Weekend Reboot

Happy Monday everyone, and Happy Inauguration Day America! 

Don't at me. I know not everyone is excited about today, but I absolutely welcome the change. Not everybody does but hey, that's America in every election cycle. May God bless her as we usher in a new administration. Nobody should be hoping our new president fails at his job.

Moving on...the weekend. Linking with Holly (Pink Lady Blog) and Sarah (Sunshine and Books) for their regularly scheduled Hello Monday weekend recaps.  

There are grandkids in the house, toys on the floor, marinara sauce on my dining room chair, and a morning coffee hour that now includes legos with a side of lots of questions asked and answered. 

We love it. 

I don't have many pictures from the weekend. While there's something we call multitasking, there's this whole other something which is multitasking with jet-lagged toddlers who need stories read, snacks procured, games played, and laps to sit in. Doesn't leave a lot of room or hands free for picture taking. 

Backing up to Thursday which I long ago declared the official start to the weekend. Hubs flew to London last Sunday/Monday so he could fly back to the states on Thursday with Daughter1, her three children, each toting his or her own backpack and snack box, a wagon, five oversized-overweight-overly heavy suitcases, two car seats in travel bags, and a partridge in a pear tree. 

Since my son-in-law will be in the UK for a couple more weeks, wrapping up his job there before he can join his family here, and since we parents never stop wanting to help where we can, off hubs went to do just that. The kids (the grown ones I mean) were grateful, and hubs could sleep without the thought of his girl trying to manage all of that on her own keeping him awake at night. 

These grands are seasoned travelers and trans Atlantic flights ain't no big thing to them. It's all the  'stuff' associated with flying that frays the nerves. They landed in Atlanta late afternoon then had to get through immigration and customs, and the nightmare that is Atlanta traffic anytime at 6 o'clock in the evening, then another two hour drive here, but they did it!! They arrived home about 9 PM. 

Of course by 9 pm little miss had finally hit the wall, so my daughter plunked her into bed in the clothes she'd been wearing all day and night and then I looked at my daughter and kind of wanted to plunk her into the bed right beside her. 

She's an absolute star y'all. 

Friday started early because jet lag is for real.  Everyone was surprisingly cheerful, and we pulled out the toys and they got to work playing. I bought a doll stroller for little miss and she spent most of the day pushing it around the house, putting all her stuffies and special things in it, taking them out, chatting happily. The boys put together legos and Nana (that's me) made french toast because it was a french toast kind of morning. I also played Battleship and Rush Hour and listened to little boys explain which transformer is which and just soaked up that familiar feel of family in the house that is so precious. 

Daughter1 worked on unpacking their belongings and making sense of how to temporarily settle in to our house while they find one of their own. They can move over to the in-laws lake house (the in-laws don't live in it full time) if the home buying process takes too long and that's the plan sometime after my son-in-law arrives. 

She's also in a wedding (we don't do things by halves here) mid-February, out of town of course, so she had to get herself to the alterations lady Friday afternoon to have her bridesmaid dress basically remade before she needs to be in it. Whew. It's all kind of a lot on day one. 

As an aside, why are bridesmaid dresses sized so ridiculously ridiculous? Why aren't they sized like all the other dresses women wear? 

I'd invited the other grandparents aka the in-laws, to come for dinner along with my son-in-law's sister and brother-in-law, so it was a fun welcome home celebration. I made lasagne and a pan of baked ziti the day before, and it was so good. Yes I am saying so myself lol. It was though! 

I also baked a cake for dessert. Southern Living put out a calendar of cakes, one to bake each month of the year, and I thought I'd try it in 2025. I need to do these when I have company in the house so they'll get eaten so this was the perfect time to whip up the January recipe-

Buttermilk cake-

I'd never had a buttermilk cake but the ingredients give it a taste similar to pound cake, although not nearly as dense. The icing was scrumptious! Very much like a caramel frosting. I would definitely make this one again, and thought it tasted even better the second day. 

