End of the year that was..............

 

Why are there unwrapped packages and still to be pulled Christmas crackers lurking on December 27th?  People are fighting health issues big time this year.  Sometimes big holidays just don't work out as planned. This time of year the northern hemisphere is rife with respiratory illnesses. Old style colds, beginning of the influenza season, more variants of COVID, and this year, a myriad of nameless upper respiratory viruses knocking us over and flattening us like rows of falling domino tiles!  

Personally I have coughed my way through the past four weeks. Still am. Have run a low grade fever - something I don't recall since childhood - had no appetite, and have lost weight. Getting ready for the holidays was not fun as I was exhausted every waking hour despite sleeping quite well at night.

Next week we have our initial visits with a new to us medical practice. Our Primary Care Physician shocked us in November with news she had decided to retire early. She has cared for us for almost 25 years and closes her practice this week. It's not easy to find a physician who welcomes geriatric patients. At this new practice will will be seen by a physician assistant or nurse practitioner as the actual practice MD is not taking new patients. We'll give it a try in hopes we'll be welcomed and treated kindly.  We're both trying to remain positive about the whole experience. Fortunately the location is a new medical building just a few minutes drive from home.

The weather is dreary today. Thick fog envelopes the now mostly brown and beige garden. The feeders are empty again so birds are few. Squirrels are active and a few days back there was a young deer in the garden.  We have some errands to run later and will buy birdseed and a few more odd and ends.

I'll then be packing away Christmas decor later in the week and readying for a quiet, stay-at-home New Year's Eve, popping the bubbly cork and nibbling on the Christmas leftovers!  Life goes on - may your days be happy and healthy and the coming year be a good one.

It's small things that matter -

I hear the mail carrier laughing at the box at the end of our driveway as she hands Bob the mail. Her name is Vanessa and she is awesome, the best mail carrier we've ever had. She brought me a balloon on my 80th in October, and handed me a beautiful birthday card. Her family came from Trinidad and she grew up in New York City. Not only is she thoughtful in regard to delivering our mail, she is fun to chat with, always has a smile and giggles a lot.

Christmas is about so many things. We try to keep them light and bright. We might be feeling low but we do our best to be the life of the party. Sometimes this is hard. I feel I've lost my way in regard to my blog. You may have noticed how long it's taken me to get back here since my previous post. So much longer than it's ever been in almost 17 years. I haven't shared my Christmas decorations although I did decorate, or told you of the holiday concert which took me back to when my granddaughter sang in that choir. Hearing young voices in a church setting was beautiful and lifted my spirits for a couple of hours. This week I will be in the kitchen baking and making a few of the important holiday snacks and sweets for a small Christmas Eve get together.  

I'm still fighting whatever this latest 'long life' respiratory infection is. All I know is that it's thrown us for a loop since we came home from Arizona at Thanksgiving. . . . . . and Christmas preparations have truly been an effort, especially last week. Bob is doing better whereas I'm still feverish and just keep coughing.

No more for now. Will I be back here in the New Year? I'm planning on it.  

Happy Christmas to each of you, your families and loved ones, and may the coming year be a good one for everyone.