Welcome 2008!

Although throughout most of central New York it was a black tie and tails sort of night, at Penguin Hall the residents ushered in the new year in flannel and fuzzy slippers. Fred Astaire movies on the old Dumont and lots of bubbly libation was poured (some hard, some not; for the younger crowd...), as well as finishing off all the leftover Christmas cookies and stocking stuffers. Basking in the warm glow of the cathode ray tube, the Halls watched the ball drop in Times Square, then let out hearty cheers and lots of hugs all around. Much merriment and hilarity then ensued, until Mrs. H. managed to subdue the group enough to settle in for bed.

There had been a brief spurt of activity at the funeral home over the holiday, but New Year's Day was quiet enough to fulfill the requisite fourteen hours of non-stop football and snack consumption. Katie Hall stopped by for a short visit, bearing gifts and good cheer in the afternoon, before dashing off to another lively evening about town. Katie had been in Syracuse earlier in the week; the Halls are avid believers in the theory that you can never really have enough good steak, and to that happy end, had made a pilgrimage to that great bastion of beef, the Scotch and Sirloin, in DeWitt on Thursday last. Resolved for the new year: on Katie's next visit, the Hall's will descend on Ichibon's Japanese Steak House. Now there's a resolution that will undoubtably be kept!