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There was much I planned to accomplish after church today: write the Christmas letter, work on a Christmas 2016 book, and finish laundry. I started the letter, I never touched the book, and I finished half the laundry. However, I did accomplish three other things.

After putting in said laundry, I realized that it was snowing, so perhaps it was time to take out the air conditioner in my room. It’s been a nice long summer and fall, but the white flakes floating by the window led me to consider the winter season may actually be upon us. It felt good to have that task done.

I realized with the snow, I’d better put out our outdoor Christmas decorations, since the ground won’t be pliable much longer. My dear deer is out and a few new ones too. Another item I can add to my “To Do List” that will be pre-checked off.

I then put the load in the dryer, but headed out to take photos instead of putting another load in. Oops! My photo journey in the snow led to a slip and fall on the mushy snow and muddy ground. Therefore, I declared it nap time.

The funny thing about the fall was this: The instant I hit my knee on the ground, it felt EXACTLY like when I would skin my knees as a child. I was certain though that this was merely a feeling and would not be a reality when I got in the house. Especially since I was able to get up reasonably quickly and hobble to the house.

Nope, when I saw my knee, I could hardly believe my eyes … total knee skinning, just like when I was six and fell on the garage floor. I can only assume it will also have wonderful shades of bruising over the next few days too. Thank goodness though that it did not lead to sciatic pain, broken bones, or my face smacking the ground (which this klutz has done before).

All in all, a productive day!

Someone told me I can’t possibly read 100 books per year. There are plenty of things I cannot do (or would not do), but reading books isn’t one of them. Magazines and newspaper – no, I don’t read those much if at all. Dictionaries, thesauri, and encyclopedias – not on my reading list. As for certain genres of books – especially books in my preferred genre – ask me the content of books I’ve read, and we’ll go over it (once I recall it – names escape me, but content will come back).

I read in bed, I read in the bathroom (I have IBS, so I spend much too much time on the porcelain throne, but I manage to make the best of that time), and I listen to audio books whenever I’m in the car (try telling a visually impaired person that listening to audio books isn’t “reading” … I highly recommend “The Help” and “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” that were read by multiple readers for the different parts).

Keep in mind too that I include at least a dozen children’s books within that 100 each year – those are not only quick, but they are the truly timeless stories. My aunt Marilyn understands my love of children’s books, as she was a children’s librarian. I will buy children’s books; the rest I prefer come from the library so that I can return them and move on to the next in the series … although even I am a sucker for a book sale and book exchanges. Yet too, when a book is difficult to read, I do better if it’s a library book so that I have a deadline to finish as inspiration.

I have a friend who works for a used book store of sorts. As an employee, she gets a free book per day! Can you imagine? There must be people who can read that much, right? Even my friend with that job cannot do that. Granted, I could if it were only children’s books – especially the cardboard ones with few or no words on each page. But then it would take away the joy of the dozen or so children’s books I do read each year. Since I read for joy, I won’t be doing that.

I usually read what I like, so it goes quickly … although too quickly, so I have to jump into another one. I tend to read light books, not super serious or difficult (except for a few for book group as selected by my fellow readers), because reading is my escape. I escape daily so that I am guaranteed a bit of joy every single day, even if for just a page or two and the 15-minute drive to work or on the way home.

Seriously, cozy mysteries are my Fanny May Chocolates. I’ll bet the person who assumed that I do not actually read that many books in a single year could do lots of things that I cannot or will not do. I won’t be running any marathons, shooting hoops, putting on makeup or spending more the 3 minute on my hair daily, putting together 1,000 piece puzzles, cooking gourmet meals, planting and caring for a garden of any kind, celebrating a 50-year anniversary of marriage, or traveling this country or the world.

This is not a competition for others to achieve or disdain, it’s a recording for me that I am happy to share, because in sharing I find others with the same love of books. Because what I read are mostly cozy mystery series books, I need to keep track of each book so that I only check out those next on my list from the library. Otherwise, I check out a dozen books and come home only to find I’ve read them all (seriously, my memory for names and titles is poor at best). That’s like coming home with an empty box of Fanny May Chocolates when you thought you had all of your favorites be it cream filled, caramels, nuts, or mints. Can you imagine the horror of the empty box?!?! I can, I’ve done it, and I’ve found a solution so that it doesn’t happen again: I record the books I’ve read and want to read on Good Reads (www.goodreads.com). That’s the only reason I know how many books I read per year: It’s because I record them due to lousy memory so I can continue to read books I have not previously read.

If you’d like, come read with me! I won’t be tracking how many books you read, just seeing if we like the same types of books and hopefully we’ll make recommendations for each other. I’ll be reading for a long time to come, since my list of books to read is much longer than the list of books I have read. I’m hoping Heaven (or hell) has quite the library collection.

Moral of the Story: To each their own.

Although I miss my girls Daisy and Daffy, I am getting to know Miss Joy. We’ve been slowly building our relationship. My girls would NOT allow it when they were alive. If I paid too much attention to Joy or Merry, they would pay the price. Yes, I raised a couple of bully cats.

I am finding that Joy has a few things in common with Daffy. First, when Joy is begging, I am NOT allowed to pet her. Petting is permitted at most other times, but begging is serious work and distractions are against the rules. Fortunately, like Daffy, Joy is a somewhat distant and quiet beggar. She’s never in my face, and she doesn’t poke at my dish. At least not until she thinks I’m done. Then Joy stealthily makes her move. The thing I miss about Daffy was that she gave up fairly quickly. Joy has staying power and waits until the bitter end … no matter how slow I may be at finishing a meal that interests her.