Saturday dawned early again, for the boys anyway. Apparently little miss had been up on UK time five hours earlier, then went back to sleep about the time the boys were getting up, and this is just how it is with kids and jet lag. 

Once everyone was really up, fed, and dressed we got out of the house for a bit. We went to a small museum one tiny town over called Museum of the Cherokee, and everyone enjoyed it. Hubs is always up for an arrowhead hunt. 

Afterwards we walked to the cheesesteak place for lunch, then wandered into a couple of shops before heading back home. 

Everyone was tired. Ti-red. I laid on the couch for a few minutes trying to finish the book I was reading, but then a tea party was happening right in the middle of my keeping room, and who doesn't want to drink tea poured (mostly) carefully by the cutest little server ever???

We had left overs for dinner and everyone went to bed early. 

Sunday little miss was up early, but the boys slept in and eventually we'll all be on the same page. The sun was shining so we took a walk in the neighborhood and soaked up some much needed Vitamin D. 

Hubs had some real estate-ing to do on Sunday and we all watched a movie that afternoon. I made an easy dinner, a chicken dish I hadn't made in years that I probably over made back in the day, but everyone liked it. We used to call it Russian chicken but I don't know if that was the official name. You mix apricot jam, a packet of Lipton's onion soup, and a bottle of Russian salad dressing together, then pour it over the chicken, cover and bake. Still delicious. 

And at this point my daughter was fading. Here's something I know about motherhood...no matter how old your children are, you never get over the instinct mothers have to help, soothe, and fill in the gaps where they need filling. 

You will one day look at your grown adult daughter and think, how can I help? How can I make this moment, this transition, this whatever easier? 

You send her for a warm shower and her pjs while you read her children bedtime stories, and oversee teeth brushing and bedtime prayers. 

You remember the exhaustion that lived beside the sweetness of mothering young children, and the memory of sitting on her bed listening to her bedtime prayers leads you to say one of your own..

Now I lay me down to sleep, thank you for this life so sweet.

A Heart's Desire

 Linking this post today with Joanne (Slices of Life) for Talking About It Tuesdays 

2025 is bringing a pretty big and exciting change to our family. I haven't said anything about it on my blog because I've kind of been holding my breath making sure all the pieces would actually come together, but that seems to be happening so it feels okay to talk about it here now. 

Y'all. Don't stop praying for something that is truly your heart's desire. 

When my oldest daughter graduated from high school eighteen years ago (huh???) we were living in the UK. She hopped the pond to attend university in South Carolina and then we moved to NJ and she moved to D.C., and then she got married and moved to Washington State, and then we moved to South Carolina, and then she moved even further away-South Korea, then to a town outside of Nashville, then to Cincinatti, then to England and whew. It's a lot, isn't it? 

All that to say we have not lived geographically near one another since she was eighteen years old. 

I have occasionally referred to this circumstance as the thorn in my side. I have prayed a lot of prayers for my girls in adulthood. Jobs, spouses, married life, childbirth, child-rearing, and yes I still ask God to bring them geographically nearer on a regular basis. Near enough for a cup of tea on a Monday morning or lunch now and then without planes, trains, passports and rental cars being part of the deal because this is my heart's desire. 

My youngest daughter has been living about 3.5 hours from us for the past three years and we consider that very near. We can go by car and it's not too far for a weekend drive which is nice. Hubs and I have spent most of our married life living far away from family so we know how to do this, but still it's not my favorite. Whenever a move is on the horizon for daughter1 I ask God if maybe the next location could be just a little bit closer to me.  

She and her husband just celebrated their ten year wedding anniversary, and in the last ten years my son-in law has completed the final four years of a five year residency, four years of orthopedic surgery, and then another two years in specialized orthopedic fellowships. 

Most recently they've been living in Cambridge (England) while he wraps up his final fellowship. Just before they moved to the UK he accepted a job with an orthopedic practice that will begin once they're back stateside. 

