A new year, a home cure and an honest resolution

The decorations have been put away, the cakes and cookies have been eaten, the boys are back at school and there is silence all around. 

New Year's Eve was quieter than years past around here because the boys left out to go hunting with their popaw, uncle and cousin on Thursday and didn't return until Saturday morning. 

When I found out Wednesday that they would not be here New Year's Eve and that we were, in fact, free to do whatever we wanted, I said to Charlie: "The boys aren't going to be here and we have no New Year's Eve plans." 

He replies: "Well, we can go to uptown Charlotte" to which I crinkled up my nose.  "We could have some people over" to which I shrugged my shoulders.  I'd have to go crazy cleaning the house AGAIN!   

I never go out or do any kind of celebrating beyond watching the giant ball drop in Times Square from the comfort of my own couch and I always catch myself saying the same thing year after year: "Those people are craazy!  There's no way I could handle being in that giant crowd of people all for the sake of a ten second countdown of a giant sparkly ball falling from the sky." 

But then something happens each year around early December and I start thinking that it may be fun to actually do something on New Year's Eve...  Maybe we should have a party for New Year's!...Maybe we should go OUT even! ... 

Then by the time the Christmas festivities are behind us I find myself once again truly just longing to chill on the couch and watch the crazies on t.v.   

So that's what we did.  And I missed the boys being here toasting at midnight with their sparkling grape juice-filled champagne glasses. 

They did return Saturday morning to find me with some weird paste concoction all over my lips.  Apparently, eating a gallon of pistachios is not a good idea if you are prone to fever blisters. 

My mother-in-law, Pat, gave us a giant container of pistachios on Christmas eve and I thought I heard where they are supposed to be good for you and low in fat .  They were also delicious so I ate them and ate them and ate them some more.  

And not only one but two giant fever blisters appeared on my lips...one on the top lip and one on the bottom lip.  Nothing makes me crankier than a stinkin' fever blister, except of course for two stinkin' fever blisters at the same time!  

I immediately began popping the lysine pills and googling pistachios and home remedies.  I've tried the overpriced over-the-counter ones and have never had much luck with them.  

Turns out pistachios are high in arginine  an amino acid I was not personally familiar with but apparently should have been  which has been known to trigger fever blister outbreaks.  Super!  

I continued my googling quest until I found a home cure of toothpaste and salt.  So I mixed the toothpaste and salt ( I had sea salt) together and smeared it all over the fever blisters and kept it on all day, then took it off and reapplied it before I went to bed Saturday night.

I'm not going to lie.  It burned like hell fire but when I woke up yesterday morning, they were on the mend.  Though if you've ever had fever blisters, you know they usually look worse when they are healing.  I felt a bit like a leper at church yesterday.

You know when you can tell people are wanting so much to say "Good Lord! What is that on your lips?!  Bless your heart!" but they are polite so they pretend not to notice?  Yeah, there was some of that. 

The pistachios were not the only things I ate too much of over the holidays which is why I must hit the gym this week, and I mean hit it hard. I don't really make new year's resolutions but if I did make one it would be to try and work out more and eat less.  Easier said than done, right?  

Devin asked me yesterday if I made a resloution and I told him no.  He said he made one to not make his brother cry for two weeks.  "Well, that's a good resolution" I said, "but you're missing the point of the NEW YEAR's resolution. It means you are supposed to try and keep it for the whole year, at least. " 

That's too hard! I can't do THAT!  

Well, at least he was honest.  And I suppose that's a pretty decent start to the new year, no? 
Happy 2011!