Ok, so we didn’t watch “House” last night. Channel 13 is "iffy" at best at our house and really wasn’t watchable at eight o’clock. I took the opportunity to call Bev from church – the one for whom I knit the purple hat earlier this year. She was doing well. We spoke of Mary, another older lady from church I’ve mentioned a few times – the one who had heart surgery awhile back. When I got the prayer requests from church on Monday there were several that said “Pray for Mary’s family,” so I gathered she had gone “home.” Yesterday I got the announcement of her memorial service this Saturday at two o’clock. Bev said the family got her up in her chair Sunday morning, went to fix breakfast and when they returned she was gone. She will be greatly missed by the many folks at church who knew and loved her all these years.
My next call was to Kendra who is back home after the passing of her father. She has been gone since December 9. He took a sudden downturn after she was there December 3. A cousin has moved in with the mother so she won’t be alone.
It’s wonderful to have family around you when you need them most.
The “31st Annual Kennedy Center Honors” came on at nine so we watched that. In case you missed it, they honored actor Morgan Freeman, singer George Jones, director, singer, actress, composer and producer Barbra Streisand, choreographer Twyla Tharp, and musicians Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey of The Who. I finished the second Kyler sleeve and got a few rows done on the body before calling it a night. During the night I heard some wind blowing in one passing moment of wakefulness. I guess some areas got wind gusts up to 50 mph. In one of my dreams during the night I woke and found snow. Thankfully that wasn’t the case in real life! Anyway, the morning weather forecast said things should be fine for New Year’s Eve celebrations.
I was up and going at 7:15 this morning. We still have some patches of snow on the property. As 9 a.m. rolled around it was cloudy and 36° which felt like 31° so I guess that is part of the reason the snow won’t melt. The “plan” for the day was to go to a movie at 2:30 followed by dinner at 4:30. With that in mind, I started a hat to knit during the movie.
I spent the morning knitting and putzing around on the computer. At some point Bill said he didn’t really care about sitting in a movie today and that was fine with me. I got a call at noon from Mary Schumacher’s daughter Cynthia. She wanted to know if I could play for the memorial service on Saturday. Of course I am happy to do that for them. I got out my hymnbook and selected some hymns to play before the service once folks start coming into the sanctuary.
We left here at three o’clock and ran several errands before arriving at Hunan Gardens at 4:30. We were both anticipating the Peking duck dinner. We hardly got sat down before the manager came along to tell us there was NO duck because the girl who took the order didn’t turn it in to the kitchen. Bill even called on Monday and talked to someone else to be sure the order got placed, was assured it did and there we were duck-less on New Year’s Eve. Talk about disappointing! Bill said he had been waiting for 40 years to have Peking duck. Oh well….. She comped us 1/2 a smoked tea duck but that wasn’t the same. We also had a Bobo platter with BBQ pork, shrimp toast, spring rolls, sweet and sour chicken and fried won tons. In addition to that we ordered shrimp in lobster sauce and house chow mein. We brought home enough to eat on for several days!
After the dinner fiasco we went to the grocery store so I could get something to take for the knitting potluck tomorrow providing the weather doesn’t mess that up. I bought one chocolate dipped strawberry for my New Year’s Eve treat. We were back home by 7:30 or so. This is the first New Year’s Eve we’ve been out since 2004. And we never went out with (or without) Clint. That is one night we prefer to be home safe and sound. And the traffic was horrible out this afternoon. People drove like there was no one on the road but them! Bill turned into a parking lot in between cars stopped for a traffic light. One guy took off and I thought he was going to drive right into my door! So home is a good place to be. The remainder of New Year’s Eve looms ahead of us. We’ll see if either of us sees in the New Year.
This morning devotional talked about different seasons of life. That caught my attention because I sat here four years ago and transitioned this very journal from “Clint – The Final Journey” to “Mommy without Clint – The Next Season of My Life.” I had intended to close out the journal at the end of 2004 but people wrote and asked me to continue. And here we are four years later and I’m still writing and people are still reading.
The devotional said: In an effort to face the challenges of life, we often turn to Solomon’s words: “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven” (Eccl. 3:1). But we readily admit that we would rather laugh than weep, dance than mourn, and gain than lose (vv.4,6). Yet we know that as we embrace the lessons and opportunities of every season that comes to us, we find that “God is our refuge and strength” (Ps. 46:1). Whatever season we’re in, it’s always the season to trust in Him. — David C. McCasland
Just as the winter turns to spring,
Our lives have changing seasons too;
So when a gloomy forecast comes,
Remember—God has plans for you. —Sper
Whatever the season of life, attitude makes all the difference.
Hi Diane. Was finally able to get out cyberwalking again and wanted to check on you and see what you were up to ... 
Hi Carol, I get a "lump in my chest" reading your thoughts that you share .. thanks for reminding us how life is a 
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