Today we are experiencing the first day that truly feels like autumn around here. I didn't take a coat with me for our drive out of town this morning and when we stopped along the way to fill the car with gasoline I nearly froze standing outside at the pump. Brrrrr....the wind was winter cold and continues to be as the day goes on.
Apart from the cold wind though it was a lovely Sunday for a drive out of the city. Although the scenery is changing from ripe crops and green trees and plants to the browns and pale golds of harvest and more barren tree limbs with piles of dead leaves alongside the highway, it was still a pretty sight with the lovely blue sky above. I enjoyed driving today in both directions.
The church service went very well, but I got a bit of a shock when my husband informed me that this very well may be the last service he takes for anyone. Preaching and teaching he will still do occasionally, but taking the entire service is no longer comfortable for him, he is getting stressed out by it....well no guff Buff, after the neck pain and misery he experienced all day yesterday that was brought on mostly by stress. And how do I know stress played such a huge factor? It is because once the service got going I could see the change in him...the positive, "Oh gosh the pain in my head is finally gone!" change in him. I am so impressed he has finally been able to admit that since he doesn't take services regularly any more he feels uncomfortable and not in control the odd time that he agrees to do it. In fact he also said that after yesterday he has a new feeling of freedom to say "no" to a few invitations to teach. I am so proud of him. It was a big admission for him to make out loud. Bless his heart.
Coffee hour was a lot of fun after church; so many old friends and acquaintances to meet and greet. The friends I sat with are long time besties and the way they talk to each other made me feel like I was at a comedy show. SO MUCH FUN!!!!
One of those dear friends had set up a reservation for us at a local restaurant for lunch as well. Great conversation, delicious food and the restaurant wasn't overly crowded so we were able to talk above other "people and music noise" in our regular "inside voices".
After lunch we went over to Nan's house where she had an offering to make to my dear husband: several of Cee's jackets he had worn before he passed away. What an honour for my husband to receive these beautiful coats and outdoor vests at a time when the old coats he has been wearing for years are as worn out as it is possible to be. Every time he wears one it will remind him of our wonderful friend Cee and it will certainly keep his memory alive for us both. What a lovely, thoughtful gift from Nan. Bless her heart. It isn't easy finally passing on Cee's clothing to others. She is very brave these days despite the ongoing grief. I am learning a great deal about grieving processes from Nan and from my husband. It is good for me as I tend to allow practicality to overcome my emotions sometimes and I am wondering these days what kind of griefs I have tucked away, repressed, tamped down and waiting to emerge to be dealt with at last in my life.
Tonight there is a murder mystery series on tv that we will watch together, along with last night's Sumo highlights. The likely winner is pretty obvious at this point, but you just never know with sumo. Sometimes what is seemingly obvious is completely overturned in the last two days of the competition. Supper will be light after our large lunches of fish and chips with salad for my husband and my huge, yummy taco salad. The amount of taco chips in the salad was minimal, so just perfect for my carb count.
Tomorrow will be a busy day....my husband will have his usual Monday Zoom meeting with his retired pastor friends and then we have to call the car dealership for the winter check up on the car and to purchase studded tires for the winter. Then we have to contact our tv service provider as all the theme packs are changing as of tomorrow and we want to get things changed over immediately in case I have to revamp taping schedules for the handful of programmes we watch each day/week. Lots of changes lately with that service provider and we suspect they may be struggling to continue to carry the channels we like due to the number of people able to use the new streaming services. It will be interesting to see how it goes this coming year. Our complex has an agreement with that provider that gives us a price discount for our monthly tv bill, so we are unable to utilize streaming services...and we don't want to as everyone we know who uses them has no end of issues with them blipping out every so often and creating problems in the midst of being watched. Whatever....maybe when we move out of here...she says in her never ending Pollyanna style of faith that one of these days we WILL actually move.....we will be able to modernize our tv viewing.
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