Last year we were kind of depressed, with it being the first time without Mom.
Instead of cooking like we usually did, we decided to go out to eat. Bad plan. We went to the new Brick Oven Pizza at Kaneohe Bay Shopping Center, but it was closed. I think even Zippy's was closed! We didn't know what would be open and what would be closed because we usually eat in on New Year's Eve.
Sadly, we wound up at Pizza Hut and had the buffet, but the staff made a point of reminding us that they were closing at a certain time, so we felt rushed. Ryan was working but stopped by after and we had no food for him. Since we had the buffet, no leftovers. So sad.
This year, we decided to make a better effort. Jan took the lead and made sukiyaki, and I picked up frozen shrimp tempura and crab cakes from Costco and shared the smoked chicken and pork we had gotten from my friend Debbie for Christmas. Darrell had to go into the hospital briefly the day after Christmas, but thankfully came home Sunday, so he was able to be there and is feeling back to normal. Ryan had originally said he couldn't come because of work (his own private chef gig in Lanikai and also a job with a private chef) but he was able to just drop off the food and join us and get out of the other job.
I even had Mom join us by taking a pic with her photo.Ryan's friend and business partner Jason and his girlfriend Kimi stopped by. Coincidentally, Kimi, who is also a culinary school classmate, lives in Keapuka too. So nice to see them and spend some time with them. Jason got a kick out of seeing Ryan's pictures all over the house and Kimi said our place brought back memories of holidays with her grandparents.
We had a nice evening and time flew by. Ryan headed out to his friend's house and I took a "power nap." Before we knew it, it was almost midnight. Lots of (illegal) aerials around the neighborhood, but all the firecrackers were popped a few minutes after midnight and then it was eerily quiet.
Good-bye 2014. Miss you, Mom, wish you were here.
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