2022 Happy To Be Here

With the closing of the year comes the final blog at this address. The new address should be 2023af.blogspot.com. It will be empty until I write again.  I look forward to seeing you there.  My only resolution is to try to do better.  It is pretty vague, but I'm going to work with it.  Here are some of the happy things from the last day of 2022: As the year closes, I realize I have deadlines to make. The weaving I have only sporadically been working on must be finished before the end of January. To that end, I'm going to attempt to work on it for at least 30 minutes a day until it is done. Today that got me through the first design of the sword and shield and just a little more.   I spent the evening at my friend Amy's house to ring in the new year. When I got there Heather, their old cat, decided that my backpack needed to be marked as hers. I wonder what our cats will do when I get home? We had dinner, watched two movies, and the ball drop in New Yor...

Somehow I remembered to take care of the wildlife camera. Unfortunately, the SD card doesn’t want to work or the camera is broken and won’t read the card. I’m still happy that I remembered to go out and try to take care of it.  The path is a little overgrown from lack of use. Other happy things from today: Gideon has a friend over. I’m happy that he has a day to play with a friend. He doesn’t get that very often. I have a bunch of candy from Christmas and I am thoroughly enjoying this. When the candy is gone, I will cut back on my sugar and I’m going to reduce my gluten too. For now I will embrace the sugars. Christmas movies aren’t over for me yet. I watched a few episodes of the series Dash & Lily that I started with the family on Christmas Eve.  I'm enjoying this Christmas series, it has intrigue. ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every Day of the Year , Joan Borysenko. Currently listening t...

It seems that I haven’t checked on the wildlife camera in the woods on our property since June. Most of what was recorded was the leaves blowing in the breeze. Tomorrow the batteries will be charged and I can get it set up again. Hopefully I will get myself out there more often so that this doesn’t happen again. Other happy things for today: I spent some time at the studio getting my new tablet set up. Most of the apps I want are on there I think. I finished watching The Santa Clauses series.  I enjoyed it. My friend, Amy, and I went for a walk along the Londonderry Rail Trail. We walked over four miles. There was ice on most of the water by the trail. One place with rushing water had ice formations alongside it. It was very pretty. ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every Day of the Year , Joan Borysenko. Currently listening to: The House in the Cerulean Sea , by TJ Klune. Thank you for being part of my ...

Part of me is excited about working on December 24th, part of me is not. Two more days of work and I don't know when I will finish the little bit of holiday shopping I have left to do. I have one big happy for today: A few days ago I mailed a package to Texas. Today it reached its new home with TF.  It also happens to be her birthday, so the timing was good. I sent her a few things, including the earrings I made for her. The big thing I sent to her was the iPad that I won through work a few weeks ago.  It isn't very often I get something like that to give away (like ever?).  She was very surprised and happy which made me happy. The box contents. ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every Day of the Year , Joan Borysenko. Currently listening to: The House in the Cerulean Sea , by TJ Klune. Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe

Working strange hours meant I did not get enough sleep last night. I woke up somewhere around three in the morning and couldn't fall back to sleep. The good news is that I should fall asleep easily once I've finished writing this. Other happy things from today: Keziah took me out for a mother-daughter breakfast for my birthday today. We ate and did some errands. It was nice to spend time with her.  In the afternoon my friend, Amy, and I went for a nice walk in the cold. The morning was sunny, but the winds picked up and flurries fell on our walk. It was a nice visit and the cold air was refreshing.  Bel called me to wish me a happy birthday and we got to talk for a little bit. So nice to hear from my youngest. They are in Maryland now and I don’t know when I’ll be able to see them again. Hopefully not too long.  The new laptop that Zed ordered for me arrived today! I have no time today to set it up, hopefully tomorrow after work. ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful ...

