Photo caption: Christmas Eve 2017 photo with my neighbour.
I’m sitting tight today, between December 24/25th and our family’s second Christmas tomorrow, on this Boxing Day of 2017 and I have plenty to be thankful for.
I am thankful for another six months with my kidney.
Creatinine was up, from its usual seventy, into the eighties and, of course, even with this slight increase I worry somewhat.
The doctor tells me I am doing well for twenty years on and that he has no reason to be concerned at this time. I take this and hold it close as a win, for now.
It’s a bit of a tentative thankful, but it is genuine. Best I can do.
I am thankful for lunch with my friend from across the ocean.
She is a senior resident OBGYN in Cork, Ireland. She has a life there, with her two-year-old daughter.
I am happy to hear of their lives and am grateful that they come back at Christmas.
We went shopping and out for a nice lunch. I learned about her daughter’s two best friends and their daily routines. Busy girls.
It’s just nice, however briefly they are here, that we can return to our familiarity with each other, no matter how long it’s been, how long a year has felt in between last seeing one another.
I hope her daughter, as she grows, will soon feel that too. I am just honoured to be Aunt Kerry to another amazing child, if not by blood, relation, than by bestowment through lifelong friendship..
Friendship, I’ve learned over the years is never guaranteed in life, but sometimes it is meant to be, with an extra pinch of additional effort.
I am thankful for a quick fix to my heat.
I woke up, on Wednesday morning, to no heat at all. By the evening, I was curled up to warm up, but heat had been restored throughout the vents in my home.
I had a friend to take me out and a neighbour offering a warm place to retreat into if necessary. I was never in danger of freezing.
I worried the workers would be busy this time of year, but I was on a list, and it was short.
The problem had something to do with the pressure switch. That’s all I retained from the explanation. It required a pickup of the part, or delivery really, and Bam! Done!
And I had just been paid for a writing job and it felt good to be able to pay my own repair bill.
I am thankful for a pre-Christmas musical dedication and episode of my brother’s radio show.
Sure, Christmas may be over officially, but why not check these songs out. Some are dedicated to snow too, and Hannukah.
Chin Music (Holiday 2017 Edition) – CHRW Radio Western
I heard the song he played, for me, and I proceeded to dance/flail around my living room to it. Good workout and a reminder that Christmas isn’t so easy, for everyone, all of the time.
Bah Humbug is too strong for me, thankfully.
I am thankful for a Christmas visit and generous gifts from my 2017 neighbour.
Wine and Dutch wafer cookies made with honey.
She gave me a bracelet and necklace, with my birthstone and a heart, and other charms.
I appreciate her in my life, starting this year, and a dear one for years to come.
I am thankful for the love of earth and the natural world in a family creation.
Picked up a mossy world, with a gnome riding a turtle for my dining room’s table’s centre.
My cousin was selling them at the Saturday morning market. They find glass jars and other things, like mine which was an old fish tank or possibly a cookie jar at one time. Then they add moss and other things, creating its own little world in a jar.
I am thankful for a Christmas Eve morning visit with my friend and her daughter.
A two-year-old into Peppa Pig and I found the perfect Christmas surprise: Peppa Pig’s pizza parlour.
She loved it and warmed up as the visit progressed.
I am thankful we were played and up in the first hour.
http://keepingscoreathome.com/?p=3284
The audio story I wrote and recorded with my brother was aired on the 25-hour Christmas Eve/Day marathon, on a little college radio station in New Jersey.
Jon plays lesser known seasonal songs and a story from a listener, one per hour. He has been doing this for years now and has loyal yearly listener/fans like my brother. It was one of our goals, since he listened and familiarized me with the show last Christmas. We made a plan to send in a contribution from the two of us and we got it done.
It was odd hearing it on that show, but a nice way to finish off 2017 on a high note.
I am thankful for another Christmas Eve to watch A Christmas Carol with my father.
It came on TV at nine and at first, in colour, but my father would rather black and white. I can’t blame him and he found it on another channel.
Again, the past and present and future, and I learn and reflect on my life and on the world.
I am thankful my neighbour could join us for Christmas Eve this year.
She made her signature Caesar salad and served it in wooden bowls she brought back from Costa Rica.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKkzbbLYPuI
Onward to Second Christmas. Hobbits have “second breakfast” and the Kijewski family has “second Christmas”.
Her Headache 
I love this post full of gratitude and the turtle riding gnome. Wishing you the best in 2018 and beyond!
So much to be thankful for. What a wonderful neighbor you have. I have had less-than great neighbors and wow, when they’re great, it’s amazing. So glad you got your heat back quickly (and had offers for a backup plan!). Here’s to a year full of second breakfasts, friend.