Almost A New Year

 

Lake Tahoe lies right in those mountains. Not much snow right now as it is all melting here but it is so pretty.

Hi I really hope that everyone has had a wonderful holiday. I know that it all seems a little different. It was for us. Most of our Christmas buying was done online and not in the actual scheme of things. I didn't miss the throng of people, especially the ones that don't wear their masks or social distance. 

 I am in Reno Nevada visiting my daughter in law and my granddaughter. I am staying a little longer this time. I got here December 20th and I am going home January 10th. But not for long. Just a few months. 

Karyn and Matthew have been trying to get me to move out of Texas and so after discussions with all parties except for the boys, but mostly with my insurance and checking to see what the specialists here are rated we decided that I might be happier where there is less disconnect and that my stress level would drop a lot.

 I know that I have posted about how the boys and I communicate and argue. It has just gotten worse and even though I understand that they have stressful jobs and looking after me has added extra stress to their already stress levels.

 But the truth is that I just don't understand some of their ways. I try to respect that but sometimes if I don't communicate the way that they think then I end up upset, they are upset and it just escalates. I had told them several months ago that I was not signing another lease and would be moving. I thought that I would be moving in with Karyn but I don't think that I will be happier with her because she is moving on with her life and the very last thing that I want is for my family to be unhappy. 

 Both of my boys have very stressful jobs. People think that just because they work from home and sit in front of a computer 12 hours a day that they have a cushy job. Karyn also has the same kind of stressful job, just a different department. 

 As I sit here I can hear Courtney also who works from home and I can understand why my kids and daughter in law don't really want to be on computers and phones at the end of the day. I also understand that they cannot afford to make mistakes because it would cause people to lose important benefits that they need so they have to be on task and they have to make sure that they cross their T's and dot their I's.

 Moving to Reno does have their own drawbacks. I will miss my bluebonnets in the early spring. I will miss watching my bats flying out for a night of hunting and then again to watch them at day break flying back to their colonies. There are a lot of things that I will miss but here I will also have a trade off because we have flocks of Geese that live here year around. Plus we have sea gulls and of course I really don't know if they are ravens or crows. I am not sure if crows are really ravens but we have so many who live in all of the trees and they are fun to watch. So I am going to move on and talk about a few other things before I need to get off and rest for a little while.

 I really hope that everyone has had a great Christmas holiday and that by now everyone is rested up and will be ready for the revelry for New Year's Eve. Do anyone have any big plan's (Social Distancing and Masks Required Please)!! (And Thank You).

 We don't have any plans. We will stand out on the balcony and watch the fireworks from the Casino's but other than that we are just staying in and I will make some black eyed peas and cornbread muffins for New Year's Day. That is a Texas tradition. I am not sure what they do for Nevada. When I lived here I just made my Texas black eyed peas. It is supposed to bring Good Luck for the coming year.

 My plane landed just about 7pm. Courtney and I planned to surprise Celeste so she didn't know that I was coming so when she saw me her face just lit up and she flew into my arms yelling, Nanna Nanna are you really here and I said to her that it was really me and she hugged me with all of her little being.

 These are the most precious moments in my life and I hope for others for these children of today will grow so fast into young adults who will be our future. We need to show these little ones today how to cope with life skills that will ensure that they grow into responsibility that will be able to help sustain them and also teach them how to use their skills. From listening, manners and how the small chores that we give to them will help to build character. Just my opinion because I am not a doctor or adviser or anything but I have raised 5 of my own children and helped with nieces and nephews, and friends children.

 We stopped at Denny's for a bite to eat. I was starving. I had a very light lunch before my flight. We chose breakfast and we actually ate !

 The rest of the half week we just did little things to get ready for Santa. I didn't wrap anything but I did fill the stockings and helped with anything else that needed to be done.

I received so many great gifts. The first gift was a  beautiful robe. It is a deep cranberry wine color and so soft and warm.

 Courtney asked me a day or so later what my favorite color was. Ohhh so many colors to choose from and actually they are all my favorite colors. I finally decided on a teal blue/green. Almost aqua. So we got into a discussion on colors.

 Well another gift in the color that I chose was a 2 piece luggage set!

 I also got a Alexa 4th Generation Echo Dot and I love exploring everything that it can do. I love my music app even more lol. I have a lot more things but this trip was my BIG gift and I have had such a great relaxing time. (Well besides Christmas eve and Christmas Day.)

 Also between all that Matt and Courtney devised a plan to surprise me and it was a great surprise. We decided to go out to lunch on Saturday and Courtney drove us slightly out of town and to a truck stop where Matthew was waiting for us to arrive. I am not ashamed to say that I cried because I did!!!! He could only stay for a few hours but it was worth it for us to see him. 

 I still have a lot to say but I am really tired and I have been typing off and on all day so I will say goodbye for now and try to catch up on my blog reading. I will be back a lot sooner than my last post. It was way to long ago but I have had so much on my plate but I will continue to try and use my time a little more differently so I can at least keep up with my friends. You are all very important to me and I am so sorry that I have been so distant.

 Take care of yourself and stay safe... BB