TheBanyanTree: The Eagle has Landed

[Margaret R. Kramer]

Yes, I now have a job.  I’ve landed.  I have a list of people to send thank
you notes to for helping me out so much.  That’s an item on today’s agenda.

Being a landed eagle changes my outlook on everything.  I feel like I count
again.  That the money I’m spending on things is money I’ve earned.  I
should get an email this week from my recruiter about when I’ll start and
exactly where I’ll be working.  Then I can check the bus schedule and get
that all set up.

I put gas in the flower van and my Golf today.  I shouldn’t need to gas up
so often now.

When Joe took the snowblower back to get fixed, he noticed the flower van
didn’t heat up.  I drove it today and it was cold in the van, that’s for
sure.  It definitely needs a new thermostat and I’ll see if I can get one in
the van this week. 

Joe and I had tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches along with a nice
bottle of wine for dinner last night.  I played the CD with the music from
Charlie Brown.  I think that is best Christmas music; jazzy, smart, and yet
. . . Christmassy.  We were buried under flannel sheets and blankets by 9:30
pm, sleeping; we weren’t doing anything else, too tired, I guess.

I forgot to charge my small iPod and I wasn’t able to use it while working
out today.  I’m so dependent on listening to music while sweating, that I
could barely do my workout without it.  I made sure to plug the iPod in when
I got home today so it’s ready to go tomorrow.

There weren’t so many people at the cemetery today, thank goodness.  Someone
took all Ray’s money.  I leave coins on top of Ray’s tombstone whenever I
visit him.  There was quite a pile of it.  I was at the cemetery last week
before it snowed, so those big footsteps in front of his grave weren’t mine.
Oh, well, someone got a couple of dollars for stopping by to see Ray.  I
just started another pile on today’s visit.

On the way out, I noticed on section had wreaths placed on every grave.  To
me, it was obvious someone or an organization had donated wreaths for the
veterans.  Then I read in the paper about Wreaths Across America.   I’m sure
that was who must have done the wreaths.  Joe saw them out there a couple of
days ago when he visited Alice.  That is so nice, because people who didn’t
have wreaths on their graves now have one.

I stopped at Fort Snelling State Park to see if they had any state park
calendars, but they didn’t.  But I saw lots of cross country skiing tracks
and a woman skating on a small pond in the park.  That was worth the trip.
Ray and I enjoyed cross country skiing.  Maybe I’ll try it again this year.

After thank you notes, I’ll get going on my Christmas cards.  No letter, no
picture of Ray, just my signature, and maybe a note if I feel like writing
one.  I’m keeping it simple this year.

 I got a chicken in the crockpot and I baked bread earlier today so those
smells are drifting through the house.

We’re in a winter weather advisory, which means we’ll get about 2-4 inches
of snow over night.  I don’t mind.  It’s December and a white Christmas
suits me just fine.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net
margaret.kramer at polarispublications.com
www.polarispublications.com
www.linkedin.com/in/margaretkramer

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is
softer and more beautiful.  
-Norman Vincent Peale