Volunteering

For a while now, I have been spending a few hours each week volunteering at the Lutheran church that I was married at. The pastor has a very busy schedule, and sometimes it can be hard for her to get to all of the things that need to be done. Since my mother-in-law was going to be moving into Morrisburg anyway, I thought that it might be a good way for Sandra to get to see her, if she went with me.
Most of what I do is drafting letters, putting lists into order, and generally assisting with organization. When you are as busy as the pastor is, you have to be able to see your way through.
It feels good to be doing something useful. I've been unemployed for far too long. Pastor Norine tells me that my work has been noticed, and has made her job a lot easier.
I recommend that everyone volunteer at something at least once in their lives, for a couple of weeks at least. It doesn't have to take up all of your time. Just a couple of hours a week can make such a difference. You gain self esteem, and your hours help somebody who is in need.
It really is a shame that we have to mandate that students do volunteer work to get their diplomas. Maybe, once they have done that time though, they will discover the warm feeling that giving of themselves creates, and will continue.
Volunteers are important to so many parts of our society.

More decorations

Well, the tree is up. Sandra got it out of the storage room this afternoon, and we spent some time getting the branches together. We took our time getting the branches nicely spread out. We even decided where it would look best to set it up.
All of this just brings to mind how close it is now to the holiday. Sandra and I have been working at figuring out what to get everyone for Christmas. Naturally, I can't get into that here. My family reads this, after all. The most I can say is that we have opted to go with the practical for the most part.
We actually discussed what each of us would like most, within a set budget. Some things are traditional now. For example, Sandra always gets a cat calendar. It's just a given. Myself, I really need a new pair of moccasins. Or perhaps a book from the For Better or For Worse collection.
But, back to the tree. It is a very full tree, as artificial ones go. Tomorrow, Sandra and I will probably spend the evening getting lights all checked out and put on. Then it's on to the decorations. Being in the window, we will have to make certain that the lights and balls go all the way around, at least at the top. It will add to the decorations visible from the outside of the apartment.
I'm looking forward to seeing the tree all lit up, with the rest of the lights in the apartment turned out. It'll save a lot of power, when you think about it. I can't imagine that the decorations take much more power than the lamps that we use each night.
When the pictures come out, I'll post a few.

My oldest niece is getting set for college. She's decided to go into teaching, and has picked out several colleges and universities to apply to. Still, it is a nerve wracking time. All of the schools she has picked are a fair distance from home. I gather that she is already upset about leaving home, though she doesn't leave for several months.
She will do well enough in school, I think. Eventually, she will even come to accept being away from home. It's a question of adjustment.
I think the best advice I can give Steph is to look at the final result of her education, the profession that she has chosen. She has yet to decide what to do with that education anyway. Does she want to teach in high school, or little kids?
As for leaving home, it will always be here for her. Her aunt and I are only an e-mail away when she needs to talk. There are plenty of holidays, and we do expect her to come home every chance she gets. That's the college tradition. You come home once a month and bring all of your laundry with you.
Change is a hard thing to deal with, and the big changes often start to affect you long before they ever happen.
My mother-in-law's move and my sister-in-law's new place are prime examples.
Take heart, Steph. I am going to be a constant, mostly lacking the energy to be anything else.

Dream big?

There's been some times that I wish life could be a little simpler.
I got to thinking about just how much I need, versus my old idea of a dream home. At one point, I got to realizing that if I had the kitchen I once dreamed about, I'd never be able to keep it clean. Cooking for two doesn't require a gourmet workspace. We don't have people over for meals that often, so is a huge dining room such an essential? Heck, we eat in front of the television every night.
People like to dream big. Maybe we should try dreaming sensible.
I think my dream now is just to own a place of our own, something that keeps us warm, has enough space for the things we need and love, and isn't impossible for us to live in.
Let's try saving the big dreams for the things that matter. Peace in the middle east and at home. An end to hunger and child poverty. Curing diseases that take lives far too early. Big dreams are all well and good, but let's have them for the things that really could make a difference and then act on them.
I think what I'm saying here is that sometimes I let things I've seen done go to my head and want to try to do the same. Maybe we haven't evolved that far from monkeys after all.
It's time to come up with goals and dreams that are about what I need to be happy, not what "society" says I should have to be successful. Why should I let someone else tell me what success is anyway?
I used to be quite happy working in a fast food kitchen. Maybe if I had stuck with it, I'd have realized the full extent of how happy that job could have made me. It may have been lowly on the social pecking order, but it was meaningful from where I sat.

Domestication downside

Sometimes I regret that we have made indoor pets of our girls.

I got up this morning, and both of them were sitting on the dining table staring out the window at a bird feeding on the sidewalk. They looked as if they wanted nothing more than to go out and play for a while. You know that expression two year old children get when you tell them they can play in the snow? That was the look I was seeing.

When we lived in Cardinal, we at least had a balcony. We would open the door, watch the cats sniff the cold air and eventually step out. Then we got the laugh of watching them shake the snow off of their paws. I thought New York cabbies could make quick u-turns! Sometimes Taffy's paws would just barely touch the balcony and she would be back in.

If we had the resources, it would be nice to have a house with a screen porch. In the summer, the cats could lie around in the fresh air, and we wouldn't have to worry about bugs.

I guess that cats, just like humans, occasionally need a taste of nature.