That job is here. 

Where I live. 

They are coming home and where we live is where they will live. 

I don't even know what this looks like, all I know is my daughter and her family will be living within arms reach. We can go to the kids sporting events and programs. We can have dinner together on a random Wednesday.  We can spend one on one time with each little grand since logistics aren't complicated. 

They can come for a swim in the lake, then go home and sleep in their own beds. Or their parents can go home and the kids can have a sleep over at Nana and Pawpaws. My daughter can go to the dentist and get her hair cut without three kids in tow. She can hang out with her sister more often which makes her so happy. 

We live in a small town and I imagine we'll run into one another in the market or Hobby Lobby and other places we'll both frequent. 

They will of course make their own friends here, settle in to their own routines and find their own favorite places, which is as life should be, but to have them near means so much. The in-laws also live nearby and they're as excited as we are for fewer Facetimes, and more actual face time. 

So all these many words to say this... 

I've been praying for many many years for something that I couldn't quite work out how it would ever happen, yet here we are in 2025 and my daughter and I are going to be 'neighbors'. 

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don't forget to thank him for his answers. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus." Phil 4:6-7 (The Living Bible)

Days Gone By

It was sixty degrees here yesterday so hubs and I (and the little brown dog of course) took advantage of the warm weather and hiked out to a nearby waterfall. We hadn't been on this particular path since Hurricane Helene hit, but she definitely left her mark. 

The rangers and crew have done a good job clearing the trail of most of the enormous fallen trees and they've made work arounds where needed.  

I do some of my best thinking while on a walk in the woods. I don't know if it's the quiet or the beauty or the freedom from distraction but I feel God especially near when I'm out in nature.  

As we walked yesterday I found myself thinking about this next new year getting ready to roll in...what I'm hoping for...what I need to do-untangle-notice-cherish. 

What will this new year bring? 

No clue, right? I mean we all hope for lots of goodness, but know most years are a mixture of both sorrow and joy. Every year is filled with the comfort of familiar, yet the unexpected will be woven in there too. 

There will likely be some muck along the way.

So much beauty too. 

There will be things to work out and things to enjoy. 

Time to play. 

And time to pray. 

A walk in the woods reminds me I don't have to think too deeply about the year I'm leaving behind. That it's okay to just let it quietly roll away and instead turn my gaze forward. 

To let my heart fill with gratitude for the way God goes before me into each new year. Each new day in fact. 

To rest in His unfailing love, knowing He'll show me the path I should walk. 

Creation reminds me to keep looking up. 

'The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him." Psalm 28:7

In the words of my grandson, 'Happy new you!'

Learning To Count

Hello Friends. And also any strangers who happened to land here today. Happy Thanksgiving. I know we have a few days still but let's be honest, the holiday starts when the cooking starts and that's usually today. 

If you're cooking. 

Which I'm not, but if I were I'd start today. 

Today. Whew. Actually it's been a whole entire weekend+ Monday, which is why there won't be a Hodgepodge post this week. I know technically this post is all over the place and feels very hodgepodge-y, but there's no official Wednesday Hodgepodge this week. The Hodgepodge will be back next week when we'll be in full on December mode.

Even though it will still be November. 

Life here is not dull. I feel like it should be a little bit dull because we're retired. Shouldn't there be days where we ask each other what do you want to do today and hubs says I don't know what do you want to do today? Yeah, that doesn't happen here. 

Saturday we awakened to a dog throwing up. Now I know this is something dogs do occasionally, but not our dog. Our dog is the Superman of dogs and has a stomach of steel. He was sick several times, and I gently suggested to hubs mid morning that maybe we should think about taking him in to the ER vet, but Tennessee was playing Georgia at 3:30 PM and hubs was not missing it. 

Except of course he did because the pup was pathetic and is his best bud. He made the 40 minute drive to the ER vet, then spent the next four hours waiting, seeing the doctor, and having the dog's blood drawn and belly x-rayed. Basically he missed the entire game which, if you're a Tennessee fan, wasn't such a bad thing. ahem. 

