December

Our busy social schedule, or what now passes for a busy schedule, has continued into December.  Jack and I took his daughter, boyfriend, and baby George to a charity cookie decorating event to start out the month.  It was so much fun!  As quickly as a decoration could be placed on a cookie, George carefully removed and ate it.  His diet does not generally include sugar, so he was definitely in a Sweet Spot that day.  It will be another year or two before I will even think of trying to actually make cookies with him, but he really enjoyed this day of picking off the sprinkles, one at a time.  Best of all, the decorating/un-decorating event took place away from my own kitchen, so I didn't have to clean up the sugar that must have been everywhere once everyone was finished!  Prizes were given for the best decorated cookies -- for some reason, we didn't win anything!

On December 8, Jack and I quietly celebrated our 4th Anniversary.  We cannot imagine life without the other and are grateful for our lives.  The next week I went to hear my grandson's high school band -- he is a senior this year and I will miss these concerts.  Joseph plays tuba in the band, which is quite a difference from the orchestra, where he plays cello, but I enjoy both so much.  Time has flown by as I've watched him grow into a young adult.

The next week Jack and I entertained our first dinner guests - aside from family - since the beginning of the pandemic.  I was a little nervous about everything -- getting the house clean (after 3 years of the more casual approach that being alone created), cooking for people I don't know that well -- but it was a truly fun evening.  These years of social isolation have left a mark on all of us, I suspect, and it felt good to take our first baby step back into the world we used to know.

Jack's birthday is in three days, which we will celebrate with dinner out and gifts.  I am trying to focus on that but his birthday marks the beginning of the Christmas Craziness, so the back of my mind is a turmoil of lists and chores that need to be done.  The next two weeks will be full of activity, and I am looking forward to every bit of it!