2024, rolling to an end

Jack gave me a pottery class for my birthday and I have been dutifully playing in clay for the past few Mondays.  No one there has suggested that I am a natural and so far I have nothing to show for it, because there are so many steps and rests steps and rests in the process before it is finished.  I am doing slab work, not using a wheel yet, and just started to glaze my first efforts.  My instructor seems to discourage wheel use and admits that she does not enjoy it herself but I will try to be sure I get at least a taste of it before my 8 weeks are over.

I did not think I would have a holiday card to send this year because I never got around to scheduling a family photo in time before my older grands went off to university.  But I snapped photos of the two groups while the kids were briefly home for Thanksgiving so my 3-?, 4-year? streak of sending Christmas cards is intact.   People have wondered who "belongs" to whom so I just did the two separate family groups this time.   We get so few cards in return that I know I am only doing it to amuse myself but I do enjoy the excuse to get us all together for photos.

I have been mildly ill too much again this month, with what I assume are mild viruses and vague symptoms that are more annoying than anything.  This week I have been dizzy, for no apparent reason, to the point that I am often holding the wall or grabbing at chairs.  Very unpleasant, enough so that I finally went in to see a physician, who told me it might be nothing, or then again it might be walking pneumonia, or an inner ear infection, or really who knows.  So he treated me for everything he could think of and told me to follow up if I'm not better in a week.    I have way too much to do less than 10 days before Christmas to be anything but better, so fingers crossed.    I suspect that my ill health is my own fault, with too little exercise, too much needless worry, and too much sugar.  At the far end of the family spectrum, my next oldest sibling turns 82 this week and he ran a marathon on his birthday and won a national title for his age group.  It is too bad that I am  not as easily inspired by him as I am by my older, lazier but maybe more introspective brother.   

I was sick for Jack and my 6th anniversary, but at least I did finally finish the hanging with the stars that served as our guest book for our two small family parties.   Finished is better than perfect!

My granddaughter is home from college and we've had one brunch together so far and, if I had not been too dizzy to plan, we would have had another by now.  Her brother comes home next week but he has sent me some wonderful clips of him practicing for his upcoming piano exam.   I will be so happy to see them both over Christmas, but I still have lots of shopping and wrapping and cleaning and sewing projects and planning to get done before then.  Hopefully we will all have a healthy finish to this year!