Happy Thanksgiving!

 Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! 

I made an impulse purchase at the store the other day. Little dog beds with an insulated fabric cover were on sale, and I thought Marmite might feel more cozy at night in one of those. He refuses to wear a blanket while in his current flat dog bed on the floor under the bottom shelf of our book case, but around five in the morning, he will tick-tick his toenails over to my side of the bed and ask to be lifted up so he can snuggle in between us and get warm. 

I realized when I brought the dog bed inside and measured it against Marmite that it was slightly small. No matter, I thought. It will just be warmer and cozier for him. How delightful!

Marmite came to sniff and inspect the bed, of course. I put my hands on him and encouraged him to get inside and curl up on the little pillow. A frantic but silent struggle ensued, and Marmite made it abundantly clear that not only will he never sleep in that bed, he will never be enticed to ever again show interest in it. Marmite continues to sleep on his former dog bed and still curls up with us in the early morning. The new dog bed will go to my parents for one of their cats. 

We will see my parents, brothers, sister (the other sister is living too far away to join us), and nieces and nephews on Saturday and enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving meal with them. For us, it was a restful Thanksgiving day yesterday. My oldest daughter and her family went to visit her in-laws for the week, and it's been quiet in this house. Too quiet. I miss the voices of my little grandsons and the constant demands from the 2-year-old to go visit Husband's vastly interesting garage workshop, holding the 6-month-old while he jabbers and bounces on my knee, and my 5-year-old grandson explaining why blue is his favorite color. 

Though I miss my grandsons, it did occur to me on Wednesday that Husband and my sons and I could have a movie marathon in the living room because we would not be bothering the little guys downstairs. I bought snacks and goodies, and Husband and I watched the fourth and fifth Harry Potter movies while my sons immediately left to go to their rooms because movie marathons are not a thing for them. Ah well. I still had a good time, and I even stayed mostly awake for the last part of the second movie before we closed up the house and went to bed.

Yesterday, Thanksgiving Day, two of my other daughters were scheduled to go to their in-laws' houses for the day, so we just had the boys here until Gabrielle and her husband, Raine, came over in the afternoon. They had been planning on spending the day with Raine's parents, but when he called them to confirm, they surprised him by telling him they had gone to California to visit one of his grandmothers. That meant they could come to us, so we had a fun time with them before enjoying a simple Thanksgiving meal in the evening. It started to snow, so they left by 8pm, which is also, coincidentally, the time when I start thinking about going to bed. My body doesn't let me sleep past 5:30 or 6am anymore, so I get sleepy in the evenings. Eating supper at 6pm is almost too late anymore.

I have officially become old.

Husband has continued to help me put my craft room together. He has built shelves and installed pegboard while I have tried to tame and organize the sheer volume of crafting tools I have collected over the years. It has been daunting, but the chaos is slowly receding. I have so enjoyed having that room for playing my cello and for being able to play with my "toys." When I'm overwhelmed, I organize my embroidery floss, winding the floss onto paper rectangles that I can then arrange by number in small plastic boxes. Very soothing.

This craft room is still a work in progress, but order is arising from the chaos. I have places to store my stamps, papers, book-making supplies, embroidery materials, yarn and threads, fabrics, and more. My cello is to the left, ready for practicing at any time (no more wrestling it out of and back into its case!).

A few news highlights:

~ After numerous tests, it turns out that the reason for my voice deterioration is due to silent acid reflux damage. The good news is that it isn't something more serious, like thyroid issues, polyps or cysts on my vocal chords, or some sort of throat cancer. The ENT estimated that it would take at least five or six months from beginning daily omeprazole (an acid inhibitor) to seeing any sort of recovery, but it's been a few months and I have yet to see any improvement. In fact, I have seen my voice deteriorate further, to the point where my speaking voice is rough enough for people to notice and comment and there is a further decrease of my singing range to about four notes. 

While I cannot sing in either my county choir or my ward choir anymore, I still have the opportunity to enjoy music. I can fill in for the ward choir pianist when needed, and I was asked to play piano accompaniment for a duet by my friend and her son--both of whom have lovely voices--and that went very well. I have also very much enjoyed playing my cello. Since my husband and children surprised me with professional cello strings for my birthday recently, my cello practice has been elevated, and sitting down to play my cello is something I very much look forward to every day. I didn't realize the astounding difference in tone and quality the new strings would produce, and it helped me gain some confidence in my playing because I now realize that the squeaks and squawks my cello made were not entirely my fault. The new strings (which were expensive but worth the price!) sound rich and full, which makes my non-professional cello sound almost professional. I have been working on technique, and I have been very pleased with the progress I am making.

Even though I can't sing with my choir and no longer attend practices, they asked me to emcee the upcoming Christmas concert. Denise sent me a text message about it during one of their Saturday evening rehearsals, and when I agreed to be the emcee, she then sent me a short video of all of them shouting, "We love you, Eva!" That made my heart swell. I miss the joy and laughter and hard work of choir rehearsals, though I also enjoy spending Saturday evenings with Husband and the boys. 

~Speaking of my boys, my youngest, Gary, is now working two jobs. His goal is to save money for a plane ticket and spending cash for a trip to England. He and one of his English cousins of the same age have become good friends by connecting through online games, and Gary would love to visit him in person as well as see the country of his father's birth and heritage. The new job is at a the one bakery in town. He comes home smelling like doughnuts, and he sometimes comes home with a big box of doughnuts if they have leftovers for the day. While it's hard to work two jobs, his savings account is looking pretty good. I cannot believe how much he has grown in the last couple years! He is now taller than me, and he's pretty proud of that. 

~Joseph, my older son, is preparing to begin pharmacy tech courses at our local technical college. I love when he pops into the kitchen or my room to say hello and have a conversation. He is so funny and smart and kind, and I love that he allows me to hug him still.