Back to the Grindstone

Tomorrow it starts all over again. These last three days have been wonderful. Staying home all day is a treat for me. My days are usually occuppied with the clothing center, the genealogy library, or some meeting I need to attend. This weekend I got to stay home. Friday morning I went to Springfield but was back home before 11:00. Saturday I didn't go any where. And today I went to church and have spent the afternoon working on a genealogy project, beginning to crochet a new scarf and making some cookies.

But my free time is over now until after Christmas. My calendar is already marked with something every day. And the next three weeks are full of Share Your Christmas activities. I will be at the center registering people for SYC, working on my church's part of SYC, making the cart tickets (lots of paper and ink involved!), and helping with set-up and distribution. That's all in addition to working (volunteering) at the genealogy library. And then there are the meetings: genealogy, retired teachers, DAR, etc. A couple of these meetings require bringing goodies. People always ask how I enjoy retirement and I tell them that I need to retire from retirement!!

I know that I am involved in a lot of stuff and I should probably give part of it up, but which one or ones should it be? That's too hard a decision because I really enjoy what I am doing. And I praise God that He has given me the opportunity, and energy, to get involved. Maybe you can see why I enjoyed these last three days. I had the time to just sit back and not feel so hurried. It's been nice. But I am looking forward to getting back with friends. And I have the week after Christmas to look forward to because the library will be closed.

So, tomorrow it's back to the grindstone. I will be at the center, hopefully by 9, all day and when we close I'll run over to the library to see what's going on. I need to go to the public library and take back my books. The car needs gas and I need to get my prescriptions refilled. It promises to be a busy day!

A New Experience

Well, this is something new I am going to try. Like I really have time to do this! But I've been reading different blogs and thought that this might be fun. It will keep me off the computer games! I know I spend too much time playing games--but then, that's one way that I can unwind at the end of a hectic day. And most of my days are hectic! I have enjoyed the last couple of days, though, because the library is closed and I have gotten to slow down and relax a little bit.

I did something this morning that I have never done. I was in Springfield for Black Friday shopping. Well, actually, I went to Staples to pick up a couple of their early bird specials. I didn't go anywhere else, but I was there by 8:30 and got a couple of good bargains. I usually stay away from Springfield on Black Friday. Not because I don't like crowds, but we just don't give very many Christmas presents. Several years ago both sides of the family decided that we would only give gifts to the children. Just spending time wiith loved ones was enough for the adults. Well, the children are all now old enough that when you ask what they want, they say "money!" So that's what we do. I buy for Valary and that's about it. Even Charles and I don't usually exchange gifts. (We buy our own!) Anyway, the last time I did Black Friday shopping was when the tornado hit Springfield way back in the 80's. I don't remember exactly when but I do remember the experience. I was actually driving home when it hit but was closer to Springfield than home. It was pretty scary. I never have liked storms.

So here's my first post. Hopefully there will be more to come.