Happy Thanksgiving!! It was a work day (night?) for me. Because of the holiday, I only had to work until 8:45 this morning instead of 11:50. For some reason, I don't have to work the extra day of Friday this week.  They changed my schedule.  Other things that I am happy for today are: They served us breakfast burritos at work today. Every so often they bring in some outside food for the employees. Being a picky eater, I don't always choose to partake. Today I did and chose an egg, cheese, and potato burrito. It was pretty good.  Hearing from family and friends is always a happy occurrence.  I'm happy to say that my youngest is doing fine today, we texted.  My oldest is also fine, we had a quick call when I couldn't find the cinnamon. In the afternoon, after a short nap, I visited my friend, Amy and her son for a Thanksgiving meal- vegan style. I don't care for mushrooms, so I skipped the turkey substitute, the rest was delicious. I like the vegan green...

It's thankful Wednesday! It is the day before Thanksgiving, the official day of the year for people to be thankful. Isn't it great that we have a day just to show thanks? Here are some things I am thankful for today and always: Family. I love my family, even the relatives that I don't get along well with. The immediate family that I live with though, they are awesome. We look out for each other.  I miss my youngest who is away.  Friends. I am blessed with many friends, some that are chosen family. I see or talk with some much more than others, but they are all special and hold a place in my heart.   Pets. They are an extension of the family. They comfort us, entertain us, and need us. ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every Day of the Year , Joan Borysenko. Currently listening to: Blue Lily, Lily Blue , by Maggie Stiefvater. Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

It was a busy day filled with family and friends... and I should have taken more pictures. Here are some happy things from today: Cousins on my dad's side of the family had a small get together this morning. It was really nice to see them for a little while. It had been over a year since we had seen some people. Since we were in the area at this point, we also visited the cemetery where my parents are buried. Today was my mom’s birthday. Next up we had a baby shower to go to. There were games, my favorite was trying to figure out which children's book title that emojis described. There are some that I hadn’t heard of, but it was fun. The parents-to-be got a pile of wonderful gifts and everyone seemed to have a great time. After the shower Keziah, Zed and Gideon had another small party to go to. I went for a walk at the mall with my friend, Amy who was also at the baby shower.   ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurtur...

When I set out to walk the five miles to the studio today, I really didn't want to make the walk. I made arrangements with Zed to pick me up along the way. He didn't and that is okay. Somewhere along the walk, after picking up lunch, I started feeling better.  Other happy things from today include: Keziah was at the studio helping a friend work on a new gown. Other friends came to visit as well. It was good. Eventually I hit that time of day when I get tired and all I could do was put my head on the table and nap.  Before the nap I made some earrings. This is not something I am great at, but I think they came out nice.   I also did a small amount of weaving. My brain wasn't where it needed to be to do more than about an inch and my back started to hurt. I didn’t find a comfortable weaving position. Still glad that progress was made. ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every Day of the Yea...

It is Thankful Wednesday. There are a few of my friends that are posting daily on Facebook for November things that they are thankful for. My Facebook memories remind me that I have done that before too. I'm thankful to be able to read them when I see them. Here are some things I am thankful for: The night was clear with a mostly full moon to guide me to the car last night. I heard from my friend in Texas today. We are both in a better headspace this week than we were last week. I am thankful for the happy memories I have of people that are no longer with us. Nanni was nice enough to pose so I could have a picture in today’s blog. ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every Day of the Year , Joan Borysenko. Currently listening to: The Dream Thieves , by Maggie Stiefvater. Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Here are some happy things from this beautiful autumn Sunday: Gideon sat by me while I was eating breakfast with a Mad Libs booklet, ready to play. How could I say no? Much giggling and laughter ensued when the character in the story had to save themself from quicksand with a 25 foot long piece of paper. When I am out for a walk and crossing a street I try to nod or wave at the drivers that let me pass. Today I chose to use my earbuds and listen to the book Keziah had recommended,  The Raven Boys, while I walked. I notice a car has stopped to let me by and I wave and see that they are waving me on excitedly. I didn't think much of it other than to try to move a little faster. They pull away and I notice as they drive by that it was Keziah, she stopped to pick me up and I just walked on by! She called a moment after I figured this out. The book was engrossing enough that I didn't see that it was my daughter behind the waving hands. We laughed and I thanked her again f...

