NST December 2023 The Most Wonderful Time Of the Year?

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for peace and quiet, for a bag of stuff out to the ch shop, for wrapping some more presents ( I have such a low boredom threshold when it comes to wrapping!), for sparkly lights everywhere.

weenancyinAmerica

Posted under November first - it is that kind of day.

My sparkling is a little dim at the moment, what with medical problems for everyone in the household and car problems including one driver being told not to drive for two months (roommate Di). I'm still seeing double when I drive so I have to wear an eye patch over one eye and I can't drive after dark. Going to be a rough month. We have two cars - one a 2003 with 183,000 miles on it and the other a 1992 with 225,000 miles on it. The 1992 is in the shop to see if we can afford the brake job (not yet). So we are just driving the one car. Going to arrange for the health insurance company to take us to doctor's appointments as it is included in the plan.

And today it was the official move of the husky Bella to her new home. She has been there for several days. It looks like that is where she is meant to be. She came by for a visit, but you could see she didn't want to stay. I'll have chances to go visit her, especially as she will be just a block from our favorite bookstore. We try to go there every month to trade in books, so we might be able to go by and see her occasionally. Her toys, snacks, and paperwork went with her today. Now just have to clean up the yard.

We had our Friends book sale yesterday and made $420, which is our best for a December sale. One of our visitors even bought all of us lunch as a holiday present. So it ended up being a NSD (#8) for me.

Today I went grocery shopping but my roommate owed me for the groceries I bought for her ($65). My total came to $63.17, which is close enough. So she paid. Does include groceries for everyone, not just for me, but except for milk we may be set for the month. We get a fruit and vegetable box free each week and the church brings us the leftovers from the food bank there. Don't know what we are going to do for the holiday yet as two roommates will be staying here as they don't have any family around. Di will be going with me to the party at my sister's. She has no family at all, except distant cousins. We may have a festive breakfast here first for the four of us (the other roommate may be going with his girlfriend somewhere). Then go to the party. We take part of the sandwich fixings and it's an "everyone make your own sandwich" lunch instead of a big dinner. Easier on all of us. No one has to cook much (one person does bring the devilled eggs) and my sister buys an already-cooked ham. My niece will bring a vegetable plate because she has trained her children well and they will eat these first instead of chips. I would too except I have false teeth and most raw vegetables are hard to eat. So I bring the olives as well. Family tradition to have olives instead of sprouts.

Right now it is sunny and very warm - had to change my sweater for a t-shirt. But they are expecting a storm to move in tomorrow night and are predicting rain for five days starting Monday. I no longer believe they know what they are talking about as they got it wrong the last two times it was supposed to rain (but didn't). But just in case, I have my hot chocolate and marshmallows and my barley soup ready to go. Hope all of you are surviving the wind and rain and are doing well.

beanielou

Happy new home to Bella @weenancyinAmerica   

Thrifty_Taylor

Good to hear that Bella has settled into her new home, & that you were a treated to lunch @weenancyinAmerica.

Yesterday was a better day at work thankfully! On the way home, I received a message inviting me to bingo, to fundraise for my friend's daughter's prom. My friend treated me, so I just bought raffle tickets. Neither of us won anything but we had a laugh. Sat in her car chatting in our drive for 2 hours afterwards!! 😂 So 1am when I crawled into bed.

Met a woman who was buying a shirt off me. Then went food shopping with mum. Bought 36 packets of seeds reduced to 20p in L1DL, so will give us a good start on growing next year 😃

Ate lunch at mum's then headed to my friend's for Wool Club. Got more of my rug hooked & she crocheted snowflakes.

Put all the shopping away when I got home, then did more of my rug.Sold an item on eboy.

Grateful for bingo treat, chatting with friends, reduced seeds, craft time

abundant1972

Good evening 🌒

Hey all!

