The Joy of Being

As usual I am keeping up with the daily joys. So far in 2020 I have done nothing big nor important. I just tend to rock along day to day. I had just begun getting out more and doing a few things when Delta decided to make her appearance.

I am scheduled to get my covid booster on Friday (changed to early next week now) and after a week or two hopefully I can start joining life again. However I will still be masked. Even though our vaccination rate is higher than it was, it is still so much lower than most areas that I will continue to err on the side of caution.  

A couple of movies I really do want to see are out now, so I plan on going to the first movie of the day  since they have very few people anyway. (I was planning on taking a new shower curtain liner  to sit on, but Sluggy suggested I just arm myself with a can of Lysol to spray my seat. Much better and simpler idea!) 

 Friday: The day was filled with wonders and sadness. We closed on Mom's house which was a bittersweet moment. I am so glad we no longer have to take care of it, and the family moving into it is lovely. I hope they have a great life there and enjoy it as much as Mom and Dad did. On the flip side, this was my home from the time I was 12. There are a lot of memories attached to that place.

The actual closing went without a hitch and the buyers agent even gave us a gift of lovely rosemary lavender shortbread cookies. (They were delicious)

After we closed, My Beloved Sister and I went to the bank to deposit the proceeds from the house, then called Son2 to see if he wanted to meet us for lunch. We went after 2 so the lunch crowd would no longer be there and were thrilled to find less than 10 people were in the enormous space. Not only did we celebrate selling the house but MBS and Son2 had not stepped foot inside a restaurant since early March of 2020, so w celebrated a return to life (Cautiously! We would not have gone in if there had been more people inside.)

TheHub came home early and, even though the skies were overcast, we went to our sunset watching place on the bluff. It is a peaceful place to look over the valley even if there is no sunset to watch. We were able to see rain in the distance, which made me a little sad. 

One of my friends, whom I had known since the first grade, died from Covid early Friday morning and the gloom felt a little oppressive. I was about to start crying when the skies in the distance opened and a glorious sunbeam shown through. Lee was a master photographer and loved nothing better than a gorgeous sky or moon photo. He would have loved it!

Saturday: I dipped my toe in the sorting pool of stuff accumulated from Mom's. This is going to be an overwhelming job and will require a couple of road trips to get things to their new homes. At some point and time in the not too distant future, I will be driving to New York and Oregon to take all the treasures each of my sons wants to them.  All this "stuff" is smothering me. 

I have driven from Portland before and it is not a difficult drive, but it is a long one. Since I no longer have to take care of Mom's house or herb business I have the time to make the trip. 

As for driving to NYC, I am pretty sure I will drive close but have Son3 meet me outside of the city so he can do the driving to his place. I can find my way around perfectly fine, but I don't want to drive there. Right now I think my best option for both trips is to rent a van one way, drive out and then fly home, but I can make that decision later.

Saturday was a ball game day, Alabama vs. Florida. Bama won by the skin of their teeth, but I thought Florida looked and played much better. The bright spot was Son2 and DIL2 coming over to watch the game and eat with us. 

Sunday: I began the day with a cup of coffee and conversation with TheHub. He went downstairs to work on taxes while I streamed our church service. We both did our own thing until lunch when we ate and planned our annual budget for our next fiscal year. I do understand things can change on a dime, but a plan helps to accommodate change much better than no plan at all.

Later we watched the first episode of the Ken Burns Mohammed Ali documentary. I highly recommend it.

Monday: Are any of you creatures of habit?  I was out running some errands and passed by Mom's street on the way home. I live just 2 minutes away from the house and pass it each time I go to Publix. Without thinking about it my car turned onto her road. I was at her next door neighbors house when I realized I did not have to check on the house anymore. Hopefully I will get to the point of just glancing at the house occasionally as I drive by.

On a funnier note, TheHub came home from work and found a package addressed to me by the front door. I knew I had not ordered anything, but opened it anyway. Inside was a note from Son3 saying "Happy Buttday" and a rear end shaped planter.  The apple did not fall far from the tree with that kid! 

(I blame the accountant father😏)

Now my only question is, what plant would be most appropriate for this planter?

Monday night we also saw the 2nd episode of "Mohammed Ali"

Tuesday: I would have called it a boring day, but I got to talk to Sluggy and my cousin, which made the day so much better.

That night we watched the 3rd installment of the Mohammed Ali documentary. 

Wednesday: This day was like so many of my days, because I rarely go anywhere anymore, however:

the day was drop dead gorgeous and the temps dropped to a very bearable level. In the evening we drove to the bluff to see the sun set. After we were home and had eaten, we settled in to watch the final episode of Mohammed Ali. Ken Burns makes such great documentaries.

Thursday: My Beloved Sister dropped by and we managed to go through all our Grandmother's photos. There were several very very old photos and we have no clue who is in them, but they are wonderful characters. I am going to take them to a photo shop nearby and see what if anything they can do to enlarge and enhance them. 

My biggest joy of the day was going to Costco with TheHub. While I was there I saw some Christmas dresses for girls. I was able to have a FaceTime conversation in the store with Pip so she could look over the dresses and pick out the one she wanted. Technology will never replace being there is person, but it surely fills the gaps while we are not traveling!

It was another week of mostly small joys, but even a little joy each day is still joyous! Go look for yours!