#MondayThoughts: Into the new

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Here it is, January 2, 2023. What a strange date to look at, it sounds so far in the future, but here we are. In it.

On New Year’s Eve, I spent the evening with a friend and her young daughters, and honestly it was one of the best new year’s I’ve had, even back to to the days when I’d stand shivering outside to get into a packed place for a night of revelry which never lived up to the hype.

I showed the girls how to make pizza dough, and they watched, rapt. They took turns kneading, and eventually, even in their small hands, the dough turned smooth and glutinous. Their mom hadn’t made pizza before either, given she’s gluten-free, and trying a gluten-free crust (Bob’s Red Mill) was an adventure.

We spread our crust, and topped it, and she did the same.

“Can you smell it?” I asked them when it was nearly finished. “You bake by smell.”

And they were amazed when it came out of the oven, they devoured it, this miracle they’d made. The gluten-free came out well too, even though my friend forgot to blind bake it. It’s sticky, though, to work with. Lots of oil on the hands; lots of cooking spray on the plastic wrap used to spread it, if you try it.

Then we made party hats from a monster hat kit I got on Amazon (affiliate link) which they utterly loved, we had dessert, which I made, gluten free chocolate brownie cookies and a pudding bar with homemade vanilla pudding. We watched Dolly and Miley and a local show with an opening I have to embed because it was amazing.

I’m sure there will be more new year thoughts in our chat tomorrow with Chat Tuesday, so I’ll leave it there with that wonderful, cheesy, entirely entertaining performance. Have a great Monday and Happy New Year to you.

Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
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Ellen Gently Rocked the Oscars

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So I guess I enjoyed the Oscars. I say “I guess,” because, for the first time in years, I watched them from beginning to end (granted, with some use of the fast-forward button. It was getting late), despite telling myself, repeatedly, to go to bed.

I mean, Ellen ordered pizza. I had to see if anyone was going to eat it. And there was the picture that broke Twitter. Nothing, itself, was epic (except, well, the musical performances, more below), but it all added up to entertaining.

Ellen kept the show moving and still brought humor even to small moments, and without the fussy production numbers, the musical guests carried that aspect of the show. Which, when you think about it, makes sense, they should.

Pharrell’s “Happy,” had me grinning enough to make me sad for myself that the performance was the high point of my day. In fact, I don’t usually add links to my Bits posts, but because it’s Monday, and because everyone can use a little happiness, here’s the video. Actually that page has all of them. Make sure to see Pink’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” which was incredible, and Idina Menzel singing the Oscar-winning “Let it Go.” There’s a reason that woman is a Broadway fixture.

Overall, it just had a more human feel to it this year. There was none of that usual sense that the show was broadcast from Mount Olympus, brought to us by favor of the gods. It was just fun. And that’s all Ellen.