Boxing Day

 Another Christmas is "in the bag," so to speak.

Our gathering on Christmas eve was very nice.  Once the conversation shifted away from Covid, of course.  As it turns out, two of our guests are borderline conspiracy theorists, and, while they have been taking the precautions, they also believe that Ivermectin is a safe and useful therapy, and that there's some kind of plot underlying all of this.

Anyway, the food was delicious, and having a few friends in my house for the first time since Christmas eve of  2019 really did my heart good.

Of course, we did not hear from any of Dave's family, but I got to spend time on the phone with mine.

We spent some time in the woods on Thursday morning, because both of our offices were closed Thursday and Friday.  

There are deer that live in two of the city parks we like to go to, and we had lovely encounters with several of them while walking on Thursday.  There were very few people at the park at that time, so the deer were not shy at all.  They are pretty used to people, too, which is a bit sad.

Then we went to Costco for cat food and toilet paper, and, though it was so busy that it was like walking into an ant hill, we were able to get in and out surprisingly quickly!  They had all of the registers open, and the lines, though very long, moved along very well.

Once home, by 11 am, we started really tidying up and cleaning the house.  

We had all day to do that, and we (mostly I) got SO much done!  Dave even finally got the weed whacker out, and mowed down the dead stuff in the front flower bed, which I had been asking him to do for weeks on end.

The front of the house looks like people live here, now, HAHA!

Friday was an easier day for me, as I worked hard on the house all day Thursday.  Dave saves all of his chores for the last possible minute, so he was the busy one on Friday...BUT, we did get it all done.

My main work on Friday was cooking, finishing the decorating I wanted to do, and setting the tables.  The dining room table, obviously, but I also set out cups, dessert plates, and spoons by the coffee maker in the kitchen, and set out a side board for the hot dishes, and the cognac.

Unfortunately, when we were tidying, a LOT of stuff was just moved to the guest room, and the door closed.  

However, we made a pact that, as we bring stuff back out of there (which we HAVE to do, because that is my office for work, and it's where I do my yoga, and my meditations, etc), we will go through it all, and make sure that what comes back out into our living space is needed.

If it's not, it gets recycled, thrown away, PUT away somewhere, or donated.  

Christmas day, which really is a "nothing day" for us (sure, we open our gifts, and have a traditional breakfast), was quiet and relaxed, and we started un-loading the guest room.  

Dave went through stacks and stacks of un-needed papers, mailings, and junk that he had set aside, and now the spots they were in are clean!  There is also a bag of items to be donated, and I found room to put a few things away.

Today, the 25th anniversary of my mother's death (she died some time in the night on Christmas, and my dad waited until 5 am to call us), I will put all of the decorations away, and we will put the tree back in it's bag in the back of the shed.

As part of my spiritual practice, I work with sending healing and light to my beloved dead.  Today, I will focus on doing that for my mom.

Dave will be going grocery shopping, and pet supply shopping, so, if we can get the guest room cleared out before he goes, I will do this work while the house is empty.

Back to work in the morning, but at least it's another short week, with both of our offices being closed on Friday, because January 1st is on the weekend.

Best wishes to my readers for a happy, healthy, safe, and fulfilling year in 2022!