Hayden's Christmas Concert

Today was Hayden's concert at his "pre-school". It was so much fun. The kids did a really good job singing holiday songs. They sang some Christmas songs, some Hanukkah songs. You could tell they had practiced. Then after the singing was a visit from Santa. It was heartwarming to see how the kids anxiously awaited their turn to go up to Santa to receive their gift. AHHHH, to be a child again.

December

We had the first snow of the season the other night.  Big fat wet flakes.  Very pretty coming down, and a powder sugar dusting on the trees and hills across the river when I got off work the next morning.  Now it is cold and windy, with winter finally on its way. 

I read my Christmas book for this year.  It is called The Boat of Dreams, by Richard Preston.  It is a very heart warming story about hope and love and a little magic for Christmas.  It was written for a life long friend of the author, who was dying of breast cancer several years ago.  It won't make you laugh out loud, like the Dave Barry book about Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog, but is a great read.  (Richard Preston also wrote, among other things, The Hot Zone, NOT a Christmas book, but an interesting account that you might want to read some other time.)

The weekend after Thanksgiving, I had a great time with Hayden and Rachel.  One day we went bowling and to the new movie "Planet 51", and another day I took Hayden ice skating.  He is just learning to ice skate, so I am not sure he enjoys it as much as I do, but I am hoping if he will persevere he will get to the point where he enjoys it. I think he just needs to overcome the fear of "letting go" (don't we all!).  Learning to skate in a rink, with a railing, is not the same as Oak Lake!

Now I am trying to dig in to my winter projects and have cut the material for the first of the four boat cushions I am recovering.  That and finishing up my meager preparations for Christmas.  Mike will be here on the 15th and then we will fly to California on the 17th to spend Christmas visiting his kids. 

A really cool thing I got introduced to last week is playing Scrabble in real time, on FaceBook.  Great fun to be able to play "that silly game", as Mike calls it, with my friend Celeste in Florida while sitting in my own living room. 

On a parting sad note though, I was sorry to see that both Nebraska and Florida lost their football games this past Saturday!  Florida got soundly beaten by a team with better plays, but Nebraska, to look at the score, was barely overcome. 

Thankfulness

After my last depressing post, (which I have since deleted) I must respond in a more positive note. There are lots of things I am thankful for this year, as always.  I just need to remind myself of them, and get the positive notes flowing.  Spread more "Good Karma", instead of dwelling on the negative.  It is easy to get sucked in to the downward spiral.  I chose to be a nurse, and for the time being, a night nurse.  I just need to remind myself of what I have to be Thankful for.  I am thankful that I have a job. I get positive feedback from my patients.  I am thankful for friends that share their life with me, no matter if it is from a distance, and for my family, who are always there if I only reach out to them.  I am thankful for the beautiful and intricate world that God shares with me whenever I take a walk and drink it in.  I am thankful for the chance to share my life with my patients, and hope that they are nurtured by my caring.  I am thankful for the companionship my dog offers me, and hope that his life is a little easier because of our relationship.  I am thankful for a wonderful daughter and grandson, and for Rob, who all give me love and caring and nourishment. I am thankful for a life partner who accepts me for what I am but who pushes me to become more.  I am thankful for my health, and the blossoming ability to know when I need to change things, and when to learn to look around me and accept things the way they are.

Photos

For those of you who have flickr accounts, I have new photos posted on my site.  If you need a new guest pass, please let me know.  One of these days I will work on figuring out how to post photos on this site. 

I just got skype tonight and was able to talk to and see Mike on his boat in the Bahamas.  YES!  What an amazing thing the internet and world wide web are! 

November Already!

The older I get the faster time goes. But, the slower I seem......hmmm. We had a very colorful autumn. It was exciting to walk the dog in the park along the river and see all the trees change day by day. The west bank of the Hudson was a panorama of orange, red, yellow, umber, with little spots of green until it all started fading into brown and yellow. The opening of the Walkway Over the Hudson was the highlight of the season. The walkway provides an amazing view of the Hudson River Valley, both north and south of here, and way to the west into the Shawungunk Mountains. It was fun having family and friends here to do the opening activities. Hayden and I have gone across and back together since the opening, with him on his bike. I try to do it at least once a week, but as it gets cooler I've begun the gradual slide into hibernation. Which is not a bad thing. I have winter projects left from last year! Boat cushions to cover, lists to make for spring launching, photo organizing (all my digital photos), cleaning out the closets (again!) till all the boxes and unused stuff is donated, sold, given away! And, each season, week, day just doesn't seem long enough to get it all done.

This blog was one of my New Year's resolutions last year. Hopefully once started, I can keep it going. I often think of things to put in a blog, usually when I am out walking, biking, etc. but then of course when I get home there are always other distractions. But, now it has finally worked its way up to the surface, and hopefully I can sustain it.