Thankful Thursday | that’s a dust blanket

Dusting - the only hausfrau chore neither of us enjoy doing. But I sucked it up before T-Day and cleaned like Sherman-marching-2-the-sea. Upside is it made Xmas cleaning easier and less exhausting. Age 45 seems a lifetime ago for me - kiddo one was a year out from graduating early from college and kiddo two was a year out from graduating high school. The grandparent I was closest to was still alive and living quite independently thank-you-very-much (and for another six years after that). We're hosting the holiday again. And have done so since my mother got the sh*t end of the deal called dementia. No BS about "miracles" - dementia sucks and sucks the life out of the family. And please do remember Kristen, that some, more than you think, are grossly appalled at being bathed, much less the bodily function "care". I will do my damnedest to not put that burden on anyone. IMHO, selfish to suck down scarce medical resources for no benefit for society.

Thankful? You’d better believed I’m thankful. I live in one of the hardest hit towns in Maine from flooding and near hurricane force winds that happened on Monday. Three people lost their lives, many lost their homes and pets. Devastation all around us, yet this community has pulled together to make sure people are warm, fed, housed with friends or family or at the high school, where a temporary shelter has been set up. I volunteered there last night, helped people “shop” for what they need, gave out some hugs, shared some tears, and met some neighbors less than a mile from us who lost their home due to the basement collapsing. All of this with less than a week until Christmas, and now temps are in the teens and twenties. I have so much to be thankful for, there’s not enough room on this page to list it. Ever grateful.

I am thankful that I found a teenage babysitter who is willing to spend part of her Christmas break watching my daughter so that I can work.

I am thankful for vaccines and antibodies. We know baby girl will get sick but hopefully some of the vaccines our family is getting will help hold off the worst of it.

I am thankful for Christmas lights. The short fall and winter days can be hard emotionally but Christmas lights help boost my mood.

I am thankful that today is the winter solstice. Longer days are coming.

I am thankful for my morning coffee.

So happy to see your first one, and the Silent Night reel. Happiest Christmas to you and yours!

1. For a husband who is caring, even in the middle of the night. This is embarrassing to admit, but when I am stressed I bite my fingernails while I am sleeping. I have no recollection of doing it, it is only when I wake up to chewed nails that I realize it. Last night the husband woke me up to ask me why I was so anxious that I was back to biting my fingers in my sleep. It was 3 am and he took me out to the living room and had tea and talked for almost 2 hours. I feel much better today. 2. The sun rose at 11 am today and will set at about 2:30. I know many people hate the darkness but I dread the 24 hours of relentless, merciless daylight in spring and summer. So today I am not doing much more than reading, where I can sit in our book nook and look out onto the snow and darkness going and coming today. I am thankful I don't have to spend the day working instead of enjoying these last days before the sun starts taking over again. 3. For my sister, who takes the initiative to call me frequently because she knows I don't really like talking on the phone. We are so radically different that if we had not been born into the same family, I doubt we would ever have been friends. Sweet but not a pushover: this is the sister who felt a hand down the back of her pants when she was bent over the welding table. She turned around, saw it was her boss and punched him in the nose so hard that she broke it. I generally do not cheer violence but as she said, "I don't think he would have gotten the point if the consequence was to be sent to a sexual harassment training." Maybe if more men were afraid of being clobbered by the women they dare to harass... 4. The local church, not mine, that holds free musical programs every Friday during the winter. Some weeks it soothes the soul to sit, look at the stained glass, while hearing a choir or a harpist or some other community musician. Sadly, never an accordionist, but bagpipers have performed---that is my second favorite instrument. 5. Thanks to people who put up outdoor Christmas lights.