It is Wednesday, December 2, 2020. I am among the many people that are counting down the days until the end of the year, but I am also embracing the positive of each and everyday. Today has been a long and busy day with plenty of little things to embrace.
I started my day, as I start nearly everyday, by giving Potatoe a good snuggle. He refuses to get out of bed until he has had his morning hugs and belly rub. I then opened the door to let him outside, and his three fur brothers came barreling inside for their breakfast. One would think that we only feed our three kitties once a week instead of twice a day. The three always act famished in the mornings. They are all extra snuggly these days as they have their winter coats.
Once their little tummies were full, they wrestled for a morning nap spot in the chair by the fire place. Storme definitely considers this to be his chair. Still he gave in to his little fur siblings, and found himself a spot under the Christmas tree on the fur tree skirt. The tree is decorated to look like a tree in a snowy forest with pinecones and animals for decoration. The only actual ornaments are the sentimental ornaments for the years that each of the fur kids joined our family.
I settled in to start my work day with a fresh pot of coffee waiting for me. One of my favorite things right now is my Christmas coffee. I have a little box of different flavors of coffee for everyday for the rest of 2020. This morning’s coffee was “Winter Wonderland”. Little Chirp has added making the coffee to his morning routine. He likes picking the flavor for each day, and taking a little swig of it before he heads off to school. He says it wakes him up, but that he believes that it is a placebo effect.
My work day was non-stop. I enjoyed the positive energy and banter through out the day with my coworkers.
Brainy Bird stopped in with the sole purpose of giving me a hug when he got home from school. He then headed to the junior high to pick up Little Chirp. We got the big news that Little Chirp has made the seventh grade basketball team. Making the team and making all A’s are Little Chirp’s goals for seventh grade. So far, he is on track for meeting both goals. He sounded both happy and relieved to know he made the team.
The boys then headed to their dad’s house for the night. I have more work to do, but work will be waiting for me in the morning. I needed a break. Wheel of Fortune is almost over. The fur kids have had their dinner. Potatoe is snuggled up at my feet under my desk. The brother cats are on the back porch despite the fact that it is raining. Pumpkine had her dinner and ran around the house as if she were on an indoor hunt. She went for one of the owl ornaments on the Christmas tree, and nearly took the whole thing down with her. She is now sitting in the front room, mesmerized by the lights on the tree. This is her first Christmas tree, and she is enjoying it. Sad to say, we did not put the tree up last year.
The boys and I were thrilled when we put the tree together on Sunday and found that after two years of storage ALL of the lights work. We plan on decorating the mantle and putting up stockings for all seven family members on Saturday.
Brainy is a bundle of positive, nervous energy. I think that every high school senior that is thinking about their future is this way. He can’t sit idle. In between homework, robotics, work, and scholarship applications, he does chores around the house to burn off his nervous energy. He literally can’t sit still. I am not complaining. We both make several trips a day to the mailbox in hopes of find college information.
So far all news on the college front has been good news, but we are concerned on some of the major scholarship applications that he has not heard back on. He is already accepted to the University of Texas, and he is accepted to the University of Houston’s Honors program. Those are exciting options. He would love both.
Brainy Bird wants to pave his own way and get a scholarship. He does not want to get money from me for school. He has poured an incredible amount of time into his essays for his applications. I am in awe of his work ethic and commitment. I am also feeling a tinge of jealousy. He is a much better writer than I am. He can say so much with so few words. His writing is clever and heartfelt. That is a difficult combination to pull off. He is showing me a depth that I would not expect to find in someone so young.
He is officially better than me at everything that I believe myself to be good at. Of course, this makes me happy. I know that great things are in store for him. Still, writing was my last super power.
On Saturday, he is planning to have a few friends over for dinner. He wants to practice cooking for other kids in preparation for his college days. Little Chirp and I are going to miss him when he goes off to school. We are also going to need to brush up on our cooking skills. We are currently working on finding card and board games that are fun for two people. So far, gin rummy is our favorite.
It is the little things in life…