Sunday, December 22

[gottawonder]

Today I am grateful for:

Nice weather with lots of sunshine.

A good ride on River. The poles were all put away today, so we could use the whole space. Got a good trot from him today, and a very good canter.

We got some groceries. It's a hard thing for me at Christmas time right now, because it's tough to come up with "holiday food" that has any resemblance to what one would normally eat at Christmas. I've been a vegetarian for quite some time, but now I'm also eating very little sugar or carbs at all. Basically no dessert. Nothing with pastry or bread. I'm looking at just dressed up versions of what I eat most of the time, which is eggs, quinoa, lentils/beans, veggies, some cheese, nuts, some fruit. So, we're going to try tabbouleh, quinoa with wild rice, maybe a frittata, and a BIT of pastry (no lard) in the form of spanikopita. I'm giving my sweetie high points for trying to help me find food to eat that might still feel special. After all, HE could go ahead and eat a full, normal Christmas meal.

We stopped in at the local cat rescue. I've been trying to think of meaningful ways to contribute and give back, and this seems logical. I've held back from volunteering with this place because I wasn't sure I was able to commit to something scheduled, like helping to clean cages or be there for feedings. Living outside of town means it would be a big effort to do this. We talked to the director, and what we came up with was we could help by re-doing the carpet on the cat trees as they wear it out (we can look for carpet remnants from carpet installers), and helping to build the large enclosures (they actually have lots of room to have more of these) so that kitties don't have to be in little cages, and to build some new cages for the isolation kitties. These things could be done on our schedule (not rigid like feeding and cleaning schedules). I can also come on the days they are open, as I am able, to trim claws (I do all of our cats at home, and I am tickled that I can put this skill to good use). Right now we have a lot of boards at home that could be donated, and my husband is very skillful. I am also thinking of craft things I could make that could be sold in their front area. I very much want to find a way to help animals, and to give to others. Once again, grateful to my sweetie, who is happy to help.

A good phone conversation with my sister. She actually seems pretty sober and lucid right now, and is thinking about her future. It sounds like she wants to start clearing out some stuff, probably because she knows she might need to move. I hope she really is ready to get rid of things, not just pile it up in her shop. She has actually made an appointment to get her male kitten fixed, because that's cheaper than the female, though I personally think both should be fixed. This is a step in the right direction, at least.

I made more progress in the dining room. I identified several things that needed to go back to the garage, lots of weird little useless things that I tossed, and a box of stuff to go to the thrift store, as well as putting some things in what I hope is the place that will make the most sense for using them and finding them again.

I have to give myself a bit of credit, I recently donated a bag of DVDs and about three bags of books, as well as giving that lady a whole bunch of stuff for crafting few weeks ago, and I got rid of a bunch of old socks with holes in them, and some crappy old bras. It likely isn't equal to what I'm bringing in, but I'm trying.