Sorry for my week long absence. Had a lot going on internally and externally - big shifts happening. Had a rubbish meeting at work with HR/Manager. I got really upset but stood my ground - and not backing down on how I have been treated so poorly. Am getting an external agency involved and will escalate. Not something I want to do especially - could do without the stress - but I am committed and feel I am in the right.To all intents and purposes I am leaving my current job and 3 years of cumulative stress and rubbish working conditions behind me, and I am inviting in a brighter more positive workplace opportunity ✨ 

On top of that, I have been focussing on what I do want to bring into my life. So I have taken steps to embrace my fitness, and to re-train myself in a new area of study (healing/energy work) that is more in line with who I am. I really feel I need to take action to move my life in a new direction. 

Although I don't really celebrate Christmas - have been to a lovely Christmas dinner with Dad and Mum (organised by the care home she is in). I have a family dinner tomorrow then not a lot on. I will do something for Winter Solstice on 21st next week. 

How is everybody doing? I have a fair bit of catching up to do!!! Hugs all. 

Today I am grateful for:

1) Finally cutting ties with everything that no longer serves me
2) Embracing new exciting opportunities
3) Time to recharge, reboot and redirect my energies

Today = NSD number 6

Catch you all tomorrow 🤗 x

f0xh0les

Grateful for DH fixing the washing machine, for him not shocking himself too badly when we forgot to turn it off again before we started screwing it back together ⚡⚡ after we tested the fix.  For circuit breakers so he only got a sore finger 🤘,  instead of a ⚰️,  and for him cooking a gorgeous gram flour frittata for tea. 
Tomorrow I am going to be very productive.  Honest. 

beanielou

@abundant1972. I hope your energy & healing work serves you well as you move forward. 

I am a great believer in positive & healing energy & in the power of reiki. 

ladybird1106

Pleased to hear the rehoming has been a success weenancyinAmerica. 
Busy day of toing and froing. Had to go get the youngest some boots as their specialist boots are broken(zip) and we are still waiting for an appointment. Volunteer group went well, lots of items including our coffee maker was fixed. Picked the eldest up from the train station. We then went and got🎄. Christmas boogied around the tree, large quanties of mulled wine drank, Christmas sparkle, scattered throughout the house, traditional but tipsy/jovial photo of us and the tree taken and sent on various clan chats. A good time was had by all and in bed by 9 as we were all knackered 🙄.
Love🐞

grandmanerd

Sunday 17th December 2023

F    Five achievements done during the year, even if it's  only surviving

If you haven't done this yet, perhaps any quiet days between the 26th and the end of the year will give you space for it. It's an extension of being grateful at the end of each day and finding 3 good things. Even if your year has been filled with disruption as you lurched from one crisis after another you survived, you probably handled it with style and grace (it still counts if you had the screaming habdabs first or banged your head on a convenient surface yelling "Why me?".  If I had a flat surface that was clear enough to  bang my head on, I'd be grateful.

There seem to be lots of online options depending on how  many things you want to ask yourself (50, 100!) but this is short and simple
1)      How do you describe your year in one word?
2)      What is the best thing that happened this year?
3)      What were your favourite moments?
4)      What challenges have you faced and how have you overcome them?
5)      What advice would you give your past year self?

No need to make  it public unless you want to.

Toni'sfriend

Apologies for the lack of posts so far this month. The internet connection in the Lake District was even worse than the weather.

Well, it didn't quite turn out to be the relaxing holiday we were anticipating. Himself managed to cut his hand in a really bizarre accident and before we knew it we were being taken by ambulance half way across Cumbria with suspected sepsis. Luckily it appears that it is just (if you can say just in the circumstances) a very bad infection. Intravenous antibiotics followed by huge doses every day for a fortnight. Not quite healed so I'll have to try to get an appointment with GP tomorrow. A virtual impossibility these days. 

Just about to make a to do list. Himself is going for shopping as the weather is atrocious and he doesn't want me going out. Then I must dig out the Christmas tree and get decorating.

Hope you are all well. I'll catch up on all the news later. xxxx