Refreshed
Today is my first day back at work after having six days off. Although this included the weekend, I feel like I was on a mini-vacation. Some much needed time off!
I took Friday as a personal day as my brother and SIL adopted the little foster boy that’s been living with them for the past 1-1/2 years. WELCOME TO OUR FAMILY, CHRISTOPHER! It was an amazing experience to watch the process behind this. The “ceremony” happened at a family court in NH. The judge was wonderful! He brought Christopher up into the chambers with him and went through a whole array of questions including who everyone was in the court room and what they meant to him, what the real meaning of Christmas is, etc. He really put this little guy in a tough spot a few times but he was quite a trooper through it all! I understand that usually, a child under 14 would not have to formally sign the papers (the courts would do that for him) and many judges just do the signing as a formality but this judge really put time into it which is something that, I’m sure, will stay with all of us forever. He also gave Christopher a teddy bear and the pen they used to sign as keepsakes. It was truly special.
Saturday morning, we had the memorial mass for my father in law. He died exactly 10 years to the day that Christopher was adopted. How ironic is that?
The holiday itself was pretty low key. Spent time with some of Brian’s family then cooked a nice meal at home. Our new fireplace doors had arrived on Saturday so we picked those up and installed them on Monday so we could have our first fire in the new house Christmas day. It was great!
We are having a few people over for New Year’s so we got a bunch of little cleany-uppy stuff done that we’ve been wanting to knock off. Yesterday, I adjusted the length on ten mini blinds. Four of these were there when we moved in and it was obvious that the old owners attempted to adjust the height on one and gave up and left them for us. This has got to be just about the most tedious job out there. Why, I ask, would they not make these in lengths shorter than 64 inches? Four of the six new ones required removing more slats than were left. Ugh. Now I understand why so many people just leave all those extra slats piled up on the window sill! It does look so much better this way, though!
The other thing we finished up was staining and urethaning the louver doors. Two coats of stain then three coats of polyurethane. That must be just about the most tedious job out there. (Oops! I said that already, didn’t I?!?!?!?!) Well, needless to say, those are two jobs I’m happy I can say are complete and behind us!
So its back to work today. I must say that I’ve accomplished a lot with so little interruption. Get through this last hour and then tomorrow’s Friday already then four more days off! I could easily get used to this!
I hope that you all enjoyed your holiday, whichever one you celebrate! I wish all of you a happy and safe New Year!
