I appreciated that both of the texts included a bit of information
about them and their families. It is nice to know the names and ages of their
children. There is at least one boy Caleb’s age so far and one girl Charlotte’s
age.
Joe and I decided to get errands done today. We left at noon and got
back to the house around 3:30pm. Today we hit up Walgreens, ACE Hardware, Megan’s
house in Rockford, a furniture and appliance store, a glass place to pick up a
piece of plexiglass Joe had ordered in Buffalo, and Cub Foods. As I was
driving, and Joe was sleeping, I realized that I look forward to our errand
days since it gets me out of the house. These days the drives are soothing. The
landscapes display various shades of greenery alongside blossoming trees.
Somedays it takes my breath away at the beauty of this area of Minnesota.
I spent an hour with Joe in his basement area looking at the layout he
has planned for all of his “stuff.” We discovered there is an electric dart game
in the room inside of a built-in cabinet. The darts are plastic tipped so the
game will be safe for Caleb and Charlotte to play. I ordered three bookshelves
for his area that will come in next week at which time he can finish organizing
his area. Until then he has his laptop stationed in our dining room.
A neighbor, two doors down from us on our side of the street, was
having a tree service trim one of their trees this morning. We had left
messages last week for a service to come out and give us a quote and had not
heard back. Joe went down and talked to one of the tree trimming people. He
also met the neighbor and visited for five minutes. This neighbor was one of
the two who texted me later in the day.
We hung four more pieces of art today in the family room area and upstairs
(top floor) in the hallways near the guest bedrooms.
Each day I am challenging myself to climb more stairs in the house. I
am doing better. I can walk pain-free; however, I get tired after about 5
minutes of walking and need a quick rest before the next leg. Being pain free
is the important part, now I have to build my stamina back up. One day at a
time. One step at a time. I am still getting in more steps each day than in
2023 and 2023 steps were an improvement over 2022 when I was still working
full-time.
Since we moved into the house, I have been volunteering to cook our
dinner. I am trying new recipes and rotating between chicken, fish, beef, and
pork dishes. Tonight was chicken thighs roasted in the air fryer, served with
butter egg noodles and broccoli. I also do the kitchen clean-up. For years we
had a rule that the person who cooked did not do cleanup; however, Joe has so
many small projects in the yard and house that I insist the new rule is that
Beth will take care of both chores. Cooking and cleaning up the kitchen also
help to build my stamina.
My joyful moment today occurred while we were driving along the river
road from Saint Michael to Hanover. The river with the lush greenery on the
banks was breathtaking. I simply took it all in and felt at peace. I also had a
sense of deep gratitude that I have the opportunity
to be in this time and place to experience the environment and the people we
are meeting along the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment