Ground Hog Day

Remember the old movie with Bill Murray, "Groundhog Day"?  That is kind of how my life feels right now.

You know it's bad when a trip to the dentist or the eye doctor is exciting. Or when you get dressed up to drive to the restaurant for a curb side delivery of your dinner!  Sometimes I want to chat with the Amazon delivery guy but I haven't yet wanted to engage in conversation with the telemarketers who call.

We have tried our very best to avoid Covid-19 and that has definitely changed how I live my life.  I miss going out to eat.  I miss spending time with friends.  I really miss Sunday family dinners.  I miss traveling.  I miss in-person church.  I miss going to the movie and shopping in person.

I have had 6 friends from my age group in 3 different states have Covid recently.  Five of them had mild cases and recovered quickly but the 6th is in the ICU fighting for his life.  The worrisome thing is that you have no way of knowing if you might be the ONE who gets hit hard.  So I wear my mask and social distance and avoid crowds.  My 'people circle' is small these days.

I try to keep my complaining to a minimum and carry on....hoping that the end is in sight.

We start back to in-person sacrament meeting tomorrow and word is that we will be back to the 2 hour church schedule by the beginning of March.  As George's Dad was prone to say, "Happy Day!!!"

On Monday those of us who are over 65 in Idaho, can schedule a vaccine appointment!  They have asked that we 'younger' elderly wait for the 'more' elderly to get theirs first and I will do that but I really look forward to my turn.

I shared this way back at the beginning of the pandemic.  It is still meaningful today.  I fully understand that I have merely been inconvenienced.

Jake Gates Montgomery

My Daddy, Jake Gates Montgomery was born on January 31, 1916. Tomorrow is his 105th birthday!

He died on 27 May, 1979 at age 63, which is 4 years younger than I am now.

I was only 25 years old when he died so I have spent a lot more years without Daddy than with him yet he had a profound influence on the person I am today.

When he died Moma and Daddy had celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary a few months before. My mother was a widow for almost 30 years.

I look forward to seeing them both again.

A Table Full of Memories

To anyone else this just looks like a table full of Christmas ornaments.  

To me it is a walk down memory lane.

I feel nostalgic thinking of the ornament my Grandma Boyle made

Of trips to Hawaii - Mele Kalikimaka       

I remember good friends who have given us ornaments over the years

And the seminary students and Young Women who have made me ornaments

I marvel that the gingerbread ornaments we bought in 1999 are not in crumbles

I picture the tiny little lady in China from whom I bought a whole box of small ornaments

I see all the shops in the Baltics when I look at my 'amber' ornaments

I smile thinking of our beloved pets and the ornaments that honor them

And of 39 foster dogs from Guide Dogs For the Blind whose names are on two ornaments

I'm impressed with the ornaments our family has made on recent Christmas Eves.

I picture the blue tiles and handmade paper of Uzbekistan

And the white lace of Brugge, Belgium

My heart strings are tugged as I look at the ornaments that were once my mother's

And remember the generosity of her friend, Mrs. Lyons who gave us so many ornaments.

I am impressed with skills of handicapped people in Kenya who make angels out of recycled aluminum

The ornaments from Oman and Dubai make me think of that trip just as the pandemic started.

Norway, Crater Lake, Oregon Coast, Monticello, Washington DC, Annapolis, Philadelphia, San Francisco, The White House, Madagascar, Williamsburg, Palmyra, Nauvoo, Reagan Library, Zanzibar 

Ah, the joy of memories!

"Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it"

L. M. Montgomery