Author: hannah.ananas

Reading

I have four books to go before the end of the year. I’m already in the middle of a handful of them, so it seems a very doable task. I have one small book I can probably finish reading in less than an hour’s time. But kind of saving that one for when my man is around and I can’t make noise. Otherwise, I have a few audiobooks in the works. I had two that I was well into when they expired recently, and the hold list is forever long still. So, those won’t work. But I have a few other newer ones happening right now that I think I can get done reasonably. I definitely fell behind twice this year, similarly to last year, and so am rushing at the end of the year. But I believe I can do it with reasonable ease. It can be good to do a nice walk with a book, or even a bike ride with an audiobook these next few days. 36 down, four to finish – I can do this! (And I like doing this, truly!)

God, thank you for this life and for this man. Help us always to grow with each other, as well as to grow in your love with one another. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

Happy Christmas

Merry Christmas! We went to midnight Mass, and I’m exhausted. My man makes fun of me for telling people to have a “Happy Christmas” instead of a “Merry Christmas”. Tonight, however, we ran into someone I know, and she happens to be British. So, she told us, “Happy Christmas,” and I replied in kind, and my man was the odd one out on lingo, which was both ridiculous and awesome. Thank you for that tiny tidbit, God. And thank you for the peppermint butter mints and wassail that were given out after Mass. Happy Birthday. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

Birthday party

Nothing quite like going to a small child’s birthday party and being the only ones who aren’t actual family. And the only ones besides the mom who aren’t Mexican. And we don’t even have any kids of our own yet. But this baby and her big sister feel like they’re part of our family from back when I lived with them for a couple months, so we went to the party across town for a one-year-old. Fortunately, all the family remember us from the last birthday party for the older sister, so it was no biggie today, not even for my man, who didn’t live with any of them, but is just now my future husband, and has thereby absorbed these guys as extended family. 😛

Ridiculous, I know.

Thank you, God, for the love and friendships we have. Keep us all safe, please. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

B-E-D

Today, my best friend came over and is spending the night tonight. She lives in the UK right now (and mostly has since 2009, with a 1.5-year stint in Africa recently), and so is in town visiting family for Christmas, and I get to have her for a day and a half.

After attempting to go to bed a bagillion times, we finally fussed at each other, telling the other to ‘go to bed and stop talking to me’, and rushed away and slammed doors shut, so we couldn’t keep talking to each other. We were getting ready for bed almost four hours ago, and still hadn’t managed it – we could talk forever, if only we had the physical energy for it. But we need sleep, so we had to cut it off and run away quickly before we started yet another conversation.

Thank you, God, for the blessing of C in my life. Can she move to Texas for a while yet, please? In your name, I pray in gratitude and praise. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

A dinner party

Tonight we had a dinnertime gathering at a neighbor’s house. I was telling my mom about it yesterday, and said that we had “a dinner party thing with some neighbors” and that I was going “to pick up Costco pizza” for it. She laughed, and explained that the ideas ‘dinner party’ and ‘Costco pizza’ don’t exactly go together.

I agreed entirely, and clarified what I’d meant and how my use of “thing” was intentional, as a dinner party is a very different event than having Costco pizza together…

And yet, I still wish we could have Costco pizza for our wedding reception food, despite the conflicting styles and expectations of the two things… 😛

Post-a-day 2023

Coming together

Things are, by no means, sorted. However, they are beginning to come together. Little by little – 少しずつ sukoshi zutsu – they are starting to solidify, and possibilities are starting to make sense. As a result, my stressed panic has begun to lessen, and today specifically. We have lots to accomplish, but a big part has been just getting research done and finding certain things that we need. Today, we got a good handful of research done. Sure, there’s still a whole mound of it in waiting, but the first parts can be the hardest, as it all is still so new and unfamiliar. By the end of today’s research, I had a decent handle on several things about which I had previously known next-to-nothing.

So, progress. Today has been good in that sense. Yes, we had some yelling and crying and lots of frustration and ache. And we also had some important and valuable conversations that seem to have accomplished much on their own. We are growing, and we are doing it together. And we aren’t perfect yet. 😛

Thank you, God, for today’s many accomplishments. Keep my man safe, please, and me, too. Help us always to grow together and with you, and through you and each other. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

Christmas

According to Facebook Memories, it seems I watched Christmas Vacation on 19 December… multiple times… though, I have never once planned it that way. Nonetheless, it seems to have happened as an unconscious tradition to watch the film on the same day each year.

Continuing with that, again unintentionally, I even had my yearly father-daughter date with my dad to watch the film over lunch today. So, I kept with the tradition without even knowing it, same as each year up until now.

The big question is, however, now that I know, will I aim to continue it intentionally???

Thank you, God, for this day. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

Boots and belts

Today, for the second time, I went to a warehouse scratch-and-dent sale for this boot company that I love, Tecovas. I was going simply to meet my mom and stepdad and see if he might be able to find a pair of boots – his first pair of western boots, actually – for the upcoming rodeo season. He’s on a committee with us all now, so he needs to have at least one pair for the shifts he works for the committee.

Anyway, I went for them, grabbed some things to keep them available while waiting on them to arrive, since I live much closer, and I also grabbed a few belts for my man’s and for me, since the belts were half the price today that they had been Friday. Eventually, they arrived, and my stepdad liked and bought a very nice pair that I had grabbed for him. (When he tried them on and walked around, my mom and I both were impressed with how nice it made him look as a whole – what we wear truly does make a difference!) I was there an hour before they arrived. Then we three spent about forty minutes working on my stepdad’s boots.

However, it took me another two hours before I left. Why?

Because I asked my man about a pair of men’s loafers.

He got too stressed, so, yet again, I got to wait at this sale while he went to the regular store beer our house to try on boots in the store in order to confirm fits and sizes. And yes, you read that correctly. We did this already on Friday for a couple hours. One benefit, though, was that prices dropped while I was waiting, so we got them all for even less than they already would have been at the already-amazing prices.

Eventually, however, after four hours of being in the store with no bathrooms (because it’s a pop-up shop situation, not a real store), I left with, for the price of one pair of boots new at the store – approximately $300, though they are $600-$700 comparable quality – one pair of loafers, two pair of men’s boots, and five very nice leather belts belts. Not bad. Not bad at all.

I actually had a really great time doing it all, too. I also noticed how much I like to help people. I was consistently either chatting with a waiting person or helping people find what they were seeking or, get this, helping to organize the products. I even went through all the women’s belts to confirm that all but a few were size XS, pulled the few out and set them next to the huge plastic bins, and then adjusted the sign that read S to read XS, and split the XS belts in the two bins evenly. Yes, I pulled out a pen from my bag to write the X on the sign, very similarly to how they were adjusting all the signs around (one-time paper signs, you see). So, anyway, I had a good time helping people. And I also found great satisfaction and delight in getting things for someone that are both useful, solid quality, wanted, and a treat all in one.

Thank you, God, for such a lovely start to the day today, and thank you for the lovely continuation and finish it has had. Thank you for this beautiful life. Please, heal those in need of healing and help them to ask for healing and forgiveness in all ways. Thank you for this love I receive. Please, keep my man safe. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023