If you read my blog regularly, you know we have a dog, Aesop, that we have been trying to re-home. He needs a home without cats and with more routine.  Earlier this week a couple met him for the first time and tonight they came to get him. They are taking him on a trial basis. They live in a city and are concerned that he won't take to city life. They committed to keeping him for at least the month as a test period. I'm sad, there were tears, but I know he will be fine.  Here are some happy things from today: There is a friend I have from my old job as a paraeducator that I got to spend some time with. We went for some walks and I showed her the studio. It was a nice visit. She even helped me warp my loom some. After she left, I got a new book to listen to on my phone and continued to work on the loom. It is now warped and I have started the weaving process. This introvert (me) stepped out and talked with a complete stranger today. Keziah and I were going into the grocery sto...

Our couch has a cover for it that I am having a hard time keeping on right now.  It slips, I try to fix it and it slips again.  I need to pull the thing out to fix it right and I haven't taken the time to do that.  Anyhow, Aesop, our dog, decided he liked the cave that was created by the cover slipping and made himself comfortable. Here are some other happy things for Saturday: I decided to walk the four miles into the city today. It would have been slightly more pleasant had I remembered to wear a hat. Somehow I didn't get a sunburn.  Here are some pictures from the walk: Zed, Gideon, and Aesop were already in the city with friends. I thought they had left already and was pleasantly surprised to find them ordering some lunch at the new place in town. It was a nice short visit with all the people and Keziah came as well to bring and Aesop me home. There was a bunch of stuff that I borrowed from a friend for Pennsic. I visited with her and returned most of the s...

 For Thankful Wednesday I am thankful that a few days ago Zed was able to get my laptop usable again.  The touch screen is turned off since that seems to be where the problem is.  It is good to be able to type on a keyboard instead of my phone.  Some other thankful things for today: It has been a week and a half since I got back from my Pennsic vacation.  I think that is long enough for me to be thankful that I didn't get sick with anything while I was there.  I know others who did, but we are all fine.  To my knowledge, the others that I know who got sick, are doing alright--I'm thankful for that too. I am thankful for text and similar types of messaging.  I have had brief conversations over different media today and it is good to 'hear' from friends even when the voice isn't used.   Pets are something else I am thankful for today.  For some reason both the cats have decided that my room is the place to be. ☮ Thank you for being pa...

Somehow,  I had a hard time staying asleep last night.  Hopefully that won't be a problem tonight.  My work week is over so I can sleep in tomorrow.   Other happy things from today include: --I had a nice talk with TF this afternoon.   Her daughter is getting married next month so there are plans and happy things going on in her life now.    --When I was staying gluten-free there were so many things that I had to stay away from.  Most of these things are obvious.  To make it easy on myself, I found three or four flavors of gluten-free canned soup that I could have.  One that I couldn't have,  and missed, was Butternut Squash Bisque soup.  I had some for dinner tonight and it was yummy.  --When I started my current job the first thing I was trained in is called stowing.  I enjoyed certain parts of the work like making the boxes fit into the big bags. Later I learned what is called picking, and then I learned ...

The long day of travel yesterday after a day of packing and travel left me very tired today.  I wish I could say that unpacking happened, but I had an errand to run.  My morning went slow and when I went to leave, some things happened that got me very frustrated.   Thankfully I got a call from TF.  We didn't talk while I was gone so it was really nice to hear her voice.  Other happy things from today: --After my errand I went for a walk.   This helped improve my mood even more. --The woods were pretty today.  I mostly followed a 5K marked trail. --Someone, maybe the library, placed book pages along one of the trails. ☮️ Thank you for being part of my happy things.  Stay safe. 

Before leaving for the two and a half hour court tonight I told Keziah that she may need to poke me to stay awake.   This turned out to not be a problem when I was reminded of how uncomfortable the throwns were.  Thankfully court, though longer than three hours, was enjoyable.  Happy things from today include: --It was my last day to relax.  Tomorrow I'll be busy most of the day. --Gideon has been really enjoying youth fighting.  He was telling me about it when I took this picture.  --Court was long, but being able to see people be elevated or awarded is always good. --It got dark during court which made it hard to see the awards going out.  I did my best to get a picture of the scroll Keziah made. --It was really nice to get back from court to find a campfire.  Gideon had put Campfire Colors in the fire earlier on and greens and purples kept flaring up. ☮️ Th...