Week 45 and Veteran's Day

First off a very special thanks and appreciation for all of those who have served in our country's armed forces. 

Each week I try to remember the joys I find each day, then record them so I can read them on New Year's Eve and re-live all the joy the year had. I understand 2020 has been an anomaly but it is filled with joys, maybe little smaller than past years, but joyous nonetheless. They are out there for the taking if we just stop and look for them. And trust me, there are days I have to look long and hard, but I still find at least one thing that brought me true happiness.

Wednesday. My Wednesday class has restarted in a gigantic room. The room is set with tables connecting to form a square with about 12 feet of open space between them. The chairs are set up at 6 foot intervals plus every single person wears a mask. Personally I wish we were meeting outside, distanced with no masks, but this way it is saves tremendously on makeup time when getting ready! I really did enjoy the distanced interaction with other humans. 

After class I picked up My Beloved Sister and we went looking for upholstery fabric. I found one piece  (a remnant) for a small side chair but she found nothing. We immediately made plans to go other places after the weekend.

Thursday: I stayed home and got some much needed work done then framed 2 watercolors I found at Mom's. My powder room looks somewhat like a small gallery now. A very small gallery! 

Friday:  I had to run some errands and while driving I saw the first beautiful tree of the fall. Most had just started to color and several were beginning to show a little red or yellow, but this single tree was perfectly scarlet. It truly brought joy, knowing that others would soon follow. 

Saturday: We went to the lake on what was supposed to be a beautiful day. The meteorologists neglected to tell Mother Nature though. It was overcast and drizzling there. We have power now and had to reset the alarm system and check everything electrical. Everything was fine and none of the three uprooted trees on the lakeside snapped the underground line that powers the boathouse. And the biggest joy of the day was having FaceTime fun with Pip!

Sunday: We started the day by streaming church followed by our Webex Sunday school class. There is a certain joy in safely connecting with people who are outside our bubble. I am really feeling the social isolation and it is not good for me, but neither is Covid exposure.

Monday: My Beloved Sister and I hit the trail again to look at more fabric. It was great. We went to an out of the way place and both found things we wanted. Plus she found a rug for her dining room that will be very complimentary to the one from Mom's. (Edit: The rug is too large for her dining room) And the icing on the cake was that we had the entire second floor to ourselves until we had to call for sales help to cut some yardage.  On the way home the sun came out and the yellow and red leaves were popping out all over the hills. Gorgeous!

Tuesday: The day was a mostly average stay at home kind of day. It had rained a little bit in the morning and water had pooled in a couple of low spots on the swimming pool cover. Even though we do have a birdbath in the yard, it seems the birds prefer a much bigger area to do their splashing. I looked out the window while having coffee and counted 11 birds (4 different varieties) flitting in the shallows! A bird show beats housework for joy any day!

I hope each of you reading this find joy every single day. It is out there as long as we look for it!