New Years Day

It all started at midnight when the ball dropped. I put the black-eyed peas into the crock pot. I managed to get about 5 hours of sleep once the excited from the new year wore down.
I always say that when we're going to have company over that I will get everything clean a few days ahead of time to reduce the stress level the day of. Nope. As usual I was frantically cleaning the kitchen while trying to cook at the same time. Thank goodness my dad smoked the pork loin the day before, and the peas were in the crock pot. The only things left to cook were the collards, boil the potatoes to smash them, and fry the okra. Those didn't take long at all to cook. While doing all of that, I managed to shower myself and Katie. WHEW! I'm completely worn out! Of course stuffing my face with all of that amazing food didn't help the energy level, along with the rainy weather. I see a nap in the very near future!
My mother-in-law came over for a visit, and to eat New Years dinner with us. I think she enjoyed herself. Thomas came over for the day as well. We chatted, watched football, and played games with the kids, and ate ice cream sundaes. It was nice.
What a great start to 2013! I'm looking forward to many more family gatherings at our home. Hey that's something I need to add to the resolutions list, entertain more often. :)