Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

 This year, the lyrics to "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" keep looping in my head...

        Have yourself a merry little Christmas
        Let your heart be light
        From now on
        Your troubles will be out of sight

        Have yourself a merry little Christmas
        Make the Yule-tide gay
        From now on
        Your troubles will be miles away

Our holiday this year felt like extremes...Hopeful then worrisome, Peaceful then crazy, Laughter then tears, Abundance then scarcity...  However, in the end, our Christmas was beautiful, and I will only let hope, peace, laughter, and abundance be our North Star.

After Thanksgiving, my sister-in-law moved in with us.  It was the right thing to do considering the circumstances.  (The inexpensive Airbnb housing we found for her was nothing more than a bed and a shared bathroom with two strange men living upstairs.)  She brought what little belongings she had into our home and has been sleeping on our couch since.  Our house isn't optimal.  For one, she has a hard time navigating our stairs to use the shower, and two, staying in our living room gives her no privacy.  This week she was supposed to begin her first round of chemo (she has breast cancer), but now it appears that in-between her doctor visits or us bringing germs into the house, she has come down with a terrible cold.  (We are hoping it is not COVID, but we haven't been able to secure a home test kit to check.  She is too sick to wait in line, and there are no appointments available at nearby pharmacies well into the New Year.)

While taking care of her, my husband started exhibiting troubling symptoms of his own.  He went to the emergency room twice complaining of high blood pressure and chest pains.  Then he scheduled an appointment with a cardiologist who performed a number of tests, including cardiac catheterization. Last Tuesday, after the catheterization, we learned that he had no blockages (good news) but that his chest and arm pains are likely due to some disc issues in his neck.  Now that Christmas is over, he is hoping to follow up with a spine and disc doctor; however, knowing the cause, unfortunately, didn't make his pain any less during the holiday.

In the midst of the worry, craziness, and fear, Little Lewie continued to be my source of light.  I was committed to making Christmas special for him, and so our traditions persisted.  We got dressed up in our Halloween costumes to take photos at JCPenney's Portrait Studio for our Christmas cards.  We bought a live Christmas tree from our Beacon Falls Fire Station, which was delivered to our home by a fire truck.  We dressed up in our best to attend Lewie's Christmas Concert.  (This year he did a trumpet duet with a friend, and he performed in the middle school concert and jazz band.)  And, we decorated the living room with lots of festive lights, hoping the lights would bring cheer not just to us but also to Daddy and his sister that had been and continue to be so ill, sad, worried, and fearful.

Yes, among the worry, there was also beauty, and these are some of my favorite photos from December.  First, there was the Christmas card photoshoot:

The picture on the front of our Christmas Card that read..."Joy to the World."

Then there was the Christmas Concert (the first one since fifth grade back in 2019):

Then there was Christmas morning:

On Christmas morning, everyone, including my sister-in-law, had presents under the tree.  (Our pup Bruce had a few gifts, too!)  Big "family" presents included tickets to see the comedian Jim Gaffigan and a portable drive-in movie theater (for nights when Lewie and his friends want to camp out in the backyard).  I bought tickets for my mom and me to see Riverdance, and hubby bought me an awesome gift card to get a relaxing massage.

The Children's Christmas Mass was canceled this year due to COVID concerns, and then Lewie received news that he had a COVID exposure earlier in the week, which means that we are all home quarantining even though Lewie is experiencing no symptoms.

Yes, the spirit of Christmas cannot be broken.  We've had (are having) a few challenges at the moment, but Christmas was saved, and hope, faith, and love will persist into the New Year.   I know it.

        Through the years
        We'll always be together
        If the Fates allow
        Hang a shining star upon the highest bough

        So have yourself a merry little Christmas
        Have yourself a merry little Christmas
        So have yourself a merry little Christmas now.

November Gratitude

November is typically a quieter month for our little family.  The shorter days and colder temperatures limit our time outdoors, and typical weekday evenings usually end with dinner and passing out on the couch (or passing out on the couch and then dinner--whichever comes first).

On November 1st, my mom and I had one last mother-daughter jaunt--this time to Kent, CT.  On our way, we stopped by a garden shop, followed by a visit to Bulls Bridge and then a tour of the shops in downtown, Kent.  As we left, we stopped by Kent Falls State Park and then drove a few miles north to see the Corwall Covered Bridge.  It was a breezy day but still warm enough to enjoy lunch outside and a stroll to see the beautiful cascading falls in Kent.

