today even more and too, you know that when you are in love, you don't need much to be happy! Happy New Year - your lunch sounds delish!

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  2. Happy New Year!! Sounds like you had a great traditional new year's day dinner. We had pork chops and peas but only I ate the collards. Pop is sick but he doesn't eat greens anyway. Just as well since I feel asleep while they were cooking and burned them nearly up. Enjoyed the sweet story of your first new year together. You know, those days when we had so little were very precious and happy. I think because we were young and didn't know any better. But also because we had our whole lives ahead of us; we had dreams and a future. Today's view is a little different, isn't it? Hope this is the best year yet for you and your family. Sharon

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  3. What a sweet story Zaroga. You only needed each other and that was good enough. :) That food all sounds so yummy!!

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Make it a great day!

Zaroga