The End of 2015

We survived the big storm that hit earlier in the week. The lights flicked a couple of times but we didn’t lose power. Yay!

A snowplow tore our mailbox off the post and flung it into the snow so yesterday morning EJ put his tools in the suburban and drove down the driveway to fix it.

While EJ was fixing the mailbox, I got out one of our sleds and sledded down our driveway. Danny stood at the top of the hill and watched me for a bit and then raced down and tried to push me. I had my camera with me and videoed my descent. It was tons of fun. EJ said he heard me laughing down the hill and it was like music to his ears.

At our old house, EJ had to work TONS of overtime and when he wasn’t working, he was either very tired, or struggling with chronic back pain (his job was tough on his back), or we had to work on our house or something. And then there was JJ’s cancer. We got wore down. It’s really nice to be able to just have fun and to laugh again.

When I reached the bottom of the hill, I called JJ on my phone to come join me. He quickly got ready and came outside. I gave him the round sled and he sledded down the hill with Danny chasing him and pushing him. We went down the hill several times. I used the longer sled and the last time I went down, I invited Danny to join me. He got on my lap and I held him tight as we raced down the driveway.

I tried to upload my videos to Youtube but for some reason I am having problems with it. When it processes the video, it suddenly aborts and starts uploading it all over again. I thought maybe it was my computer messing up so I tried to upload them using EJ’s computer, but it didn’t work any better. I was able to upload them on FB, but not Youtube. Bummer. They were hilarious.

This morning EJ and I got out the sleds and sledded down the driveway to get the mail. EJ gave me a huge push so I went further than I had yesterday before ending up in the snow along the driveway. Then he came down the driveway. He was able to skillfully steer around the curves so he went all the way down the driveway without stopping. In my defense, I’m too busy filming our descent to handle steering. Poor ol’ Danny was stiff and tired from running up and down the driveway chasing the sleds yesterday so he didn’t want to go get the mail with us today.

JJ had to leave for work at 11 a.m. today. I paid bills this morning (yuck!) and then EJ and I took off to run some errands. Because of the holidays, EJ doesn’t have to be back to work until Monday.

First we stopped at the post office to mail a package, but they were closed for lunch. Rats.

Then we drove to the Emerald City. Our first stop was a feed store. They have pet food and bird seed at a good price. We pulled up to the store at 1:11 p.m. They closed at 1 p.m. for New Year’s. Rats!

We were hungry, so we drove to our favorite restaurant. Fortunately, they were NOT closed. Yay! The restaurant is located right near the coast. We sat at a table near the window so we could enjoy the beautiful view of the lake. I don’t know if you can tell from the photo, but the lake is just beyond the trees.

After we ate, we drove to Goodwill. We love thrift-store shopping.  We got some good bargains, like a scratching post for the cats.

After Goodwill, we went grocery shopping. That took quite a while and we were tired when we got out. However, we stopped at a farm store on the way home so EJ could get a post hole driver so he could put up T-posts along the driveway. He also got a snow fence. Little by little we are getting what we need to survive the winters up here. I’m so glad this winter has been mild so far to give us time to prepare.

By the time we reached our town, the post office was closed for the day. Bummer. I will have to mail my packages on Monday now.

When we got home, we unloaded everything and put it all away. I made chili and began doing laundry.

EJ and I had a great day together. JJ will get home about 8:30 p.m. or so tonight. We will enjoy some snacks, welcome in the new year at midnight, and then all head to bed. Well…I usually go to bed before EJ and JJ do, so it will probably be just me and the cats who head for bed.

This has been such an incredible year. It started in weariness and discouragement but ended in joy. We are so thankful we live here in the beautiful north!