Happy New Year!

Private Home Health Care would like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year and a blessed and healthy 2026.

As we get ready to sing Auld Lang Syne, we reflect on the past year.  Family and friends are so important in our lives.

You and I have experienced many different things in 2025.  You may have lost someone close to you.

You may have also gained new friendships.

Whatever experiences you have had we hope that you usher in the new year full of expectation and hope.

Cheers and good wishes to you all!

Photo by Jill Wellington

National Chocolate Candy Day

Believe it or not, yesterday was National Chocolate Candy Day.

Do we really need a national day for chocolate right after the Christmas holidays??

We know the love of chocolate has been around for a long time.

Affordable and delicious chocolate has been available since 1900 thanks to Milton Hershey.  

During Christmas, we also know that chocolate is a staple in just about every household.

Dishes with M&M’s, Lindt balls and chocolate kisses adorn many a coffee table.  Kitchens can be filled with Godiva and Ghirardelli to bake and nibble on.

Boxes of mixed chocolate candies are handed out as Christmas presents.

If you have a December birthday, chocolate is at least one of your presents.

Don’t even mention the huge containers of chocolates that are purchased at places like BJ’s and Costco.  

They are so big we think we may have them to serve again next year! If we are smart we’ll find a school or workplace to share them.

Chocolate is served and celebrated at Christmas time so a National Chocolate Candy day just the holiday feels redundant.

Private Home Health Care loves chocolate with the best of them.  Celebrate if you want but we have had just about enough by now.

The Day After Christmas

Private Home Health Care hopes that everyone had a very happy and blessed Christmas.

The season of Advent is super busy.  You can find yourself making lots of lists, buying and wrapping presents, planning menus, decorating and cooking.

Hopefully there is teamwork in the preparations.  The true meaning of multi-tasking is defined for certain.  Busy preparations rule the day.

On the day after Christmas it’s a time to slow down and relax.  You may find there are dishes to clear and packages to put away.

Some feel, especially some children, a bit of a let down after the holiday.  Life starts to go back to normal a bit.  Children can play with toys to help them.

For others of us it’s a time to savor the time we had with family and friends. 

If it was quiet for you perhaps it was time to reflect a bit and enjoy a bit of peace in the world around you.

For those on an extended holiday we hope that you can relax, enjoy your decorations and presents and see the blessing in your life.

If you have to enter right back into the working world, hopefully it will be quiet for you and less stressful. 

Life can pass quickly so as we prepare for a new year, we hope you take time to be good to yourself.  We wish you peace.

Winter Solstice

Yesterday was the winter solstice which signals the official start of winter.

Wait, you may say.  It’s been consistently cold since the month of November so aren’t we already in winter??

The short answer is no.

On the winter solstice we here on the Earth experience the time when the north and south poles tilt away from the Sun.

This gives us the shortest of daylight hours and the longest of nighttime hours.

Something positive to think about is that starting today we begin to gain a bit more daylight.  

It starts slowly and you may not notice it now but eventually the change will make us believe that we will get warmer and the weather will get better..

An interesting fact about the winter solstice is that in December the Earth is actually at its closest point to the Sun.

It’s that tilt of the Earth’s axis that brings on the winter season. So close and yet so far!

Private Home Health Care hopes that you can enjoy the winter season and that mother nature will not be too harsh with us. 

Ugly Sweater Day

When you think of the 1980s and the highlights of these years what comes to your mind?

Is it particular songs, electronic dance music, indie pop, clothing?  

What about the beginning of the ugly sweater movement?  Believe it or not, the 80’s were when ugly sweaters became popular.

It’s the Christmas season and the most popular time to bring out your ugly sweaters (and shirts).  

There are ones with horrible colors and “interesting” imprints of all kinds.

Wear it in a public school and you have to watch your manners.

Heading to a night time party is another story.   Want to be cute, funny or naughty, it’s all up to you.

On this day of ugly sweaters, Private Home Health Care hopes you go out and have some fun.  It’s a fun part of the Christmas season!

Photo by Katerina Bolovtsova

Las Posadas

Yesterday in Mexico and in other Latin American countries the celebration of Las Posadas began, a Christian celebration.

The celebration lasts nine days, December 16 thru December 24. 

If you are in Mexico during the nine days you will see processions, candles, songs, sparklers and celebrations.  

You’ll also find a traditional pinata in the shape of a star.

The word posada means inn or lodging and the nine days represent the journey of Joseph and Mary on their way to the birth of their son Jesus.

There is planning ahead of time so that family members or neighbors can act out when Joseph was looking for shelter for his pregnant wife Mary.

A traditional posada song is sung, tamales are served and there are treats for the children of candy, peanuts and fruit.

The belief is that this tradition began in the early 16th century and it is called a novena, nine days of prayer and preparation before Christmas.

You can find posadas in many places where there is a large Mexican community.  It could be in your neighborhood, the city or in workplaces.

