Welcome Back and Happy New Year

Welcome back, dear reader, and Happy New Year! I took the week between Christmas and New Year's off to recharge my batteries, reset, and organize my thoughts for the new year. I enjoyed my downtime, but I am greatly looking forward to the upcoming new year. I hope your holidays were whatever you needed them to be. Our holiday was perfect. It was quiet, family-centered, and had little fuss or frills. This year, out of necessity, we kept things extra simple. The tree was decorated over the course of days, our holiday meal was elaborate but simple, and our time was spent with just a handful of very special people. Imagine this: the holiday still felt special without two weeks' worth of decorating and multiple trips up and down the attic stairs; the good china stayed in storage; the meal was still delicious; and we focused on each other rather than running ourselves ragged with holiday activities. It was a lovely holiday.

We were too busy with the business to decorate for weeks. By the time the holiday arrived, I had no desire to haul the china out of storage, wash it, dry it, polish it, only to use it for an hour, repeat the whole process, wrap it back up, and put it away for another year. The meal was still delicious, there was just a lot less fuss. The Bean is now a young adult, and her Christmas gifts were stored in our bedroom rather than hidden all over the farm. I had everything wrapped in a timely manner, and her "Santa" gifts were wrapped in special paper and hidden under a blanket in the front room. This was the easiest year "Santa" has had in a very long time.

Although The Bean missed some of our traditional holiday decorations, now that it is over, we are both relieved we don't have to spend days undecorating. This year, we have an established plan to decorate early before we get busy with the holiday rush. However, we will continue to simplify and keep things light.

This year is the first year I felt I had knocked it out of the park for The Bibbed Wonder with a Christmas gift. He is notoriously difficult to buy gifts for and ruins every surprise. I shopped early, went alone, had everything set up, and was quite proud of myself for my ingenuity in creating a useful and meaningful gift. A few days before Christmas Eve, as we drove home from the butcher shop to pick up our holiday steaks and seafood, I called GramBarb. Sitting in close proximity in the car, Eric could hear our entire conversation. As I was saying goodbye, GramBarb yells, "Oh, was his------------------- delivered? I yelped, "Don't say that!" and hung up. It was too late. Eric knew my big surprise for him. Sigh. I tried not to be upset, but I was very disappointed that the surprise was ruined. Poor GramBarb felt awful. She had no way of knowing we were in the car or that he could hear everything. Alas, once again, I failed to create Christmas magic for my very deserving husband. His Christmas gift will be delivered on Wednesday, and hopefully, it will bring him years of comfort and rest.

The Bibbed Wonder and The Bean both brought me to tears on Christmas Day. Eric gifted me an original Ashleigh Bowman portrait of Mama Boo. He also had a puzzle created titled The O.G.'s of Mama, Boo, and Red—my sweet girls. The Bean, with our dear friend Janet, made me an apron. This apron is perfection. Seriously, it looks professionally made. My girl chose fabric printed with hydrangeas, my favorite flower. Sigh, they are all so thoughtful. I am truly blessed.

My girl turns seventeen on Wednesday. I can't believe my baby is seventeen. Sigh. We have a special celebration planned with just a few special people. Again, we feel the need to keep things simple. She is happy with simple, and so am I. We will celebrate with a seafood boil from her favorite restaurant, have her traditional gob cake, and spend time together. It does not escape me that she is growing up, and this is probably one of the last birthdays she will be home. Sigh. I can't go there right now.

This time of year is a busy one, but busy in a good way. Once her birthday is over, our celebrations will end, and we will return to our daily routine. I like our daily routine, but a little distraction is nice. I am already planning for the upcoming year. My bib overall-wearing nay-sayer has agreed to a few new products, which I will announce a bit later. We are in the planning stages for a possible new farm venture. This is still in the works...aka I am wearing him down with my persistence on the idea of utilizing our land. More to come on that as well. This one is taking some serious work, dear reader.

Overall, the upcoming year is exciting. I can't wait to finalize our product list and share it with you. I am hopeful you will be as excited as I am for the upcoming new year. Until then, welcome back and happy, happy new year. On this first Monday of 2026, stay safe, be smart, happy new year, and keep washing those hands; flu season is in full swing.