'Tis the season ...

... to be extra compassionate to each other.

 

Truth. 

To put things in perspective, I spoke to a woman on the 12th of this month who was struggling to hold it together that day. 

She was trying to get much-needed thyroid medicine, however, her credit card and bank account had been compromised and they hadn't been able to issue her a new one because she was moving in the next few weeks. 

She was moving because her house had burnt to the ground a month earlier, burning her father and 3 dogs alive. The 12th was also her father's birthday, and she was just so overwhelmed. One of her *friends* had told her that "at least her father hadn't died of Covid19." She cried that they somehow thought burning alive was better than Covid. We talked some more, prayed, hugged by phone. 

We never know what is on someone else's plate. 

Be kind to everyone.

Christmas week ... Wednesday

 

A panoramic view of the Allegheny mountain range from an overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  I believe that is the Shenandoah Valley.

I had an AWESOME visit with my sister and nephew.

Uh... cookies did not last 24 hours.  Can't imagine why.

My new favorite thing to get as a gift ... hand-painted rocks, painted by the giver.  This one was painted by Kat, and the quote is from Claude Monet.

Kat was amused by Charlie's underbite.

Charlie not so much by Kat's sense of humor.

Christmas week ... Tuesday

    So here is my new holiday season tradition ... since the majority of my Christmas ornaments are still in WI, and there *just so happens* to be a Christmas decor shop here that is open 365 days a year here ... whenever I visit family or friends for Thanksgiving or Christmas (or those that come to visit me), I'm going to purchase matching ornaments.  One to gift, and one to keep, that will remind me of the holiday spent with them.

    This first one for Kat and me is especially meaningful because both of our dads are gone, and folklore has it that a visit from a cardinal is a visit from a loved one that has passed away.

     I'm also going to find an origami pattern to make ornaments out of the Christmas cards I receive this year.  I've seen some on Pinterest that I really like.

     Busy, busy, busy!

Christmas week ... Monday

    I love how these girls can snuggle together like they did when Lucy could still fit in my hand.  Although, full disclosure, this cuddle session came after an ugly discussion between the two of them over who was going to fit where.

    Tomorrow, I will get to see my sister Kat whom I haven't seen in more than six years.  I'm super excited!  She doesn't know it yet, and I won't share here until Thursday, but I'm starting a new holiday tradition this year and she is my first.  

     One of the things I'm most excited about with finally getting my 'life' back is that I get to start my own holiday traditions.  If I'd had more time in late October and November, one of them would have been making the German Christmas cookies from my grandmother's recipes. 

   I received a Christmas card today from a friend in the MI U.P. that was a first.  It had goats on it!  And a pig!  Sara is an amazing person!  She and her husband built their home by hand, retiring the yurt they had been living in for several years.  They raise goats for milk and cheese; chickens for eggs and duh, chicken; pigs for bacon; and grow their own garden.  I wish I could have been like her when I was younger!  I will confess that she tried to teach me how to milk a goat once and I was a huge fail.

    I think my goals wall in my office is finally finished.  At least until I can travel again.  It would be so awesome to have pictures all the way up to the ceiling!