They did not see a blockage but of course nobody knows this dog like the hubs knows this dog, and he suspected the pup had eaten a paper towel (or two) when he was cleaning the grill on Friday. I read online paper towels can become like papier mache in a dogs belly but the doctors saw nothing on the x-ray. They did give him something that coats the stomach so when the dog seemed worse and not better on Sunday morning, it was back to the ER vet for another look. 

Offering here 1000 bonus points for anyone who can explain to me why these things always always always happen on a weekend or after hours. 

Sunday's visit revealed a blockage, which we were sure was a paper towel (or two), but as it turns out was a baby sock, size 12-24 months. Y'all my grandson was here two weeks ago which is a long time for a sock to be stuck in your dog's belly. 

All that to say, the dog spent Sunday night at the ER vet, so instead of getting ready to visit our daughter and her family this morning, we were waiting to hear how surgery went. Ugh! ugh ugh ugh. The worry. The irritation. The aggravation. The money. And of course the biggest ugh of all was the idea that I was not going to see my girl and her littles as planned. I was not going to be side by side with her in the kitchen as we chopped celery and made dressing and pulled out the good dishes. 

I wasn't going to get to see my grands open their Christmas pj's or help decorate their tree, or read stories snuggled up on the couch, or get great big hugs around the neck, and I'm going to be honest and tell you that on Sunday I had myself a little pity party. Maybe more than a little. 

But God is so good to give us new mercies every single day, so  I woke up this morning and I got a grip. I reminded myself the world is full of tremendous sorrows right now and this is not one of them. I talked to my sister who suggested we get a dinner to go from the grocery store and I had a new plan and a new outlook. Then I read this prayer first thing and it truly helped reset my outlook. And my 'in-look' too. It was posted by @cleerlystated on Instagram, not sure if I can share it without permission, so here's the link- A Prayer for Thanksgiving Week. 

Before too long the the vet called saying surgery went well. They would need to keep the dog for a few days because he also has a completely unrelated but significant skin infection and all that to say Thanksgiving is back on. 

I mean it was never off, but I let my mind travel down a road we are not meant to travel, and for a minute my normally grateful heart felt so completely Grinchy. Why is that so easy to do?

Making a list and checking it twice now...

I'm grateful today for modern medicine, for animals who worm their way into our hearts, for a husband who doesn't say 'snap out of it!', but instead lets me feel what I feel and offers hot tea, scrambled eggs, and a fuzzy blanket if I think it would help. 

I'm thankful for sisters who share my disappointments, who walk me through a plan B, who tell me I'm not being ridiculous when even I know I'm being just a little bit ridiculous. Sisters who love my girls and understand all the ways holidays and family go together. 

I'm so glad God loves me in spite of myself. That He keeps growing me up and into the person He created me to be. That He's not through with me yet. 

Grateful especially for this season that reminds me to count my blessings. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! 

Tickled Pink In The Hodgepodge

Welcome to another edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered this week's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave some comment love for the blogger before you. Here we go! 

 

1. Besides the predictable name-rank-serial number, what's something you know by heart?

The Pledge of Allegiance, Lamentations 3:22-23, The Lord's Prayer, the wives of Henry the VIII, the Kings and Queens of England in order, the lyrics to my favorite songs, hubs credit card number lol. 

2. Something recently that had you tickled pink?

The brand new window treatments in my almost re-done office. I love them! 

It was hard to get a picture with the sunlight streaming in (not complaining!!) , and they've been folded for quite a while so I need to let the creases fall, but I'm so happy with the look. The trim is navy and I will incorporate more navy into the room by way of the lampshade, side table, and pillows. 

3. How do you define the word romantic, and are you one? 

One definition I read said, 'an idealized view of reality'....hmmmm...synonyms include dreamer and sentimentalist. Is looking for the bright side the same thing as an idealized view of reality? I think I'm a romantic realist. 