During the second week of November, I took a day off from work, so the four of us (Sue, me, Lewie, and his friend, Ryan) could go for a brief hike followed by a delicious lunch at Bell City Diner in Bristol.  (The diner is known for their amazing milkshakes that are stacked with sweet treats like cake, cookies, M&Ms, sprinkles, gummy worms, etc.)  I didn't feel like I burned enough calories during our hike, so I chose to split a cookies and cream shake with Lewie instead of ordering my own.  It was a good choice because I left the diner feeling more stuffed than I do after a Thanksgiving dinner.

Our last November hike was at the Little Pond Boardwalk Loop Trail in Litchfield, CT.   The trail is a favorite of ours, and we've probably walked it during every season.  This time, we captured some standard November photos when most of the trees are bare, but we weren't able to walk around the entire loop as some of the boardwalk was covered by water.  Just this summer, we were commenting on how the water level of the marsh was so low.  This time, we couldn't believe how high and flooded the area seemed to be.  There seems to be no more "normals."  Instead, we simply find ourselves living between two times of the year--dry and wet.

One last goal of mine for the month was to invite Lewie's friends (all four of them) to see the movie Dune.  Since Lewie doesn't get a chance to see his friends often (other than school or playing online), I've made it a mission to get these boys together at least once per month.  Last month they went on a haunted hayride, and this month they went to the movies with my husband.  Each time only three out of the four boys could come (it's hard to make everyone's schedules work), but the three that came had a great time and (from what I heard) enjoyed loading up on popcorn and goodies while they watched the show.

November ended with a yummy Thanksgiving meal, compliments of Whole Foods.  (I'm not very good at cooking meals on my own.)  The turkey and all the sides were delicious, and we had chocolate covered strawberries, apples, & pineapples; carrot cake; cookies; and mini cheesecakes for dessert.  We ended the holiday aware of all our blessings that we take for granted each day, and on this Thanksgiving, in particular, we were really taught a lesson on gratitude.  

To make a long story short, this November, we had a disabled family member, not in good health, struggle with food insecurity and housing.  I won't go into details, but for the past month, we've been calling many hotels, adult residences, assisted living facilities, homeshares, and even homeless shelters to find a warm place for her to live.  From making the phone calls, I've learned that homelessness is a huge problem everywhere, and there are simply not enough beds or affordable housing options for people that find themselves in such a situation.  After dozens of searches and phone calls, we were able to find something temporary to help her live safe and comfortably, but the temporary living situation is just that--temporary--and her poor health continues to deplete her from any sense of joy or hopefulness.

As I'm writing this, I don't know what the future holds for this family member.  Food insecurity, lack or affordable housing, and a possible terminal illness all threaten this person's chance of living a happy or even a dignified way of life.  It's a reminder to us all that we're only one illness or medical condition away from possibly losing everything, and since nothing is ever guaranteed, we must be grateful for today--that is, grateful for any moment that we have food, shelter, family, and good health.  As I end November, I say a prayer of gratitude and another for hope, peace, love, and joy.  Tis the season to "believe" and to trust in God's plan for all of us.

The Best October

After looking back at last month, I have to say that October 2021 might be the best October I've had on record!  I definitely started the month with a plan.  (A full year of being home during the pandemic helped inspire it.)  

This October, I wanted to go pumpkin picking, hiking, and bike riding.  Then, we planned special days to visit Olde Sturbridge Village (a rural New England Village modeled after the 1830s); to get lost at the Corn Maze (space-themed this year) at the Farm in Woodbury; to go on a haunted hayride; to attend the Witch of Woodbury program at the Glebe House; and to go trick-or-treating.  Of course, all these special days were in addition to the fall birthday celebrations we had in October that I posted about here.

The beginning of October started out in its usual way--pumpkin picking and hiking.  However, as the weather each weekend seemed to get warmer and warmer (instead of colder), we decided to sneak in a bike ride at Hammonasset Beach State Park, too.  We made it into a family affair where my mom and Bruce (our 1.5 year-old puppy) joined us.  After the ride, we stopped to get seafood at a restaurant, which had an outside, pet-friendly area; it was a fun day for the WHOLE family.

My mom bought Lewie a bike this year and was able to see him ride it in-person!

My mom walking Bruce.

Bruce's first trip to a pet-friendly restaurant.

Can you see the rainbow in the picture above?   We had just finished talking about our beloved Aunty Kiki who passed away last year in October, and then this rainbow appeared.  The colors grew more and more vibrant as we drove away from the beach.  I would have taken another picture, but I was driving.  It was definitely a memorable way to end the day.

