Two Days After Christmas

And I'm once again reminded how I could never live in Seattle.  Our temps this week are in the 30's sometimes low 40's.  That means there's no snow, just rain.  And more rain.  We live in an area that is constantly concerned about drought.  So I never want to complain about the rain.  I have some loved ones who seem to sort of come alive when it rains.  I love it - in very small doses.   Guess my upbringing in the desert will always be with me. When it feels damp and humid I can never seem to get warm.  Last night I went to bed (at first) with socks on and slept much better because I warmed up faster than usual. It has rained most of the time over the last couple days with a couple more days of fairly consistent rain predicted.  I remain grateful for my trusty decades old rain slicker. 

There's hills hidden in those clouds.

Christmas has come and gone.  Yesterday I was ready to take down the tree and put away what very few Christmas decor items are out.  The Husband (only mildly - he's not really pushy) reacted negatively, so we're compromising.  The tree will come down on Monday.  

Christmas was a fine day.  We received an "out-of-the-blue" invitation so were happy to spend an hour with some relatives.  We haven't seen them at Christmas for years so it was a different experience.  We enjoyed it.  Happy, though, to be at home, we're generally better with shorter visits.  We've learned to have low expectations for celebrations at Christmas. Low-key seems to fit the bill.  We gave each other a couple gift cards and a small gift and are content.  I don't even have any desire to get online and shop the after-Christmas sales. (I think that is an off-shoot of my concern about my Social Security benefits being cut and how it's all going to play out.  I plan to give it a bit of time and then follow up.  It's scary to go up against the ginormous bureaucracy.)  Our gifting to loved ones was smaller this year  - frankly I'm good with that.  I think in some instances we've been overly generous over the years and we simply cannot do that level anymore. We did receive a picture from our son of our grandson in a sweat-jacket we gave him. Sizes are tricky but we did ok, I think. He looked great in it, especially with his big smile.  How fun to be thanked that way. 

I've been thinking a lot about pain lately.  Especially when I wake up in the morning and very carefully climb out of bed, not quite sure how much I'm going to hurt.  The arthritis in my hands is worsening and that's a grim future to contemplate.  Mentioned to The Husband this morning that's probably why I continue to avoid crocheting and sewing, too much hurt. Between my dang foot, my partial thickness rotator cuff tear (hauling all those 40 lb containers of flour and sugar at the storehouse), arthritis in lots of joints and The Husband's degenerative disc in his back, we share a fair amount of empathy for each other.  I wish we'd been able to ramble the world and have fun while we had more pain-free bodies.

We've been to the library and replenished my books.  Even though it seems a tad more challenging to focus and get engrossed in a book, I still find myself feeling lost and adrift if I don't have something decent to read.  Especially when it is wet / icy outside and I need to be in on the treadmill or elliptical.  I'm thinking a cup of hot chocolate is calling to me.  

Grateful today for the rain and our ability to just stay inside (where it is warm and dry and safe) if we choose.  Grateful for some books to read, a puzzle (or two) for The Husband to do, dinner that will be easy to fix and access to tons of things to watch on tv if we get in the mood.  I really do love that part of this time of life - the ability to choose to do what we enjoy.