4. Finish this verse with your own original thought....'Roses are red, violets are blue...

Not completely original but-

Roses are red

Violets are blue

Do unto others

As you would have done to you. 

5. Five little things you are loving right now? 

An unexpected kind note received, Brach's candy hearts, fun things on the calendar with people I adore, a winter sunrise, and daffodils in bloom

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Any special plans for Valentine's Day? We almost always dine at home on this day and  I think hubs will grill a steak. I was inspired by last week's Hodgepodge and as a result am planning a chocolate fondue for dessert.

No matter how you mark the day or maybe choose to ignore it altogether, know this...you are so very loved by the One who made you.

'For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.' Romans 8:38-39

Have a great week all! 

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list...

The Dog Days Of Summer

Wow. There's a whole lot going on in the world and it's all kind of depressing isn't it? We have to work at staying positive amid all the negative and that's wearing us out too. I know not everyone who reads here shares my beliefs, but when life feels overwhelming I quiet the noise in my head and my social media feed and on the television screen and I read the Psalms. 

Even when circumstances feel hopeless they are not hopeless. God is still on His throne and none of what is happening with wars and pandemics and hurricanes is a surprise to Him. I hope each one of you reading here knows He is for you. Psalm 91 is especially comforting right now... 

'I will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, 
"He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."

Not precisely where I intended to go today, but how can I not? How can I talk about ordinary life when the world around us feels anything but? 

Let's talk about my dog. The one we didn't want but who is now hubs best buddy and the one he doesn't want to be without. He's puny. Very very puny. A week ago he had emergency surgery on his belly and to be honest it is still a mess. 

The day we left the lake to drive over to TN we noticed the pup was eating grass. If you have dogs you know this is what they do when their stomach isn't right and they need to throw up. He never did throw up and was good as gold on the three hour car ride to Tennessee but wasn't really himself either. We chalked it up to too much attention from the grandboys, too many people doing too many things, and most of all not enough time with the hubs. 

My sister-in-law loves this dog as if he were her own, and in fact regularly threatens to kidnap him. We  love leaving him there when we travel because he is spoiled and cared for as if he were at home. The night before we were to leave their house to drive another three hours to my daughter's house he got sick. Nothing crazy but right away hubs said he thought maybe he ate something he shouldn't have. 

He knows this dog well. 

The pup had just spent more than  a week in the middle of tinker toys and Lincoln logs and tiny little magnetic pieces and all sorts of other tempting treats, and while we hadn't seen him snatch anything, we did consider the possibility. Still he was eating and doing all the things dogs do so we also thought it might be a case of the nerves/motion sickness/too many treats. 

He was sick as a dog, no pun intended, the four days we were away, but still trying to eat and do all the things dogs do so we called our vet who said let it run it's course unless certain symptoms appear. Monday my sister-in-law called and said they were taking him over to the emergency vet they had used a few years prior, and he was immediately admitted. They gave him fluids and did an ultrasound but could not see any blockage so diagnosed it as severe gastroenteritis. 

Is this tmi? Perhaps, but I'll continue anyway. 

They kept him overnight and did another x-ray in the morning, and sure enough there was definitely a blockage of some kind which meant surgery. They were unable to identify precisely what he had ingested, but it appeared to be some sort of foam something. He spent another couple of nights in the hospital and then we picked him up on Wednesday and made the drive back to SC. 

The incision looks awful, but after another trip to our own vet here, then several calls over the weekend (why is it always a weekend??!!) with our retired vet (thanks to our neighbors who are personal friends of his!!) we've kept him home, kept him as still as we can which basically means we don't take our  eyes off of him for one single second, kept his meds current, and then hubs sends photos to the vet to see if we need to come in before our recheck on Thursday. 

It's pitiful y'all. So so pitiful. Also messy, expensive, and painful. 

