I made a list of all the things I am grateful for in 2018. Including all the things I planned to accomplish and actually did. It is a very gratifying list.
The first thing I am always grateful for is safe travel wherever and whenever we go.
I am most grateful that Leia came home. She slipped out of the house on November 6th. She's an indoor cat. She is black and stealthy and skittish. It snowed and rained on and off for days while she was gone. The leaf blower guys were here with their machines to scare her further away. I looked under every deck. Checked every drain pipe. Put flyers in mailboxes and on street poles. Walked miles calling her name. Had panic attacks about her suffering in the cold because I was careless with her. And finally, a week later, there were muddy little foot prints on the blanket I put on the step in the garage. The tuna fish had been eaten out of the can on the deck step. Then I heard a tiny sound. At first I thought it was my knee cracking or my stomach gurgling but she meowed again. I found her under the shovels against the inside wall of the garage. She wouldn't come all the way out on her own. She's a skardey-cat like that. So I, as gently as possible, dragged her out and into my arms. I expected her to throw her paws around my neck and cry with joy at being home. Instead she jumped down, ran to her food and water bowls where she drank for a long time then hid under her favorite covers on the corner of her favorite bed for the next 12 hours. I don’t know where she was all week or how she found her way back. She's as bitchy and feral as ever but boy I love seeing that little cat every day!
2018 was lucky for me! I won the Leg Lamp from the movie 'The Christmas Story'. It's kind of a Cleveland thing. It took me 10 years and hundreds of dollars in donations to the food bank at the Learned Owl Book Store holiday raffle but I finally “won” the Leg Lamp! Surprisingly, not everyone thinks it's as great as I do!
I also won a $600 gift card for carpet - which is fantastic because 2019 is the year of flooring for the Mackay's!!!
Dave & I traveled to Italy with 400 of our best work friends. We traveled to Napa & San Francisco with his college rugby friends. The family traveled to and survived our trip to Maine.
I maintained a pretty regular exercise routine and the foods we eat have evolved to mostly vegetables, lean protein and grains. I've become a pretty great vegetable roaster and salad creator. In fact, one of the all-time BEST compliments I've ever gotten was from the girl at the grocery store salad counter. She said, "I know this sounds weird but I really like your cart." (Meaning it was really, really healthy & leafy!!! So yay me!)
I finally went through all the photos in the basement and purged all the extra sets of blurry photos I've kept for 30 years. For Christmas I made photo albums for each kid beginning with their birth, preschool, grammar school, etc. I included their report cards and any awards they received; added their sports pics and a couple highlights from college. The books are simple but it is fun to see their school pictures collected together in one place. I think the kids really appreciated them.
Lastly, I'm grateful for friendships & wine and the laughter that comes with it. It truly is the Secret to Life!!!
Hangin' out in 2019 Friends!
The first thing I am always grateful for is safe travel wherever and whenever we go.
I am most grateful that Leia came home. She slipped out of the house on November 6th. She's an indoor cat. She is black and stealthy and skittish. It snowed and rained on and off for days while she was gone. The leaf blower guys were here with their machines to scare her further away. I looked under every deck. Checked every drain pipe. Put flyers in mailboxes and on street poles. Walked miles calling her name. Had panic attacks about her suffering in the cold because I was careless with her. And finally, a week later, there were muddy little foot prints on the blanket I put on the step in the garage. The tuna fish had been eaten out of the can on the deck step. Then I heard a tiny sound. At first I thought it was my knee cracking or my stomach gurgling but she meowed again. I found her under the shovels against the inside wall of the garage. She wouldn't come all the way out on her own. She's a skardey-cat like that. So I, as gently as possible, dragged her out and into my arms. I expected her to throw her paws around my neck and cry with joy at being home. Instead she jumped down, ran to her food and water bowls where she drank for a long time then hid under her favorite covers on the corner of her favorite bed for the next 12 hours. I don’t know where she was all week or how she found her way back. She's as bitchy and feral as ever but boy I love seeing that little cat every day!
2018 was lucky for me! I won the Leg Lamp from the movie 'The Christmas Story'. It's kind of a Cleveland thing. It took me 10 years and hundreds of dollars in donations to the food bank at the Learned Owl Book Store holiday raffle but I finally “won” the Leg Lamp! Surprisingly, not everyone thinks it's as great as I do!
I also won a $600 gift card for carpet - which is fantastic because 2019 is the year of flooring for the Mackay's!!!
Dave & I traveled to Italy with 400 of our best work friends. We traveled to Napa & San Francisco with his college rugby friends. The family traveled to and survived our trip to Maine.
I maintained a pretty regular exercise routine and the foods we eat have evolved to mostly vegetables, lean protein and grains. I've become a pretty great vegetable roaster and salad creator. In fact, one of the all-time BEST compliments I've ever gotten was from the girl at the grocery store salad counter. She said, "I know this sounds weird but I really like your cart." (Meaning it was really, really healthy & leafy!!! So yay me!)
I finally went through all the photos in the basement and purged all the extra sets of blurry photos I've kept for 30 years. For Christmas I made photo albums for each kid beginning with their birth, preschool, grammar school, etc. I included their report cards and any awards they received; added their sports pics and a couple highlights from college. The books are simple but it is fun to see their school pictures collected together in one place. I think the kids really appreciated them.
Lastly, I'm grateful for friendships & wine and the laughter that comes with it. It truly is the Secret to Life!!!
Hangin' out in 2019 Friends!