Another trick they have in common is being quiet. Actually both Daffy and Daisy were both usually quiet girls, rarely talking, and more often mmmming. Kind of like a humm, but a gentle mmmmm. Merry is our talker, and she is NOT to be ignored. I am so glad that my new partner in crime is a quiet and gentle lady.

Lastly, she is a good sleeper. Actually, she has this in common too with both of my long-hair girls. Merry is yet again in a class all her own, waking my mom super early and repeatedly. Not my sweet Joy! She is glad to let me sleep so that she too can have her beauty sleep. Also like my girls, Joy will go back to bed when I head out for work. Okay, Merry goes back to bed after she kicks mom out of it, but Joy is content to come back to bed even if I’m in it on a weekend.

The one thing Joy does not have in common with our other cats, past or present, is dancing and singing for her food. So long as she thinks I might come give her some kitty crunchies, she is up there ready, dancing in circles and singing a song of elation for her meal. And I feed her small meals. Because she has tummy issues, I have to break her meals into three smaller parts. Then she seems to keep it down much better. She will sing and dance just the same for the first small portion as the last. My Joy is a joy!

Friday, January 22, 2016 – I was not only blessed to have lunch with friend Randi with whom I get to share the joys of yarn projects and cat friends, but we also had a delicious lunch at Studio Grill. I love their raspberry jam, and I asked years ago if they would sell it, but they said no. On this day, I asked again, and the answer was YES!

I had it on toast both Saturday and Sunday. My mom usually doesn’t care for jam with seeds, but even she enjoyed this! I am maintaining control and not just eating it with a spoon … yet.

I count as a blessing that our Pastor’s wife is a Deacon. They make a beautiful and faithful team. However, we have an additional Associate Pastor – or in our case a SHED Pastor, meaning Sunnyside Hospitality, Discipleship, and Education Pastor. The more delightful part of this SHED Pastor is that he is the father of our Deacon.

Our Pastor’s provide Communion each Sunday. Usually, our Pastor and Associate Pastor together provide the Communion readings. Today, not only did our Pastors work together, when it was time to serve, our Pastor’s young son also came up hoping to help.

I consider my fellow church goes at Sunnyside family. But it is extra special that our Pastoral Care is family to one another. Doubly Blessed!

I scored! As concerning as yesterday’s fear of waking up today with pink eye was to me, today was even more delightful because I do NOT have pink eye! Just a congested eyeball. Yuck, but I’ll take it over the other any day.

Prayer, essential oils, the recommended eye drops, and antihistamine medication may have been contributing factors. Just so glad to NOT have that highly contagious illness!

Some days start off as if they’ll go right down hill, but they don’t. Other days seem as though they are going to be great, but they take a turn for the worse.

I celebrated last week when I did no obvious damage to the garage. I opened the garage door for the OTHER car, not mine. When I looked in my side mirror and saw the light of day, I started backing up … only to hit the door because the door behind MY car was NOT open. Oops!

I thought the day would turn into one big boo-boo, but it turned out quite well. Only a titch of paint on the outside came loose.

Today, although I had little sleep last night, I woke on time with a slightly itchy eye. I thought I’d get better, but the pain only got worse at work, and it turns out I might have the beginnings of pink eye. Because of the chance of a contagious illness, I was not able to volunteer at the Kalamazoo Free Store this evening. I was really looking forward to it. So, what seemed like a good thing first thing turned out to be a not such a good thing later in the day.

Just saying, we never know what each day will bring, good or bad. May all of your days be GOOD!

Wishing you a joyous Thanksgiving! There is so much to be thankful for, and I’m praying there is much for you to give thanks for as well. Keeping all in prayer who I know are not having the best holiday season.

A few things on my list this year:

• Friends! So many good friends that I get to dine with, see movies with, travel to exotic places like Shipshewana with, craft with, talk with, sit in silence with, and celebrate life with.
• Family! So many good people that are my relations, by blood and by choice.
• Faith! Although I’m sluggishly making it through a 24-week Bible Study, I am glad for the opportunity to worship, read the Bible anywhere and anytime, and enjoy fellowship with my faith family.
• Fur! I wear the fur in my world with joy, because it means that I have furry friends and family to bring so much love and joy. Although my two best girls passed on this year, my mom’s cat Joy and I are bonding nicely (and she’s biting less now that she’s getting more attention – score!).
• Seasons! Although the cold and snow is a frustrating pain, I love the smaller bugs and lesser snakes it provides in this Great Lakes State.
• Working! Employment is a good thing, no matter if it means I must arrive before I’m awake.
• Grief! Yep, I’ve come to realize in this 10th year since my nice Erin passed, 11th year since my dad passed, and 20th year since my sister Cheri passed that the pain of losing them is definitely better than not having ever been blessed to know them. I couldn’t bear my migraines so well without having witnessed my sister’s endurance of epilepsy. My dad was a remarkable person, and I wouldn’t know the best possible life to live without him. My niece Erin was joy, and for her I know how to have fun. There are so many more who have passed that have taught me so much, and I know that I will one day be re-united with all of them. So the pain today, is worth the joy of yesterday and tomorrow.
• Joy! Sure, there are things in life that suck, but I choose to concentrate on the joy. Perhaps I’m a bit of a Polly Anna (did I even spell that right?), but it sure keeps me functioning to live life in that way.