While it's most certainly not the worst thing on a list of worst things in the world right now, it's our thing and it's one more thing, and I think of everyone out there right now dealing with their own things on top of the world things and and and...deep breath everyone....

'I will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, 
"He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."

Love Actually

Love is in the air this month in all kinds of wonderful ways. Last Sunday family and friends gathered to shower my niece with love and housewares, as you do when someone is preparing to marry. There was brunch and there was beauty in being together and there were bridesmaids who are cousins, pictured here with their grandmother-

But who in our minds eye sometimes still look like this-

In other love-ly news Daughter1 and her family shifted their suitcases to the in-laws house last Monday. All grandparents need to experience the excitement of waking up to little boys who are into everything as soon as their feet hit the floor, plus someone might be needing a nap on the couch so they're ready for round two. 

And by someone I mean us, not the toddlers-ha!

We did our best to snap a photo with my mom and her great-grandsons before they headed across town, resorting to a cup of popcorn bribe if everyone would sit on the bench for a minute. And it sorta kinda worked. Toddler boys are not big on sitting for pictures in case anyone wondered, but these are keepsakes for me nonetheless. 

So so special.

My mom stayed on at the lake for a few days and we had the best time sipping coffee on the porch, watching our very busy hummingbirds overeat, playing lots and lots of cards, and even doing a little bit of shopping. 

We are never to old to appreciate our mother's love. 

Friday night was golden. Hubs and I were invited to attend a 50th wedding anniversary party given in honor of one of my Bible Study friends and her husband. Their children planned the loveliest celebration and I have been thinking about it ever since. 

All of the couple's children, their children's spouses, their grandchildren and their great-grandchildren were present which is a gift in itself. On top of that though, it was truly special to hear children and grandchildren and even in-law grandchildren all speak about the loving and Godly example the 'bride and groom' have been to their family. 

According to the US Census Bureau fewer than 5% of marriages make it to the 50 year mark, which is a rather sad and sobering number, and why it feels so very right to acknowledge God's faithfulness along the way. I think it's good to hear wedding vows spoken aloud from time to time. 

A reminder to those of us who are married what it was we committed to 50 years ago or thirty-seven years ago or even just a few months ago. What we are committed to still. 

I left thinking about my own legacy and hoping my girls and my grandchildren, my future grandchildren, and my future great grands speak of me and the hubs with the same sort of love and gratitude we witnessed Friday night. 

It doesn't just happen though...it takes a lifetime of pushing through the hard things, celebrating the bright moments, of trusting God and seeking His wisdom day by day. 

"Let all that you do be done in love." 1 Corinthians 16:14

Post-Pandemic Blogging

Are we post pandemic? Depends who you ask-ha! We have resumed normal life for the most part here, with a few exceptions when exceptions are called for. I am not getting into a fist fight or verbal altercation with anyone over masks, vaccines, or the like, and wish everyone could at least agree on that. 

Mostly hubs and I say it feels like someone flipped a switch and the train is back on track. Our calendar has certainly ratcheted up a notch or ten and it feels good.

At the same time, this past year and a half has shown me I don't want to be busy every single day. While I'm super excited to have houseguests once more, I am purposely leaving some blank space in the summer calendar for quiet daydreams, naps on the porch, and the occasional orange crush from our lakeside Cabana. 

The weather is most definitely saying summer here, so on Saturday night hubs grilled steaks on the Big Green Egg, and afterwards we took our first boat ride of the season. 

Early evening into sunset is one of the best times to be on the water, partly because day boaters have exhausted themselves and are docked for the night, but mostly because the sky is everything I love about summer. 

On Sunday we had Sunday School via Zoom, but church in person. Hmmm...here's how I feel...everyone is doing their best to make good decisions for the benefit of all so we're rolling with it. Funny story-we attended church in person last Sunday too and y'all! In true 2020 fashion (yes I still call the whole big mess 2020) a baby possum entered the sanctuary mid-sermon, and created a bit of a ruckus. 

