Saturday's Scribbles

Good Saturday to you on this cold, blustery day in Iowa.  A few snowflakes are swirling around in the air but nothing much is sticking to the groud yet.  Our "warm" December seems to be over....we'll see!  Next week we are heading for highs in the 40's again.  

Joel was able to catch a sunrise yesterday morning and then he sat on a chair in the dining room and watched three deer grazing in the yard.  They seemed to enjoy the Lilac bushes a lot!  

Speaking of December, we have the house decorated, the tree up and filled with ornaments, and the Christmas cards getting addressed.  Getting the newsletter ready was a challenge for a number of reasons.  In all honestly, looking back on the last year has been difficult.  Too much medical drama....too many days of little energy for me....too little travel, or other activities.  Putting that aside, we also had trouble with printing....Joel put a new colored ink cartridge in the printer, but it did not work at all.  We cleaned the cartridge heads, etc. but nothing but blue or yellow showed up in the photo.   Eventually he went back to Target, told them the problem, returned and exchanged the cartridge and yippee!  It now works!    

I got out the old CD/cassette player and we have been listening to some Christmas CD favorites like James Taylor, Alabama, Vince Gill, Kenny G., and YoYo Ma.  We have an Alexa, Bose speaker, and our phones, but there is just something about the CD player and old familiar songs......

It has been a quiet week here.  We did head to church Sunday morning.  The temperature was close to 60 on Wednesday and in mid 50's on Thursday so Joel was working on a wood project outside and also cleaning up the yard one more time.  We even had the back deck door open to bring fresh air into the house.....but alas....those days are over I expect.  We headed to the Dollar Tree this morning to start picking up the cards for the family.  Then over to HyVee to get a few groceries.  My big outing of the week.  Just 2,  3/4 full bags cost $108 today.  This took me back to the summer everyone was home and we were feeding a family of ten.  Our biggest bill of the month was for groceries!  I also was washing a lot of laundry with kids working for the summer and needing clean uniforms or work clothes.  One week I did 20+ loads.  Not kidding.  Those days are long gone for sure.  

It is a quiet house now, with fewer groceries to buy, and less clothes to wash.  When everyone comes to visit it usually takes us a few hours to adjust to the noise level...and it is delightful!  The laughter, the stories, the hustle and bustle in the kitchen, the games being played on the dining room table,  Yeah....it's all good.  

Last night we watched the Norman Lear special.  I had forgotten some of the shows he created.  He was an interesting man for sure.  Thinking about old shows, we have been catching M.A.S.H late in the afternoons again.  I remember when we came back to the states after living in the Philippines and Joel felt that M.A.S.H was not descent for us to watch.  Years later it became one of his favorite shows.  Three's Company also was off limits by us.  And now?  The ads on TV are worse than the shows we used to think were so bad.  

I have little to say this week, so am giving thanks for warmer weather, a festive house, decorated tree, and newsletter printed.  Grateful for Advent.....Grateful for a quiet house with no medical drama this week.  Grateful for our old CD player...and Kenny G playing as I type.  Grateful for  money to buy groceries, gas, and everything else we need.  Grateful for TV shows, movies and specials to entertain.  Grateful for texts and phone calls.  Grateful for so much more...

Enjoy your weekend!