These beautiful faces are my dearest friend’s kiddos that we get the privilege of doing life with!! LillyMae and Zoey joined me in hand painting our Christmas cards and Ever got to go on a wintery hike with me, then we followed up with one of our favorite traditions, making what I call “Baked Children”, aka gingerbread men!!
I treasure every first snowfall as it’s one of my favorite days of the year even if it’s only a light dusting! This is at my special bench in Patricia Allyn Park where others have seen fit to relish in the sanctity of it by adding a stick cross and wind chime. I welcome it and am grateful others have discovered this little slice of heaven on earth in Ohio.
Thanksgiving this year we drove to Rockford, IL again as tradition has it and although my Dad was suffering in physical pain, I was blessed that he joined us for dinner as my siblings and other family members came together for another holiday with loved ones. Also very glad my sissy, Melissa, eats like me and we had a harvest green and grain bowl as our Thanksgiving meal sans Turkey, buttery potatoes and sugary yams!!!
Lys took me on a couple frigid early morning hikes in northern Illinois and fed me WFPB breakfast which I GREATLY appreciated! However, I will share and confess that I did gleefully indulge in a small piece of cherry pistachio panettone (that beautiful holiday bread I accidentally spent $95!!!!!! on from
Dan-the-baker in Columbus, OH)!
While the weekend could have included my Boylan High School 40th class reunion, I opted instead to spend every moment with those with whom I hold dearest and only get to see a couple times a year… my family…
and one of my favorite humans on earth…WT! (You know who you are 😉). I was able to sip fresh herbal tea grown lovingly in her organic garden and I added a non-WFPB splash of her perfectly harvested fresh goat milk, which I’ve have dubbed Liquid Gold. Oh, to just sit in the peaceful serenity of her home, reminiscing, dreaming, learning and laughing: it is like a healing balm to an old friend’s soul!
I was informed that one of my cousins, Judy Parmenter, was really getting quite frail and I was thrilled that John and I got to stop by and visit with her. She’s 93!! Our families familiarity and love for each other goes way back! I’m so grateful the Key clan had family reunions with the OG 15 siblings and their offspring as I was growing up! Judy’s grandparents are my great grandparents!! Does that make her my first cousin once removed? Or second cousin?? That would be something my sister Karen could answer. I spent many a Sunday dinner at Judy’s table while in college. She and her family provided a rich and spiritual home during my early 20s and I will forever be grateful for the deposits of security and family love I received from them. Family is a gift from God and Judy has always held a very special place in my heart.
The WonderVan progress is coming along slowly but surely. This week I applied a final finish clear coat on our veneer panels for the closet and bathroom walls. John’s engineering the shower pan and it hurts my brain to think of all the puzzle pieces he’s putting together to fabricate this all from scratch.
Tasks completed this week.. I got out the few Christmas postcards I painted this year. Here’s a sampling of a few of them. What a joy to pick up my water color paints again. The Bible verse from Isaiah 7:14 was the theme of the cards this year.
Lastly, it’s been 3 weeks since my last infusion at The James and here I was getting my usual Herceptin and Perjeta. This day also started the first of 6 iron infusions for increasing my iron. Dr Johnson hopes that will address my frequent Charlie horses since my electrolytes are always normal.