Private Home Health Care loves celebrations from different communities.  We wish everyone Feliz Navidad and Merry Christmas!

A Season for Reconciliation

As Hanukkah begins and the Christmas season heads into its final preparations, we are wondering if it’s the time to think of reconciliation.

Reconciliation as in the restoration of harmony.

As life moves along we have many different experiences.  Friends or family members can find that they are at odds.  Hurt feelings can lead to estrangement.

Perhaps you have been estranged from someone for a long time.  Hurt and anger can run deep.

Time passes and you may still feel hurt but the question is how long do you hold on to those feelings?  Is there a way to get past them?

This season offers a time to renew relationships.  It offers hope and a chance to overcome hurt feelings. 

It may not be easy to reach out to someone.  You need to be in the right place of mind and want that person back in your life.  

Is there someone you know that is in need of reconciliation?  This may be the right season to begin again.

Private Home Health Care understands that relationships can get complicated and feelings can run deep.  This season we hope that people who are not united can find time for reconciliation.

Hurry, Hurry

This week we realized that for those of us celebrating Christmas it feels like time is moving very quickly.

It is December 12th and that means there are thirteen days left before the holiday.  This has made us feel a bit stressed.  

How about you?  Are you feeling stressed at all?  What can we do?  Can you and I slow down time?  Can we fit more things during a 24 hour day?

Sigh, not likely we can do either of those two things.  Oh my, oh my!

Here are some things that could help:

Make lists.  Santa has lists so why can’t you and I.  Make a list of who you are shopping for, any food you are baking and any menus you need for the big day.

Get supplies.  Be sure to get plates, napkins and ingredients to cook early,  You can check that off your list and feel better.

Finish shopping.  We love to support local stores but online shopping can also be very convenient.  Let’s try and do a little of both.

Mail packages to any friends and family.  The post office can ship fairly late but the earlier you ship the better the rates.

Take deep breaths.  You need to keep your sanity.  

Each day find a time to stop and breathe.  Take a deep breath, hold it a few seconds and then breathe it out.  It can do wonders for the mind and body.

Finally, you need to remember that this blessed holiday is a wonderful time for togetherness.  All of the preparations will get done so try and relax a bit..

Private Home Health Care is doing a lot of deep breathing and drinking a bit more coffee than usual.  Remember to breathe, breathe, breathe and enjoy the preparations.

Nobel Prize Day

Today is the day that Nobel Prizes are awarded every year.  

The prizes are awarded to people who have excelled in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Economic Sciences.

How did these prizes come about and why is it always on December 10?

You could say that it started back in Sweden on October 13, 1833.  That is the birthday of Alfred Berhnard Nobel, the originator of the prizes.

Alfred was born as the fourth of eight children to Immanuel and Caroline Nobel.  His life would lead him to many countries, including St. Petersberg, Russia, Paris and the United States..

His family took up manufacturing of explosives and became affluent.  Alfred learned to speak English, French, German, and Russian along with Sweden.

He studied chemistry and became involved in his family business of explosives.  

Unfortunately there was a tragedy in his family when an explosion went off at their company.  His brother was killed along with four other people.

After that happened Alfred searched and found a “safer” explosive and he came up with and patented dynamite.

Nobel lost another brother in 1888 while in France.  A newspaper mistakenly said Alfred had died and it criticized him for his invention of dynamite.

Alfred had many patents and had become a wealthy man.  To help with his legacy he established the Nobel prizes to honor high achieving women and men.

Upon his death on December 10, 1896 a Nobel foundation was established with money from his estate.  It is an amazing legacy.

Private Home Health Care was very interested to learn the background of the Nobel Prizes.  On the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death it seems appropriate to name the year’s winners.

National Brownie Day

It’s National Brownie Day.  What a delicious way to start off the week!

Do you like your brownies fudgy or on the drier side?  Chewy or cake-like?  Large or small?

Brownies are easy to make.  Eggs, flour, sugar, some butter and of course chocolate.  Bake and then eat.  A crowd pleaser every time.

Some people use dry cocoa like Hershey’s in their brownies.  That gives you a cakey brownie which some prefer.

Others use chocolate squares or bits which can give you that gooey delicious taste.

What is the story behind the beginnings of the brownie?

Could it be a socialite named Bertha Potter Palmer asked her chef at The Palmer House to bake a sweet that could be easily taken to the Columbian Exposition in Chicago?

Or when at the same exposition a Boston-chocolatier named Walter Lowney, introduced chocolate bars?

We think it is safe to say that we can thank Mrs. Palmer, chocolatiers and baking schools for starting the dessert ball rolling with brownies.

Cooking schools, magazines and cookbooks helped to spread the word too and Fannie Farmer even had a recipe in her cookbook of 1896. 

A brownie is a sweet treat and Private Home Health Care hopes you indulge in one today!