We had the side doors open at both the front and rear of the church and he walked on in like ain't no big thing. One of the Deacons sitting nearby leapt to his feet and gently nudged the possum out the back door, and if that isn't this past year in a nutshell I don't know what is. 

In other news, my favorite people will be stateside in the not too distant future (time is relative of course) and I cannot wait to get my hands on these happy little men. I don't want to wish away the summer, but it's awfully hard not to count the days. 

God grows us in seasons of waiting and I guess I've still got some growing to do. 

In the meantime I look at the beauty of a watercolored sky and remember He's got the whole world in His hands.

In A Word

I saw this writing prompt on Tanya's blog (The Other Side Of The Road) and thought I'd play along. This month marks one year since the world went topsy turvy (topsy turvy-er?), and as my blog is more or less a journal of my observations about life, this seemed like a nice way to sum up the year that was. 

Can it be summed up? 

We shall see. 

If you'd like to answer the questions copy the graphic and have at it. Let me know if you do so I can read what you write-

What was life like in early 2020? Well, it was ordinary is what it was. I only wrote three blog posts in all of January and February and they were about the everyday beauty found in a pinky red sunrise, adorable baby boys growing up fast, a road trip to my mother's house in New Jersey which, as it happened, was the last time I saw her in person until a couple of weeks ago. I also posted a list of small seemingly manageable goals for the year. Ha! 

2020 just laughed at our goals and resolutions, wouldn't you say? 

Unlike many Americans Covid was actually fairly high on our radar because we have family living in South Korea, and they'd locked down there two months prior. We were naturally anxious for their safety, but the country and the Army both seemed to have the situation mostly in hand. 

In early March hubs and I drove to Florida to spend time with lake neighbors who had recently purchased a home there. We had a wonderful few days of fun in the sun before the clouds rolled in. 

And rolled and rolled and rolled and remained pretty much to this day.  

Covid struck here for real the day we headed home, and in those early days we were all pretty much on the same page as far as staying home, apart, and a little on edge. It was almost as if we'd been issued a group challenge and as a nation were determined to master it. We felt up to the task and thought fourteen days at home to slow the curve would be very do-able.  

Yeah. Remember fourteen days? Well it morphed into something else entirely and people lost their ever lovin' minds ransacking the toilet paper aisle and buying up all the yeast, flour, rice, and clorox wipes they could get their hands on. 

In a word-ridunkulous. 

What was the biggest change? America turned ugly. It wasn't just Covid though...I think it was Covid combined with so many people's endless (and I do mean endless), borderline-sick, white-hot hatred of our president and their inability to not carry on and completely melt down over every single word he spoke, tweeted or thought. It's really hard for me to separate the pandemic from the political fallout because I think it was a double whammy we have yet to recover from. 

In a word-exhausting

What were my coping mechanisms? Baking for one, but of course I couldn't keep that pace up for an entire year. I mean I could have, but we had a wedding to plan and a dress to wear which was highly motivating. 

Mostly I spent very little time on social media, and when I did scroll I hid or muted anyone spewing vitriol and judgement about lockdowns, social distancing, mask wearing, and the election, all under the guise of opinion stated as fact. Hubs and I intentionally listened to as little news as possible and I read books, prayed a lot, Zoomed with family and friends and I blogged. These things kept me sane when the world felt...

in a word-insane. 

What did connection in my relationships look like? 

It looked a lot like text threads, faces on a screen, and a perpetual longing for things to be different. Like wishing I could hop on a plane and see my grandsons, hug my mom around the neck, and have a conversation with the person sitting beside me at a table, in a church pew, or standing less than six feet away in the check out line. 

Still we made it work. Things were far from perfect but the ties still bind. 

What will I remember most?

Lots of things...how one day felt so much like the next, how time was blurry and we kept thinking tomorrow would be different...better..

Masks and hand sanitizer and wrinkled fingertips.

Netflix, no makeup, and cooking all the meals all the days every day. 

