December 31, 2024: Welcome to our December cocktail hour. I’m happy you’ve dropped by to wrap up 2024 – Cheers! At least we can put off, for one last night, ringing in the new year and the horrors that will most certainly befall us in 2025 under the U.S. incoming administration.
Let’s lift a glass of champagne, or Prosecco, anything bubbly to bask in the last bit of effervescence and buoyancy we will be able to experience here in the U.S. over the next four years (at least).
I also have a variety of beers, soda or seltzer water if you don’t want a bubbly drink. 
How did your December go? How did you celebrate the holiday? Have you welcomed any new additions to your family? Have you read any good books that can inform your worldview, seen any good movies, binge-watched any television series? Have you planned any adventures or had any winter getaways? Have you dreamed any dreams? Gone to any exotic restaurants, cooked any new dishes? Have you been surprised by anything in life? Did you have a nice holiday celebration? Have you learned anything new, taken any classes or just kept up with the news? Have you sung along with any new songs? Have you undertaken any new exercise routines? Have you marched or otherwise participated in political protests? Have you been battered, or alternately, uplifted by any news?
I am still feeling absolute disgust for a wide swath of Americans who handed over our government to a convicted felon and fearmongering scumbag and insurrectionist. I’m sickened by the power that Nazi-lover Elon Musk, not even born in the U.S. nor elected by any U.S. citizens, is wielding over our politics in the U.S. I got off of X soon after he took over that platform and for now am on Bluesky and Threads, though to be honest, I don’t interact much on Bluesky. I deleted about 200+ people from Facebook (most of them never interacted with me anyway and were people from my high school who were my sisters’ and brother’s friends) and then removed Facebook from my phone. I also removed LinkedIn because I was seeing increasing numbers of right-wing posts. I continue to delete everyone on Instagram who posts any photos of Donald Trump (unless they are memes that make fun of him) and block anyone on Threads who is sympathetic to him. I no longer have time, energy or desire to interact with any MAGAts, and I’m aiming to be out of this country as much as possible over the next four years.
Alex cheered us up with some pictures of Allie in the early part of the month.
I halfheartedly prepared for Christmas despite the fact we’d be in Atlanta for the holiday. We got a new fake tree, for the first time ever, since we’d be gone the entire week of Christmas. Sadly, that tree, which is perfectly shaped, has such bright lights on it that we can hardly see the ornaments. Who knows, maybe we’ll have to go back to our fresh tree one year, but probably not next Christmas as we hope to go to Nicaragua for Christmas in 2025.
On December 7, Adam’s 32nd birthday, Mike, Alex and I face-timed Adam in Nicaragua. Adam sent us a bunch of pictures of the family and the new cows we helped him to buy.
Mike and I went to dinner at Lebanese Taverna in Arlington. I continued walking, doing yoga and rowing, but have lost interest in yoga ever since my favorite teacher left the studio. I’m giving up rowing beginning in late January. We’ll be traveling in February and who knows where we’ll be after that. I want to rid myself of most commitments in the U.S.
I was the only spouse invited to LMI’s in-office Christmas party because the company honored Mike for his 20-year-anniversary. The speeches brought tears to my eyes. He’s obviously well-respected at work. It was fun talking to some of his co-workers who I’ve met before, especially Mark, Dwayne and Tamara. We took some very silly pictures while at the party.
We drove halfway to Atlanta on the 20th, staying overnight in High Point, North Carolina. We arrived in Atlanta on the 21st and checked into our Airbnb on Saint Charles Avenue in Midtown. We welcomed Alex and Allie to the apartment in the afternoon and when Jandira got off work and joined us, we ordered pizza in.
We spent Sunday morning at Piedmont Park with Alex and Allie. Later that afternoon, we walked with Alex and Allie on the Beltline and then to the Levi’s Store at Ponce City Market where we got Alex some new jeans for Christmas.
Every time we go to Atlanta, we find more things to like about it: cute markets, charming neighborhoods, great restaurants, diversity, botanical gardens and museums. Sunday night we drove through Virginia Highland to Morningside where we ate dinner at the adorable Whiskey Bird. It was just my kind of place with its diverse and creative international flavors, laid back atmosphere and friendly service. We enjoyed a plate of four yakatori: chicken meatball, sweet potato, chimichurri shrimp, and spicy tofu. We also shared Ahi Tuna Gyoza tacos and Peruvian Chicken Gyoza tacos.
It’s too bad there are three major things that can’t be fixed about Atlanta: the state of Georgia’s politics, the city’s horrendous traffic, and most of all, its overall hot and humid weather. It was actually cold when we were there, so for that I was grateful. If not for those three major drawbacks, I could see living there.
