Goodbye 2023

 Jeff and I are in Auburn resting and relaxing for a few days. It feels good to be quiet. It is cold! I am not a cold weather fan and even pulled out the jacket that I really only wear every couple of years up here. We will ring out the year out quietly. I will write more about that in a bit, but let’s share a picture or two from the last week. 

We celebrated Christmas with our little family on Friday, the 22nd. We had to share Lindsay this year but honestly doing it early since we are all agreeable makes it easy on both kids and their families. We don’t mind. Paul Allen and Lindsay usually work out a date together and Jeff’s sister and brother-in-law are fine with it too. 

The grandsons are at a wonderful age. They remind me of Lindsay and Paul Allen at that age in the same living room oh so many years ago. 

Here they are jumping on bubble wrap from a gift. It was quite loud, but little Miles was not timid at all. He couldn’t find space on it but he just jumped next to Tucker and Palmer. He stayed right in the mix of things with the big boys. What a difference a year made!

Mother spent the night with us on the 22nd since we would be opening presents until past the closing hour at her assisted living place. We got up the next morning and ate a big breakfast and leftovers for lunch before we took her home for the evening on Saturday. 

I drove her back and it was such a beautiful day that I slipped away to stroll on the beach while Jeff went over to a friend’s house to take a gift.

It was about 4:00 in the evening and let me just say I could have stayed forever. A lot of emotion was left out there on that stroll and God met me there for the walk.

Christmas Eve morning was church and such a beautiful service. Again, God met me there with comfort. After church we got Mama out and brought her back to our house and we made a pot of spaghetti. We all 3 sat down to watch a Christmas movie. We watched A Christmas… Present with Candace Cameron Bure. I highly recommend it. A nice family movie.

Donna and Al have modeled what to do with Christmas when you have adult kids. They have their own little traditions for Christmas Day. They take a drive down 30A and back. On Christmas morning Jeff and I took us a walk in the beach. A storm had blown in from the Gulf overnight and the water was still kicking and made for fun watching. I am pretty sure the waves were 7-8 feet at the second sandbar. We again picked up Mom and brought her to our house. She slept for most of the day on the couch. I think all of it had worn her out but one shouldn’t be alone at Christmas.

Still not too tired of the beach, Jeff and I once again made beach trip on the morning of the 26th. We drove west to Opal Beach and it was a bit chilly that day. The shells were heavy and made for fun scouring while we walked. 

I began taking Christmas down on that afternoon and finished the next day while Jeff and Paul Allen fished. I love the decorations but I am always ready for a clean slate.

I think it was Christmas Day evening I read or skimmed all of this past year’s blog posts. What a year! It has been a hard year… sinus surgery, 2 cataract surgeries to start with. I can breathe and see better:) Mom’s fall, spending a month in rehab and then with me, then moving and selling her home and having to get rid of a lifetime of things… then Jeff’s Parkinson’s diagnosis and retirement. That is A Lot to take in and really the year before had been hard too with Jeff’s brother passing. 

If you want to know the real honest truth I am not thinking 2024 is going to be a piece of cake either, not just with my family but with our country. You can’t have an invasion at the southern border and things not get wild very soon. Listen my own little town is seeing big problems already. 

I think I am going to need a lot of courage for the next year. I do know however that my Lord will walk with me through every hardship and provide me with the courage I need. 

I am going to rest these few days before going home. We took Mama to her sister’s to visit. I don’t think she will be able to make that trek again. I could be wrong but she really wanted to go so we took her. My Aunt Faye will try to get her to eat and cousins will drop into visit so she should be fine. 

I finished my last book for this year today. Kinfolk by Sean Dietrich. It was my 23rd book this year. A prime number and a nod to something in the book. A good one to round out 2023.

I am going to give January a couple of weeks to get used to a new routine with Jeff home before I blog again. 

Thanks for following along….

Sandy