Ethan’s Journey

 Here is a quote I read today. “You can’t add days to your life. You CAN add life to your days.”  I sat with it for a minute and asked myself how I rated myself at accomplishing this. Do I feel like I have added the appropriate amount of life to my days? Most of the time, yes! It is a delicate balance. I can’t do too much because then I become drained. I like the balance I have created for myself at the current state. I did some cleaning today. I mopped and got the house organized. I enjoy the ability to doao. I stopped and watched the birds at the bird feeder. There are so many birds there right now. They appreciate all the available seed on these cold days. Avery helped me with some things around the house. I was thankful for that. Paul was off snowmobiling. He is living the dream! While the day was uneventful, I appreciated the day for me to recharge.

 This morning I spent some time on the phone with one of of our friends we are visiting St. Lucia with. We did some planning and sharing of information. I have a 9 page document of notes, tips, destinations I want to see and do, etc. I love the planning phase.  However, the trip I am doing next May I am letting someone else plan. I am ok with that. Traveling overseas is a bit scary for me. The long flight alone has me nervous. We have had Moe for 6 months. He had a spa day. Today I clipped his toes by myself with little effort (used bribes). Man he has come a long way.  Moe also got a bath today. I washed his head with no issues. Scrubbed him down, really tried to get out all the dead hair. Scrubbed his ears, sprayed his head. He just sits while I do it. He got all clean bedding too.  After his bath he got to lay in front of the fire to dry off. It was toasty and warm there. He looks like a million bucks. It has been a few weeks since his last bath. He was getting ga...

 Avery cooked up her ravioli today. She sautéed some Italian sausage and made her home made cheese ravioli and boy it was good. She had a few ideas on how she would tweak her recipe the next time. I really love that she enjoys cooking. This weekend I am helping Avery fill out Fafsa, Ethan is deep cleaning his room. He is even washing the curtains. We are going to finish taking down our tree and putting away Christmas things. I have the next 2 Wednesdays off and we are dedicated to finding housing for Avery for the fall semester. She wants to live off campus and has a comparable room mate. She is excited to be in charge of her own meal plan. Paul is in snowmobiling mode. We don’t see him much this time of year. He is either working in the garage on his snowmobile, his friend’s snowmobiles, working or staying late at work to work on projects. This is not new for us. This is how Paul relaxes. He needs projects to keep his mind busy.  We thrive this way. We are independent people....

 My physical therapist was a little mean today. She had me doing all sorts of hard things. I straight up said “I will not be doing that at home.” If it hurts or it sucks, I am not as excited about doing it. She has me working with weights now. I still have pain but it is more annoying pain than drop me to my knees pain. Ethan and I went to the ATM today. I didn’t realize he has never used an ATM. I was really there for moral support. He just has never had the need for an ATM. His card was expired, it turned into a whole thing. He had to talk to someone at the bank to get a new card. Avery made ravioli from scratch with Nana and Papa. She really enjoyed it. I think it is great that she is making memories like this. I think they enjoy it too! Look at those beautiful ravioli!  I am glad tomorrow is Friday. 

 Today was a nice quiet day. Avery’s friend spent the night and they did some baking today.  I removed most of Christmas from the house, but we left up the tree. 🌲  Paul took down some decorations before it got really cold out.  We just got organized today. I organized our home calendar, work calendar and made sure my days off were appropriately planned for. I did work on some vacation planning, I typed up all my notes and over the next few weeks will finalize plans with the group to make sure everyone’s bucket list items are included. We are organizing summer plans and weekends we will be home. Properly documenting appointments , which I spent yesterday rescheduling due to a few work trips. I am approaching 2025 with an open mind and feeling organized. Who knows what this year will have in store for us. I expect some sort of rollercoaster, because that seems to be what life is all about. I just have to decide if I am going to have a white knuckle grip or throw my h...

 Last day of 2024. Then the struggle begins to have to remember to write the correct year on everything. I worked the whole day. Ugh. It was a quiet day. We then went to my aunt and uncle’s house for pizza, snacks and games. Avery and her friend were there. Ethan came over a little later. We brought Penny so she could play with her dog friends. She partied hard. We played a few card games. We had lots of yummy food. We made some bad jokes about perhaps someone digging up Dick Clark. We did watch some music performances on TV. Most were good with a few mediocre ones. Everyone has their preferences. They all are more talented than I am (except when I am alone in the car.) We rang in the new year. Happy 2025!  We came home and I went right to bed. Staying up that late is hard. Happy New Year!

 Happy Birthday Paul! When Paul was in the 7 th grade, he was NOT a ladies man. Poor dude! I wonder if his 7 th grade self ever dreamed how his life would be at the ripe age of 51.  He had a relaxing day. He puttered. He did some things around the house. He spent time enjoying the dogs. He rough housed with Moe, snuggled and played with Penny and allowed Jiminy to curle up with him and share a nap. Avery was away and Ethan worked. I did make a special dinner for him.  We had grilled chicken and make your own salad.  We are still “full” from the holidays. We filled up on salad and bypassed the birthday dessert for today. We will get there but I think our systems are just decompressing. Ethan has tomorrow off from work. He is excited about that. I have been reflecting on things professionally and personally. The point is always to try to improve right? What can I do to improve or make more of a difference? Where are my short comings and what can I do to help improve ...