Today I am going to share my Patreon post in real time. Usually those posts go up here two weeks after they appear on Patreon; after all, the subscribers over there are paying each month for that early access (and a few other things). But since I’m doing something different for December you’ll be getting December posts in real time. We will resume our normal schedule in January.
It's been one helluva week, a kind of 10-car pile up on the scheduling freeway.
The only "big" thing was Steve's second cataract surgery - which went well. He's delighted with the outcome, back to driving himself around, and generally a big win. I didn't want to have to drive in the dark, cold, and possible rain (the weather cooperated, but you don't trust November weather in Oregon) so we reserved a hotel room across the street from the surgery center. As a bonus I arranged a late checkout, which gave Steve a comfy place to nap between the surgery and post-op check. It was great, however it did mean we were gone from midday Monday to late Tuesday afternoon.
There were a bunch of other things that all happened at once:
There were 2 medical appointments before we left on Monday, the two on Tuesday, two more on Thursday, and one on Friday;
My car battery died, and neither of us has had time to get it replaced;
Steve's dad had a bad fall and ended up in the ER with us keeping up-to-date via text messages from the other side of the country and wondering if we needed to try and get a flight out;
This was the week of a major writing conference which I was attending virtually, except that the streaming on the first day was completely messed up, and I spent several hours trying to watch talks that weren't streaming properly; and,
We learned that a much-admired friend did not recover from surgery and will be taken off life support in the next few hours.
Honestly, it's all a bit overwhelming, and suddenly we are staring down the barrel of the holidays. How did that even happen?
The holidays can be stressful. Family relationships can become even more tangled, expectations may quickly get out of hand, and temptations come at us from all sides: not just food and drink, but emotional temptations of anger, disappointment, and unmet expectations, and the inevitable temptation to overspend.
So, for the month of December I am going to take the expectation of meaningful content off my list. I am going to suspend billing for the month of December, and just post whatever goofy thing I think of for the next month. I will be here, and I hope you all will continue to drop by.
I am going to give myself the gift of time to play, to post things just for fun, to let my inner two-year-old take over the channel for a month, after my last November post on the 27th. I am fortunate that my family by blood are also part of my family of the heart, and I will take time to spend with all of them. I will try to remember all the things for which I am grateful, and to have the grace to be kind and generous with those around me.
I hope you can find ways to relieve some of the pressure from your holidays and enjoy your time with your chosen family.
Happy Holidays!