COMING HOME: Merry Christmas 2022

Thursday, December 29, 2022

Merry Christmas 2022

Dear People that I Love: Merry Christmas 2022. There was much to love about this past year. There was also much to hate about this past year, but I have learned that what Jennie Taylor says is true, “Life is incredibly unfair in our favor.” Let’s establish that some things haven’t changed. I still love growing flowers. The flowers in my garden are beautiful, but somehow, my flower garden isn’t beautiful. Could it be my planting style? How am I supposed to know that the seeds I throw willy-nilly over the carefully transplanted starts actually grow? And how is one supposed to remember that the perfect place for my sedum was the perfect place for amaryllis a month ago? And FYI, my tall thin plastic green stakes, just cannot contend with the weight of dahlias. When you read that they must be staked with T-stakes, believe it. I still love church. I love Jesus. I love the scriptures, the temple, all of it. I love being busy doing church things. I’m still working in Communications. It doesn’t scare me this year as much as it did last year. That is a testimony to old people being able to learn. One new opportunity I tried this year is teaching online Institute (religion.) The technology aspect was an adventure, as in students texting me asking me where the zoom link was, and me trying to figure out how to lower a student’s raised hand while trying to talk in a coherent way, but I figured some things out and I’m going to do it again because frankly, I love it. I still adore my family. They get more adorable by the second. And now, I have even more grandchildren in my town. Eliza and Joseph brought their 5 to the neighborhood next to mine. Add them to Brandon and Mallory’s 5, that’s 10 out of 25. Here’s hoping that I continue to get lucky. Why not move to Fayetteville? It’s a great place to live. Paul still likes to fix things. He doesn’t always like to fix the things I think need fixing, but sometimes he does, and I’m thankful. He still likes buying tools and sports equipment. He also continues to enjoy learning about sports through reading and watching videos. When he has time, he hits tennis balls. He has come into my gardening camp slightly. He is very excited about the orchid we keep in our bathroom that bloomed two years in a row. He read all about how it grows and how to propagate it. He doesn’t show much interest in the flowers outside, but orchids are a great start. He currently works for Takeda.

My mom’s health is pretty good. She is a fun thrift store companion. She is a warm and cheerful greeter at church. Her current favorite musicals she watches are “Blue Hawaii,” and “White Christmas.” I realized today that “White Christmas” playing in the background has become a constant that I’m going to miss when she’s gone someday. As for the kids, they are doing pretty well most of the time.