I awoke in the darkness of dawn this morning. I had slept 9 hours and felt refreshed as I relished the deliciousness of those first few moments of wakefulness under the cozy covers. This past week has been full of interrupted sleep as I played nurse to sick children day and night. I have been exhausted. Last night after baths and cleaning the kitchen and eating a piece of chocolate cake and reading chapter after chapter of the book we are on and kissing little cheeks and saying goodnights, I took my weary body to bed before 9 pm. I journaled a little and read a chapter of my own book before turning off the lamp and immediately falling asleep. What a blessing to have a full night of sleep and wake up refreshed this morning!
Within minutes of waking our littlest one was downstairs chattering away with big, bright, brown eyes and lots of energy. He helped me make the bed and then I slipped into the shower. After my shower I was getting ready for the day and had to smile as I heard humming coming from our oldest daughter and the bangs of pots and pans as she put away the dishes from last night. She has taken it on herself to get up earlier and get the morning work done first thing which has been such a blessing to me.
It felt wonderful to get up to a clean house this morning as there have been many nights that I've gone to bed with dishes still on the counter out of sheer exhaustion this week. And wow, what a week it's been! My dryer quit so I've been hanging clothes up on a drying rack and hangers all week and on sheet washing day the living room was full of chairs with sheets stretched across them to dry. On Monday while my daughter was doing the chicken chores she accidentally closed the door behind her and it latched from the outside and she couldn't get out. I had the washer and the canner going in the house and did not hear her calling until she reached desperation and was yelling loud enough for the entire town to hear. Oh, dear. She was quite shaken up even though it had only been a few minutes and I felt just terrible. I had canning disasters this week that made me want to pull my hair out but when it was all said and done, I had 47 pints of pinto beans, 18 pints of kidney beans, and 27 pints of pumpkin canned and in the pantry. I haven't gotten to my pizza in a can yet or the soups I want to make up to have for easy dinners. Another week. : )
Can you believe it's the last month of the year?! This year has been a very eventful year for us and I'm still not sure how I feel about everything. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around everything that has happened in the last two years. I'm not always sure where we are going or what the future holds, but I do know that I am thankful and very blessed. I'm already looking to the new year with anticipation and reevaluating what has worked this past year and what hasn't and what to change going forward. I am so excited to celebrate Christmas and to finish off this month with all the wonderful joys of the season.
I hope you have a relaxing next few weeks as you prepare for Christmas and enjoy all the simple things around you at this time of year!
Grace