Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

This morning I looked at the date and for a few minutes tried to remember whose birthday it was.  Then I decided that it was something else and remembered that it is the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  I second guessed myself for a while and finally looked at a wall calendar at school to confirm. 

Since I am awake way too late again tonight I'm going to jump right in with the happy thing for today.  I was doing the dishes and my back was very achy, as it tends to get when at the sink.  I decided to take a stretch break on the floor in the living room.  Gideon comes in and sees me there and starts walking around me, shaking his hands over me and saying, "om, om, om."  Then, after circling me a few times he says, "om, om, you're home, home."  Well I laughed until I coughed and almost couldn't breathe.  I had him get my phone and try to act it out and he did.  Here it is from the floor-sorry about the ceiling light, I was flat on my back.

I got a picture of the sky a little after sunrise too.

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Names

Perhaps it was a bad night to go to fighter practice.   I am very tired.   There was no real conversation on my part,  I just watched and tried to learn more about the intricacies of the sport, by observing.   Thankfully my friend from Texas called me on the ride home and that conversation helped me stay awake.

A friend from work and I had an early dinner and went to the movies this afternoon.   It seems like it has been a while since I have gone to a movie.   We saw Instant Family.   It is based on a true story about a couple who takes in some foster kids.  We laughed and we cried.  I think we both enjoyed the movie more than we expected.  Theris is so much that is going on with my life right now I am glad that she suggested we get together outside of work

My happy for today is that I am learning the names of some of the people I am seeing at practice and elsewhere.  This may seem like a small thing but with so many students, teachers, and SCA friends and acquaintances, there are a whole pile of names tumbling through my brain.

Sunset.

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Deepish Thoughts

One of the reasons I first started writing a blog was to search for things that helped make me happy or that I am thankful for during the day.  I've pretty much always had mild depression and I had heard that looking for something to be happy or thankful for could help.  It kind of did.  I would pay attention a little more to my surroundings and small things would stick out and make me smile.  I tried to remember these things and wrote about before bed. 

For reasons that I am not sure of, I don't tend to look for these things any more.  I'm not sure why and the reasons aren't as important as finding my way back to doing that.  It isn't that I haven't found happy things or things that I am thankful for, but I don't look for them like I used to.  It was a TEDx program that I listened to today that reminded that looking for these things are part of the work that has to be done in order for the magic to happen.  So although there are things that make me happy like family and friends and nature that I write about here, I am going to try to look harder for more detail and perhaps notice more things. 

That said, today I visited a friend who wasn't feeling that well.  She has been going through quite a bit of stress lately and was fighting a headache.  Eventually the medicine kicked in and she let a bit of a smile come through.  This was a happy thing.  Not a happy haha, but a lightening of my heart for a moment.  Too much sadness lately, every smile is a good thing.  😎

The darkness in the distance is a front moving in.

Or maybe just moving by, things are cloudy, but no precipitation.

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Performance

This afternoon we got out on our walk during the daytime, well, mostly.  It was still too light out for many Christmas lights to be on. There was one new blow up item that was on early enough for us to see.  We worked on my favor after the walk and then I headed to rehearsal.

At rehearsal tonight there was an outline for us to practice and then revise to better suit the cast.  They let me perform one of the female characters, even though I am not currently planning to be in the show.  This let the director sit back and watch the flow and how it all worked.  We only went through it once and then added to characters and spent the rest of the evening talking about adjustments.  I was able to follow along better this time, I think, and I look forward to trying out different characters-or just watching-as the time goes by and see how the story progresses.  Trying to become a character was fun and is my happy for today. 

New decoration.

Poor Santa. 

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Serenity-- Pic Heavy

The closer to winter we get the shorter the days.  The walk my friend and I took this afternoon was in the dark.  The bonus to this is that many homes are displaying Christmas lights and they tend to be pretty.  I found that my pictures didn't come out as well as I had hoped because I was trying to walk at the same time.  We also got her Christmas items down from the attic and the tree up.  We sat down and watched Serenity when the evening was truly upon us.  This completes the all the Firefly series and movie.  It does seem the that series could have gone on much longer, but it didn't.  The movie and walking with my friend and seeing the lights are my happy things for today.

LIGHTS!!

The sky as we made our way down the road soon after sunset.

I thought this tree kind of looked like a skater from this view. 

Fluffing the tree. 

This loan gingerbread man was left on the tree all summer long. 

Decisions

While trying to decide whether to stay up waiting for laundry to cycle or go to bed early and get up early, I got distracted by Facebook.  Looks like the choice has been made to stay up a little later.  I have a bunch to do in the morning so I should still get up early. 

We went to the mall tonight and strangers wanted me to buy things.  I hope that I am able to avoid the mall for the remainder of the Christmas season.  No, I will not take off my glasses for you to put something on my face that I won't buy or use.  Showing me pictures of people who look 20 years older than me that then look closer to my age with this product is not a selling point.  Let me be me, please.  Let me embrace getting older and turning grey, not everyone gets older.  Thanks for reading my little rant. 

We spent the afternoon out to lunch for a friend's birthday.  This weekend has been putting my introvert self to the test.  I was sitting next to a woman I had never met and we were both shy.  At the end of the meal I finally had the courage to ask her a little about herself and then we had a lovely conversation that could have gone much longer.  It hadn't really been awkward, there were plenty of people who were extroverted to carry along conversations with.  The party was fun but my happy for today is watching my daughter doing art stuff.  Here she is working on a scroll for next weekend:

Maybe a new chair would be a good Christmas gift for her.  😉🙊

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White Mountains--picture heavy

A friend and I drove into the great white north for fighter practice today.  Okay, it is about an hour drive, north.  There is snow though, especially on the mountains.  Pictures will be below.  There were new people to meet, people practiced heavy weapons and fencing, and others worked on crafts while children ran around (away from the fighters) and played.  I ended up more engrossed in practicing calligraphy than I expected to be.  I tried four or five different letter D's and most likely settled on the simplest form.  More practice is needed. 

After dinner I decided to go for a walk around the city.  I had quite a few steps to get in order to reach my goal so I decided to walk to a plaza.  I spent just a few minutes at EMS and then a grocery store which helped my face get warm again before I headed back into the cold.  The walk ended up being about 3.65 miles.  I made my goal for the day. 😌

It was a good day and I hope to sleep well tonight and wake up fresh and ready to get things done tomorrow.  I have laundry and other chores to do as well as write down (with more clarity) many of the ideas my friend and I had during our drive today.  Getting to spend time with friends (laughing and some crying too) and seeing some of the White Mountains is my happy for today.

From the ride north.

Because we were moving down the highway, I am not sure how accurate this is, 

but I am sure it is close.

 Ride Home

While out on my walk I saw Mr. Winant wearing a scarf. 

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