When our kids were growing up during middle school and high school, we’d take the week off between Christmas and New Years to work on decorating the floats for the Rose parade.  We worked long days (and nights) and then camped out on Colorado Blvd New Years Eve to watch “our” floats go by the next morning.

So on New Years day we cranked up the laptop and had it on during the 2+ hours the parade was on while we puttered in our apartment.  Being far from home, it was great to see something we were very familiar with.

Later in the morning we walked around our neighborhood and saw lots of evidence from all the fireworks last night!  All the streets were littered with the long strings of firecrackers that had been set off just a few hours earlier.

Happy New Year!  We’re now waiting to see if we get an invite from the Peace Corps to serve in the Philippines…