Left- Here’s what I will be doing with my leap second.

Wait a sec before you pop the champagne at midnight. No, really.

The New Year will arrive one second late this year - a leap second, if you will.

The great minds who keep up with the Earth’s rotations want to keep our clocks in proper alignment - ergo, the extra second. It will be the 24th “leap second” since 1972, and the first since 2005.

Personally I’d just as soon 2008 end one second earlier!

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I’ve been sitting around in my nightgown, eating the leftover Christmas candy, kicking around the empty gift boxes, and thinking about the New Year.

I can’t help it. I must do things differently this year in spite of my earlier post, stating I wouldn’t fall into the resolution trap. But I’m taking baby steps in 2009. Read the rest of this entry »

My former colleague and friend Robert St. John introduced me to these several years ago. He’s the owner/operator of the wonderful Purple Parrot restaurant in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

His recipe is a little involved, but I ran across a simpler version which I think I’m going to try. I’ll probably half the recipe and make tiny cakes suitable for serving as an appetizer. I’m a purist…must have a big fat bowl of peas to make darn sure we all have lots of good luck in the new year. Here’s what you do for the cakes: Read the rest of this entry »

Be sure to label where you want the decorations to go next year.

Chances are you are beginning to take down your Christmas decorations to stash them for another year - if you haven’t already.

My mother always said it was unlucky to keep the decorations up beyond the arrival of the New Year, so that means I have today and tomorrow to perform the dreaded task. I left them up until January 6 last year because I was having a party. The year 2008 was not my best, so I figure let’s not tempt fate again. Read the rest of this entry »

Asleep at the wheel?

When I was younger I wanted to be older, and when I got older I wanted to be younger. When I was living in one place I wanted to live in another, and when I was doing one thing I wanted to be doing something else. I could never just settle into where I was and what was happening at the moment. Read the rest of this entry »