On October 21st, Lewie had a full day off from school, so I took the day off from work, and we had a "friend day" at Olde Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, MA.  Lewie was able to "hang out" with his best friend, Ryan, and I was able to "hang out" with my good friend, Sue (Ryan's mom).  We had planned to make this day trip over the summer, but it actually worked out better to enjoy it in October.  First, the fall colors were BEAUTIFUL, but even more, going on a random day in October when most children are in school made it so that we could visit all the historic buildings without the extra crowds of families and school children.  Thus, we were really able to talk to the "costumed historians," who were so knowledgable about life in the 1830's.  For example, did you know that most potters made their wares from mud, or that school was "optional" for kids, or that stray livestock that damaged another person's crops were placed into a "town pound?"  (It's like the concept of a dog pound but for livestock like pigs, horses, sheep, goats, etc.)

School Days, School Days, Good Olde Fashioned School Days...

Going to Olde Sturbridge Village definitely satisfied my interest in pretending I was Laura Ingles Wilder for the day.  I know it was so tough to live during these days, and people didn't have a long lifespan, and yet, something in me craves a time when life was simpler--a life without cars, cell phones, plastic, waste, and materialism--a time when we truly lived off of the land, told stories around the kitchen table, and read books by candlelight...

On October 24th, we met up with family (cousins to be exact) to get lost in a corn maze.  The one thing I learned about corn mazes is that while it's fun with three people (Daddy, Lewie, and Me), it's insane with nine people (five kids ranging in age from 9 to 16 and four adults).  We didn't just continuously get lost in the corn maze, but we also got lost repeatedly from each other.  One small group went one way, another small group went a different way, and Aunt Missy and I at one point found ourselves winding through cornstalks alone.  Oh, we could hear the kiddos laughing, screaming, whining, and everything in between, and we could even see their feet, but we did relish the glorious opportunity to get caught up on girl talk while the rest of the family burned off lots of unbridled energy.   

After two hours of winding through a spaceship maze, we all met up around a pile of hay--some climbing it (Brooklynn, Lily, and Elijah), some sleeping on it (Daddy Lew), and some taking pictures of it (me).  The wonderful owners of the farm announced they would be taking their last tractor ride for the evening and invited us to come along.  It was the perfect way to end a perfectly beautiful day.

This explains my husband's and my sister-in-law's personalities perfectly!

Our final days of October were reserved for a haunted hayride, a witch tale with haunted house, and trick-or-treating.  The haunted hayride included Lewie with three friends, Hubby, and my friend Sue.  Hubby drove the four boys there and back while Sue and I led the way in my car.  The hayride, complete with a scary fun-house-themed barn, was too dark to take photos, but I did manage to get some pictures of the moon that looked ominous from the sky above.  

The "Witch of Woodbury" was an outdoor skit put on by four women sharing their Connecticut witch stories from the 1690s.  It was interesting to learn that 11 people (nine women and two men) were executed for "being a witch" in Connecticut.  Of course, these people weren't really practicing witch craft or showing signs they were possessed by the devil--they were targeted for having money, being outspoken, or selling arms to the native Americans.  My two lady friends and I used the evening as a girls' night out; we started with dinner, went to the skit (followed by free entrance to their haunted house), and then paid to have a tarot card reading done for each of us.  The tarot card reader was surprisingly good at being able "read" our social, emotional, mental, and physical state/well-being; however, after reading all evening without a break to eat, she felt faint and had to stop in the midst of her last and final reading with the three of us...

October ended with a real night of trick-or-treating.  We didn't know how much we missed it last year until it was time to get into our costumes and head to our favorite downtown trick-or-treat area.  House after house was adorned with scary graveyards, pumpkin heads, skeletons, spiders, caldrons, lights, and blow-up yard ornaments;  it felt like the whole town, maybe even the whole state, was out celebrating.  (The beautiful 55 degree mild weather helped, too.)  This year, our family decided to dress up in "space" costumes, all of which used the special blow-up, fan technology.  My husband's costume made him look like he was abducted by an alien, Little Lewie's costume made him look like he was being hauled off by a spaceship, and my costume looked like I had been swallowed by Planet Earth.  While my Earth costume was round, bulbous, and made me feel like an Oompa Loompa (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory), I'll have to admit, it was one of my favorite costumes.  In some ways, it reminded me of being pregnant.  I couldn't see over my stomach, so getting around and watching out for curbs and steps made it somewhat treacherous.  Still, I made people laugh with some people even calling me a giant sized globe.

Come give Mother Earth a big hug!!

This October will definitely be a month for the records.  I'm not sure how I was able to work and squeeze all these fun days into one month (yes, I did have to take days off from work), but somehow, we did it and had a wonderful time.   Now begins the countdown to Thanksgiving and Christmas...  The end of the year is approaching fast!!