Cancelled appointments, cancelled parties, cancelled trips, cancelled fun. 

So much judgement. 

In a word uncertainty. 

What was a beautiful memory?

My girl got married. I highly recommend a wedding in the middle of life's most uncertain seasons. Where no one knows what tomorrow will bring. Where hate is poison and joy is the antidote.

In a word-love wins. 

What do I believe now that I didn't one year ago? 

The media is lost. News is now commentary, very often without any facts at all behind it, and we are so much the poorer for it. 

In a word-dismayed 

What would I do differently? 

Buy stock in Purell, Clorox, and Kimberly-Clark? 

Honestly there was so very little we had the power to control that I'm not sure I could have done things differently. We live on a lake with plenty of space both indoors and out and took full advantage of the natural beauty in our own backyard. We're retired with no school aged children in the house, so we didn't have to figure out the whole work from home while also overseeing a child's education thing so many struggled with. 

Mostly we considered ourselves luckier than most. We rolled with the ebb and flow of life as best we knew how and I reminded myself daily God is bigger than any challenge we might face and He is still in charge of the universe. 

In a word-fortunate

What will I carry forward? 

That in the midst of both enormous challenges and minor irritations, quiet acts of kindness make things easier to bear. That God is present, working, and available even when we humans struggle to understand the hows and whys of a situation. 

Also this. These people. The knowledge that even when the world tilts love will find a way-

In a word-2020

Musings Of The Random Sort

Or you can call it a phone dump if you want. 

Periodically I jot notes to myself in the note section of my phone, things I might want to mention on my blog. And sometimes I read the notes back and think hmmm??? What in the world is this shorthand code for and why did I put it here? 

Remember Thanksgiving? I never mentioned ours here and this blog is a journal of sorts so I'm going to mention it now. 

After the fact, but that's okay because it's 2020 and time is blurry. 

My mother-in-law spent the week with us, has been back home for one solid week, and I still haven't finished the puzzle we started while she was here. This is one of those puzzles where every piece fits in forty different places, or at least seems to. 

We discovered about halfway through that each piece was lettered on the back so all the A's go in the A section, all the B's in the B section etc., and you can tell by looking at the back if you have them put together correctly.  My m-i-l tried working some of it from the backside and I told her she was cheating but y'all, since she left I've discovered we have about half of the pieces in the wrong spot (including some of the outline!) so now I'm cheating a little too. 

In other Thanksgiving week news, there was a boat ride on a blue sky sunshiny day.  

And thoughtful neighbors who give you sourdough starter and their go-to recipe. It was delicious even though I forgot to set the timer and had to make my best guess as to it's doneness. 

Honestly it needed another five minutes, but that didn't stop us from slathering the warm loaf with butter and later enjoying a sandwich. 

For the record, I did not murder the starter but have decided not to keep mine going right now. I don't have the time or the pre-wedding waistline for it and my neighbor says she'll happily share more later. I can try again in 2021.  

2021. We have heaped a whole lot of expectation on to the coming year, haven't we? I feel like everyone is hanging on by their fingernails with their eyes on a new year that will be filled once more with beloved old routines. I hate to say it, but that might be overly optimistic. The calendar page will turn to 2021, but it looks like we're going to be stuck in 2020 a while longer. 

Which is one reason I'm thankful the gift of Christmas lands where it does. 
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep....

Have you heard about the Christmas star set to appear on Dec 21st just as Saturn and Jupiter align? It's been almost 800 yeas since they appeared visibly this close to one another, a phenomenon known as conjunction (two objects in space appearing to be close to one another as seen from Earth). 

Look at me sounding all Bill Nye the science guy here-ha! 

But seriously, is this 'star' what the wisemen saw? Some people think what they saw was a triple conjunction-Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus but no matter, the heavens some 2000 years later are still a beautiful reminder of our great God, Master Designer of the Universe. The One who holds it all in His hands. 

2020 could use a little reminding. 

I feel like 2021 might need some too.