Venturing Out

The Old Christmas Creche

I dug out the family creche from our childhood. It's not in very good shape and the original cardboard box has seen it's last. The newpapers that Dad used to store the various wood pieces date from 1955, '67, and '71. I've not had it out in many years. The plaster figurines are very beat up but it still makes me smile.

Mixing and Mingling

Monday one of the guys from our small group celebrated his birthday with us and a bunch of other friends. It was my first social venture with a co-ed singles crowd. It was interesting. I kind of go quiet when I'm around a lot of people I don't know and I only knew about six people out of about 30 who were there. So I didn't say much.

I remember how being with other singles is different than being with other married couples. Not better, not worse, just different. I feel my socializing gears shifting back to a mode that I've not engaged in a long time. It will be an adjustment. And I've grown and I have changed much since I was single before.

The Next Phase

I feel like the next phase of my life is about to begin. I've done a lot of grief work in the current phase. And I will probably continue to hit emotional land-mines every once in a while and I'll get to grieve another aspect of missing Trudie. But I think I'm ready to put this behind me. Christmas will happen in another week. I'll grieve missing her for a little while longer but it is drawing to a close.

It is time to start to move on to the next phase. Going to group singles events is the beginning.

Nutcracker in House Christmas Lights

This is unbelievable. Watch the video:

Meet Logan, The Sky Angel Cowboy

This is an amazing story. It touched my heart and will touch anyone's who is dealing with a loss.
Enjoy!

Decorating for Christmas

Today I took time to break out the Christmas decorations. I knew it would be tough work so I got Uncle Bob to come over and help. He helped me setup the tree and to hang all my outdoor lights. He was a great encouragement and a big help.

Grief is hard work

Then I got down to the work of going through all the ornaments. It was tough. Trudie was an "ornament person." By that I mean that every trip we took, she bought one or multiple tree ornaments to remember the trip by. So I was sad going through the boxes of ornaments. I have my favorites but a lot of them are B.M.T (Before My Time). There were some very special ones that were hard to bring out and remember the times they represented. It was tough work but it is the right "work" for me to be doing this year.

It's been a sad day for me but then this is what I need to be doing right now; I need to feel my sadness and walk through my grief to get past it. I know that "this too shall pass."

Gracie Shares

Ahwww...
Avery says,

I took Gracie out for ice cream. She insisted on sharing with her teddybear.

Don't give up on giving

Give even when things are tight

Here's a great blog article by Tim Sanders about keeping on giving even when things are tight. I like the quote:

When you give, especially during tough times, you teach yourself that there is enough to go around.