As has been my usual weekly habit since Jan.1 of the dreadful year we just exited, I have been keeping a list of my daily joys. This year I intend to re-read them on New Year's Eve and look back, hopefully with fewer tears than re-reading this years joys brought. It is not that joy was sparse, but the year was a difficult year for reflection. When I re-read the joys, I also had to revisit the sadness the year brought. First there was Mom's decreasing cognitive function, the quarantine, Mom's hospitalization and the restrictions in place that did not allow us to see her, followed by her death. Remembering everything did not diminish the joys, but the joys did not negate the sadness either. I am hopeful that this new beginning will bring with it more joy and fewer strifes.
Friday: Son3 manned the smoker most of the day. They like to smoke meats, freeze them and take them back to enjoy at their home. It was a pork butt, smoked wings, and smoked salmon kind of day. Even with the door closed and the interior room doors shut, the house smelled divine! There is a joy watching your adult kids be competent and self sufficient.
Saturday: We took a little side trip to the lake place. I had an old dress form on the hearth there, that was purely decorative and DIL3 loves to sew. It was a natural for her to take it back with them. Son3 had a few things there that he wanted from his old room there as well. On top of everything, the day was gorgeous and the lake was perfectly beautiful. On the way home we stopped and picked up some burgers (Thanks, Whattaburger!) to eat at the house.
Later that night DIL3 and Son3 (but mostly DIL3) cooked a Swiss meal for us. Yum!
Sunday: TheHub and I watched our church services via streaming, then had a Webex Sunday school class. Afterward everyone did their own thing until the evening.
Unbeknown to DIL3 we had arranged for Son2 and DIL2 to eat with us and to have a small surprise party for her birthday. She was shocked, but happy.
Monday: Son3 and DIL3 spent a good bit of the day getting all of their things together to pack for the trip back home. While they did that, I processed their smoked foods in FoodSaver bags and stuck them in the freezer so they would be hard frozen for the trip home.
Later we had a nice last supper together with conversation and laughs.
Tuesday: Dil3 and Son3 slept a little later than planned but they were only driving to Roanoke VA. the first day. Lola and Ella, the cats, travel with them and do not do well on a long car ride. I think they have learned they had rather not drive 17 hours straight either! Instead of leaving at 10 like they planned, they pulled out at about 11:45.
My beloved sister came by the tell them goodbye, but mainly to ride to the lake with me. I had to meet an inspector there and J is as tired of staying home as I am, so she was a fast yes when I asked if she wanted to ride with me. We spent about 4 hours talking and laughing, then laughing some more. Half Moon chocolate chip cookies and coffee added to the fun day.
Wednesday: To be honest I was a little bummed out when I woke. TheHub leaves for work most days a little after 6 and I generally do not wake until about 6:30. For the past month, I have been able to have coffee and morning conversation with Son3 and DIL3. This morning I was totally alone and kept thinking "What do I do?"
I should have done some projects or started getting the house back in order, but instead I read for most of the day. I finished former blogger Sonya Ann's book "Their Hellfire" then began a new one "Like, Follow, Kill". I am not far enough in to decide if I really like it or not, but I will finish it anyway.
Thursday: I am sure you all know the sage advice about eating the frog. It is, if the worst thing you have to do all day is eat a frog, then eat the frog first, Thursday morning the frog was getting all the 1099's for Mom's sitters filed. Fortunately it only took a couple of hours and then it was done and over. Now all I have to do is get all of the information together for the final tax return. It has been kind of hard to review everything because memories attached to specific dates and times come flooding back.
I did finish reading "Like, Follow, Kill" and did enjoy it. It was a well written thriller with an ending I did not see coming.
TheHub and I also finished watching the Netflix series, Lupin. If you are looking for something interesting to watch, and like a bit of intrigue, I recommend it highly.
I hope you find your daily joys! They are out there each and every single day if you just look for them!
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