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Giving thanks - I haven’t written a Daybook post in a while, so there is a LOT for which I am giving thanks. I might try to do a little catch up here, but you never know when I’m going to get interrupted with another need that takes higher priority. 

For starters, I’m so incredibly thankful for the recent trip we were able to take to Tennessee. Some of our kids started the trip with us and then returned home and left us to spend the rest of the trip alone together - just John and me. I think I’ll write a separate post about the trip because there is just so much. But I want to remember how grateful I am for the way our family stepped up to help each other! This is what I hoped for; this is the vision I had for our family.

I’m grateful for my husband’s family, who have long been my family, that wants us to be part of the camp life, and took it upon themselves to gift us with arranging having our three lots cleared so we could move forward with development of our future vacation home-away-from-home. Talk about a run-on sentence! LOL But it’s all true. We love our family camp home, and can’t wait for the time we can spend more time there in our own space. 

I am grateful that our youngest has finally found employment that is allowing her to blossom. I see so much growth in her confidence and contentment, it makes my heart happy.

In a time when so many families are separated by distance, I am grateful that all of our adult children have freely chosen to live nearby. It’s a gift I don’t want to take for granted.

Grateful and relieved that the results of biopsies recently performed revealed no malignancy and no other serious issues for my mama. She is about as healthy as you can be for an 86 year old. 



Outside my window - I was not prepared for what greeted me this morning. Six inches of unexpected snow. What is happening???? Snow was in the forecast for next week and only a little. I figured we’d wake up to a  couple inches and it would pretty much melt upon contact with the ground. This snow looks like it plans on staying a while, with no reservations. I tried to explain that I wasn’t prepared yet, but somehow mother nature just strolls right in and makes herself at home. 

My original plan for yesterday was to take advantage of the day off for John and do the few things that needed to be done in the yard before winter. I woke up with a raging headache and decided I’d rather play. So we didn’t do the work, I ended up not playing on the blog - circumstances I might explain later, maybe - and now we missed our chance to get the work done before snow. Oh bother as Eeyore would say. I’m sure we’ll turn the AC back on before Christmas. LOL

Clothing myself in - PJs. Don’t judge me. I was up at 5:15 and the stillness of the world under the fresh fallen snow lulled me into remaining in the warmth and softness of my favorite clothing. I love pajamas, in case you hadn’t figured this out about me. I already have my Christmas pajamas ready to  don after Thanksgiving. Until then, I’ll just cuddle up with my ordinary favorites.




In the kitchen - Josh has started coming over to cook with me a couple days a week. I love it! He wants to cook some familiar foods, but is also interested in experimenting with new recipes. That’s a man after my own heart.

I did a thing last week that I want to share. In my shopping expeditions, I have discovered that Sam’s rotisserie chicken, which in my opinion is delicious, is cheaper than buying a whole chicken and cooking it myself. It’s perfect for chicken pot pie and chicken noodle soup. I’m sure it could be used in many other recipes too. So I purchased six of those rotisserie chickens last week and brought them home, stripped them of the meat and vacuum sealed them in meal-sized portions and tossed them in the freezer. I plan to do more as soon as possible. I boiled the carcusses down for stock which will also be stored in the freezer. 

I hope to return to some of the other ways I have practiced frugality in the past, and add some new ways too. One of which will be a sourdough starter. I want to do that as soon as possible. 

Writing - We have resumed Mastermind. Traveling, illness, and other things have caused us to skip recently, but I think we are back on track now.

I have decided I will be focusing solely on this blog as my goals for Mastermind for now. Yes, there will be other writing projects, but my strongest desire has almost always been primarily blogging. There is something about the platform and all the possibilities for reaching out to others that appeals to my nature. So much good can come from resources that a blog can provide. I hope this will eventually grow into a place that offers more than just my rambling, but also offers inspiration and camaraderie. 

Reading - I finished the first book of a series by Sarah Maas. I am ready to start the next, but I have to stay awake in the evening long enough to read… I’ve been very tired lately. 





I took the most recent issue of The Joyful Life off the shelf and hope to start going through all the back issues I have. They are such beautiful magazines; the quality is exceptional and the content very positive and encouraging. 

Watching - We have tickets to go see the new Black Panther tonight. Icky, that means I’ll have to go out in that snow…

We’re mostly just randomly picking movies or mini-series to watch. We are waiting for Rachel to catch up on Jack Ryan before watching the newest season. Hurry up girl!

Listening - I forget to put music on most of the time. But my interest is leaning more toward country right now, which I hear described more accurately as modern southern rock. I’m not sure I agree with that, but I don’t really care either. It’s music, and I enjoy it.

New song(s)- So many and I don’t often make note of new favorites. Rachel is not around to help remind me, so I’ll just add this one as many that I really like.



Making - Back to some quilts. There’s a new baby girl on the way and the shower is today. I won’t be going since there has been some near-miss exposure to Covid this week. I won’t risk the expectant mama’s health or the family that she’ll have there to celebrate with her. My prayers for safe pregnancy, labor, and delivery are a certain thing. The gifts will be delivered later.

















Camp - We spent four days at camp last month. It was the tail end of our ten-day trip that started in Tennessee. Our lots are cleared and ready to move on to the next phase. Christa made it down a day later than she’d planned because she had to get surgery arranged for the broken wrist from a few days prior. Ouch!! We enjoyed our time together  enormously! Family is what will ultimately call us to that place over and over again. And making space for our own family to join us often is the best goal of all. They weren’t kidding when they said camp takes Halloween very seriously. It was so much fun to see the decorations and fun events that took place. But sitting by the fire next to the lake was even better.

The week ahead - Waiting for the snow to melt apparently. Some writing, cooking, sewing, cleaning, and maybe some house projects. Also, there is a major surgery for our oldest daughter in the very near future. We haven’t talked about preparation and arrangements for her and the kids. I think that better happen sooner rather than later.

There is so much more I could include here but for now I must sign off and as always, let us

love God & love people.

Susan



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