31 December 2024

Well, here we are, the end of the year. Six more hours until we say goodbye to 2024. The fireworks have already started close by, as we can hear them. Some of them are HUGE. As we ponder past 70 New Year’s eves, we don’t remember going anywhere really. Not like they show in the movies. Now and then we have gone to friend’s homes and played games. We’ve even had some over to The Hermitage for food and games. But not recently. We are not “party animals.” We are NOT anti-party, anti-social, but we ARE wallflowers. We go to things because we are “expected” to be there, but we sit in the corner. IF someone comes to sit with us, we LOVE to visit and talk, but we have a hard time. We always have. It is a struggle for all of us. People don’t “think” it is for us, but IT IS. Just trust us.

Chauffeur took Shopper to the Super Store this morning. She got everything on Chef’s list, and a tad more.

Chef received the bags with enthusiasm and got to it. She was busy for a couple of hours. She made crab dip, macaroni salad, deviled eggs, coleslaw, “eggroll in a bowl,” and broccoli and cauliflower cheese soup. We already had a bottle of Martinelli’s, ginger ale, and Fanta Strawberry soda. AND Shopper bought a bag of Cheetos, as everyone in The Hermitage LOVES them. So, Chef has us ready to snack later. We did try the “eggroll in a bowl,” for lunch, and a bowl of soup for dinner. Both were great. Chef used all of the green onions, even on something where they weren’t called for, AND didn’t have them for something that DID call for them. Chauffeur took Shopper to the smaller market close by, and she stood in line for them. Then when it came time to pay, the woman she had been talking to behind her, told the cashier she would pay for the green onions! All of us were excited. She was, Shopper was, and the cashier was dumbfounded. It really wasn’t much, monetarily, but the gesture was huge.

Movie Buff has had three movies on so far today, Pollyanna…YES, we ALL weep at the end. EVERY…SINGLE…TIME. And there have been many times over the years. Then we watched The Parent Trap. The old one. And yes, we cry with that one too. We are now at the very end of The Swiss Family Robinson. Seems Movie Buff has a thing for the “Mill’s” family today. Writer wonders IF That Darn Cat will come up next? Or The Moonspinners? Well, she just put on Blackbeard’s Ghost! Maybe pirates are the theme? But That Darn Cat was a close second.

Facebook is interesting in that you can look back on your “memories” from past years. We have found this fascinating. For instance, on the same day for several years, it rained. Or, we did the same things, or the same things happened. Today for instance, the same words were used, “WOW! What a difficult year. Let’s hope next year is better!” Hmmm…

2024 was a trying, difficult year in MANY ways, however, it was also GREAT in many ways. A very good friend just posted the following quote. "Life is amazing. And then it's awful. And then it's amazing again. And in between the amazing and awful it's ordinary and mundane and routine. Breathe in the amazing, hold on through the awful, and relax and exhale during the ordinary. That's just living heartbreaking, soul-healing, amazing, awful, ordinary life. And it's breathtakingly beautiful." ~L.R. Knost So true! Life is a basic roller coaster. None of us in The Hermitage are very fond of roller coasters anymore. We’ve had our share of riding on some very famous ones, and are over it. WAY over it.

And so, when we look back, we are SO thankful and SO blessed! We are focusing on that. The other stuff is just that, stuff. We have seen miracles this year. We have experienced countless blessings. We’ve made it through trials with trust and faith. THAT is what we are going to remember. We are SO thankful that this is the year we retrieved our things from the storage unit and have no longer had that bill hanging over our finances. Financier is VERY thankful for that. Every day we are thankful for that chapter being closed. And thankful for those who helped so much.

Last night Organizer spent time updating the new blank 2025 calendar by writing EVERYTHING that ALL of us in The Hermitage will need to know going into the New Year. Today she proposed a new “chore” chart for The Hermitage. We all agreed that it “should” work well. Some of us smirked. Some winked. But we were given the “eye” and ALL straightened up.

Some of the things she has planned for us are just getting us ALL back on track. With retirement came adjustments. Some of us became slackers. Well, Organizer has said, that is enough of that. Time to get our acts together. And so we will do our best.

Gardener will be getting gardens going, fixing the compost area, and continuing to keep up with things. She needs to get with Lumberjack on the pile of firewood we have recently accrued.

Disciple had a scripture regimen she started in the fall of 1991 with daily scripture reading in the morning. She did that up until January of 2023, when she was challenged to read Jesus the Christ. Yes, she “could” have done both, but didn’t. Now she is out of her routine and needs to get her act back together. So, that is on the list.

Builder has the plans drawn for the “Love Shack” in the backyard. However, she has also been told she ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT call it that…Under ANY circumstances, etc. So, she and Gardener have decided to call it something else, but haven’t come up with any ideas. They are still going to decorate it with hearts and flowers, and everyone will relax in it. If anyone has any ideas for a cute name, let us know. We will get Painter to design and paint a cute hanging sign.

The list for Seamstress includes making a couple of Temple dresses, as well as use up some fabric for other wearing apparel. She also has 6 boxes of old jeans to use for something. She is pondering a long jean jacket.

Quilter will be making table runners, other small quilts, and who knows what else.

Crafter and Painter are going to combine their skills, and get all the wood “PHD’s” (projects half done) out and finish painting them.

There is hope for Scrapbooker and Historian going through photos, memorabilia, etc., and putting books together. This is something that has been on hold for a couple of reasons. One, a lot of the stuff needed was in the “storage” as well as the stamping stuff. NOW it is all here and ready to go.

Organizer is still going through boxes. She went through a box filled with 50 years of Christmas cards. WOW! That was interesting. The furniture, for the most part, is moved. Our backs hurt, and we have bruises, but things are down to mostly boxes. The kitchen is at 90% now. Chef and Baker, as well as Scullery Maid are thankful for that. They can now function at a normal pace. They would still like the ceiling to be finished, the crown molding, and knobs on the upper cabinets. Oh, and the ceiling fan/light over the table. THEN the floor will have to be done. Painter needs to paint the three bedrooms, but that will happen hopefully later this year.

There are small projects to do. Go through the recipes for Chef and Baker. Recipes have been printed off and just shoved in cookbooks. This is unacceptable to Organizer. Something will be done.

A HUGE project is the garage. OH…MY…GOSH!!! That will be tackled an hour at a time until it is done.

Historian is still working on Family Trees. Several of them. She has fun doing that.

Disciple works at the Temple on Thursdays, and is now the Stake Just Serve Specialist. More to find out about that this year. She also works with the 8-11 year old girls twice a month.

The piano is in need of playing, and now that we have all of our music, with a new hymnbook coming soon, that will be something we will enjoy hearing.

We will ALL be walking more, and playing more. Traveler will also be taking a trip, maybe more, and she is more than excited about that!

So, as we sit here, listening to the early fireworks, and close out this year with four hours left, we wish you ALL a very happy new year. May you all be blessed with the things you need. Let us find the joy in life. Let us look for the good in people, and everything that happens. Have faith and trust. Be grateful. Be true. Be humble. Be prayerful. Be happy.