Monday morning, while Mike worked a few hours, I walked in the Virginia Highland neighborhood and stopped at Ash Coffee. Once Mike finished working, we stopped together at Ash Coffee and then ran to Publix grocery store. We went out to dinner at Bar.bacoa with Alex, Jandira and Allie that night. Allie entertained us by playing hide-n-seek under her napkin. 🙂
Tuesday morning, Mike and I walked on the Beltline and then ran a bunch of last minute Christmas errands. We ordered sushi from Chin-Chin for Christmas Eve, then picked up Sarah at the airport at around 10:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
We had a lovely Christmas morning opening presents and having our regular Christmas brunch with the family. We played rousing games of Code Names. Allie seemed excited with all the hubbub and her new gifts.
Thursday morning, Mike and I took a walk on the Beltline, then we went with the family to Ponce City Market where we sampled different foods at the Food Court.
On Friday, our last day in Georgia, Sarah, Mike and I drove 2 hours each way to Columbus, GA, where we noshed on smoked oysters at my youngest brother Robbie’s loft apartment and then enjoyed a sushi extravaganza at Samurai, Robbie’s very generous treat. I miss celebrating the holidays with all my siblings.
We got take-out Turkish food from Truva on Friday night and took it to Alex and Jandira’s apartment where we hung out one last time.
We drove home straight through on Saturday the 28th with thousands of other travelers returning home. It was foggy, dreary and it felt endless, but we finally made it home safely after 11 1/2 hours (with stops along the way). We did stop at a Bucc-ee’s in Calhoun, Georgia, otherwise it was just driving on boring interstate highways. I was happy to be back home!
I finished seven books in December, bringing my total to 52/52, successfully achieving my reading goal for the year: My Year in Books 2024. My December favorites were Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa, Territory of Light by Yūko Tsushima, and True North by Jim Harrison. We watched one movie this month: Lonely Planet on Netflix. We finished watching the series Trying and Somebody Somewhere, and continued watching Grantchester, Pachinko, Bad Sisters, Shrinking, Lincoln Lawyer, Another Self, Maestro in Blue, The Bear, and Modern Family.
Finally, we tried to enjoy our last month under President Biden’s leadership before this country goes to hell in a handbasket. Though Biden was unpopular (mainly due to his faltering age and mainstream media’s sane-washing of Trump), he accomplished so much for the American people, including the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and the Inflation Reduction Act. He stood by Ukraine in its fight for its sovereignty from Russia. Though I don’t agree with his unfettered support of Israel, believe me, it will be much worse under Trump. Biden is a genuinely good man and his service is greatly appreciated by a huge swath of Americans.
We lost a great humanitarian when Jimmy Carter died at age 100 on December 29. He was the 39th president from 1977-1981 but continued his humanitarian work through the Carter Center well into his 90s. I’m so glad President Carter died before Trump takes office on January 20, as Biden will make sure he is properly honored for his contributions to society. Luckily the flag will be flying at half-mast during Trump’s inauguration, which also falls on Martin Luther King Day. I’ll be ignoring the inauguration and instead celebrating Martin Luther King Day and mourning Jimmy Carter. That ignoramus doesn’t exist for me, and I plan to excise any news of him from my life. He will NEVER be MY president.
Our plans for travel in 2025 include trips to Nicaragua and Mexico (with an eye to living there for one year, possibly in 2026) in February-March. We are also looking into moving to Costa Rica for a year to spend time with the Nicaraguan family (we can easily cross the border from Costa Rica). I won’t be able to stay in Costa Rica longer than a year as I hate the heat. If we do move to Costa Rica, we can hopefully travel to Argentina and Chile. If we don’t move there, we hope to travel to Norway, Finland and Sweden.
I hope you’ll share how the year is panning out for you, and what plans you have for 2025. Happy New Year!
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Isn’t it great to spend Christmas with family. We had a lovely day with our two grandsons. Little Allie is growing so fast. She’s a cutie. Best wishes to you all for 2025.
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It is great to spend Christmas with family! I’m glad you had fun too. It makes it so much more fun to experience it through a child’s eye. Best wishes to you and your family in 2025 too!
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That looks like such a fabulous family Christmas! Allie is quite the young lady now. We don’t really do Christmas in a big way – we don’t have children and aren’t religious, so once all our parents had passed on it seemed a bit meaningless. We went to a cottage in the country for a week and had some great walks. Of course, we don’t deny ourselves the special Christmas food and drink so that was well catered for! Happy New Year, Cathy, let’s be extravagant and wish for world peace 😏.
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Allie is certainly the little princess in the family these days, Anabel. She loves to ham it up in front of the camera. Plus, she’s starting to say more words and interact a lot with us. It’s a big difference from when we were there in June. Actually, we’re not at all religious and celebrate Christmas more out of habit than anything else. Having a grandchild makes it more special, but honestly, there have been many years when I haven’t felt like bothering and yet went along out of obligation. I think a cottage in the country for a week sounds most sublime!
Yes, I agree, Happy New Year and let’s be extravagant and ebullient and ignore what is happening in the world because honestly we can’t do much to change it anyway. I’m always wishing for world peace, saving the environment, and being kind to those less fortunate. As for the rich greedy men who run the world, I can do without any of them.
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I can see she loves the camera and is developing a real personality! Sadly, two days into the year, optimism is already fading 🙁.
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