The New Year
Collette fell asleep at three o’clock in the morning. Four hours later…
“Mama? Mama? I come Mama and Da-ee’s bed? In my footies?”
So OLeif brought him in wrapped up in his blanket with his stuffed bluebird and he cuddled between them until it was time to serve up some breakfast.
It was cold.
After 10:30, they arrived at the house.
Dad had gone for a run on the Katy Trail.
Carrie-Bri went for a hike with Grewe.
Curly came over to hang out with Joe.
Rose was resting her stomach after a revisit with caffeine the night before at another successful New Year’s Eve party, curled up on the love seat in her M&M’s pajama pants and a giant squid t-shirt.
And Linnea was still spending the last of her holidays up in Iowa.
That evening, everyone was busy congregating, partially in Mom’s and Dad’s room, and then eventually transferring to the kitchen where Carrie was busy juicing a medley of fruits and vegetables for her new 40-day experimental vegan diet.
The resulting glass of green liquid composed of ginger, lemon, apple, and kale was poised, ready for the drinking. Everyone stopped to watch Carrie take the first sip.
“Oooogh,” she groaned a little.
Collette tried a sip. It was biting, tart and spicy at once. Then Joe tried it.
“I would kill myself if I had to drink that every day,” he said.
“That looks disgusting,” said Dad.
“It looks like something you’d see in a magazine,” said OLeif. “With a garnish on top.”
Despite the commentary, Carrie-Bri was determined to continue. Nothing processed, nothing cooked, baked, no meat, eggs, fish, or poultry. Essentially, she would be limited to vegetables, fruits, and nuts.
“My tongue is tingling,” she said shortly later, as the ginger began to take effect.
Then everyone broke out the chocolate peanut butter bars, triple chocolate chip cake, and Dad left for a run to Cecil Whittaker’s. The abundance of the holidays…