Looking Back At 2023 And Ahead To 2024

Belated Happy New Year!

It’s that time of year, when people are reflecting on the past year, and looking ahead to the new one.

 

Last year was a tough year.  I lost my Mam in August, and found out two months later I’m dealing with liver failure myself now.  Not any easy thing to hear, especially after having watched your Mother go through it.

 

And the coming year will be dealing with whatever happens regarding my health.

 

Still, I’m trying to find those hygge moments where I can; I’m trying to find the joy in those little moments.  Despite pain, exhaustion, and general poor health.  And I’ll keep trying to embrace those hygge moments.

 

 

One way I’ve been doing this is with reading.

 

I’ve not been reading as much as is normal to me.  And – despite having been far ahead with it at one point – didn’t make my reading challenge goal.  But I did read several books, and enjoyed most of them a lot, which is the most important thing.  To see what I read this year, go to https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2023/9194956

 

 This year I'm setting a very low goal of just 12 books.  Because it would feel wrong not to set a Goodreads reading challenge goal, but I don't want to try and push myself too hard. 

 

How was your 2023? And do you have any goals for 2024? Or, perhaps, a word for the  year?

Of Blog Posts, Cards, Cuddly Toys, And The Clock

I’m sorry I’ve not been around the blogs lately.  Between struggling with energy levels, health issues being a constant thing I have to deal with, and dealing with the mental/emotional aspects of the past couple of months, I’ve not been very productive.  And our recent heatwave didn't help matters.  I’m trying to get back in to doing things – reading blogs being one of those things – but I’m having a rough time adjusting to how things are now.  I’ve popped by and read posts from time to time, but not commented, and I know I missed several posts.  So… Sorry.  And if there’s anything you spacifically hoped I wouldn’t miss, please tell me about it – or direct me to the post where I can read about it – in the comments section of this post.  Thanks.

 

*~*

 

I got a couple of nice cards from Deanna from Life WithDee.  One after she learned I’d been in hospital, and the other after she learned about my Mam’s death.  Here they are:

 

Thanks, Deanna.

 

*~*

 

Kelly got me a glittery pink unicorn cuddly toy as a get well present when I was in hospital.  Here I am holding it:

 

 

And my Mam brought me this bear holding a heart:

 

It turned out to be the last thing she ever brought any of us, since it was right after that she went in to hospital for the last time.  When we were sorting her stuff after she died, I grabbed the little pink teddy bear that was the last thing I ever brought her (which I got her during one of her recent hospital stays) and the two teddy bears are now sat together on one of the shelves that my cuddly toys are stored on.

 

*~*

 

 

Mam got this clock when I was really young – Maybe about five years old or so? She’s hung in my Mam’s home ever since.  I made it known years ago that when she died I wanted the clock, so now she’s mine.  I thought I’d share  her with you, and let you hear her chime the hour.

 

Yes, I did mean to say “she” and “her” in the previous paragraph.  Mam said she was a Grandmother clock, because she’s a small Grandfather clock, so she’s always been a “she” to us.

 

Anyway, here’s the video of her chiming the hour:

 

A Brief Post About Mam's Funeral

My Mam’s funeral was on August 22nd - three weeks to the day after she died.

 

It was a nice service, and – though there were some people who I wish had been able to come who weren’t able to – I’m pleased with who showed up, and some of those who couldn't make it sent flowers, which was nice.

 

The polebearers were my brothers, Wayne and Carl, my honorary cousin, Natalie, and a family friend who Mam was close to named Lee.  And I followed behind them with Mam’s Goddaughter, Shireen.

 

We had three songs played for Mam:

Elvis Presley – You Are Always On My Mind (because she loved Elvis Presley, and liked that song)

A version of Amazing Grace she’d particularly requested when she learned she was so sick

Dolly Parton – Shine Like The Sun (because she was particularly identifying with that song towards the end)

 

I’d planned on speaking, but in the end couldn’t do it, so had them share the following quote on my behalf:

 

It is a curious thing, the death of a loved one. We all know that our time in this world is limited, and that eventually all of us will end up underneath some sheet, never to wake up. And yet it is always a surprise when it happens to someone we know. It is like walking up the stairs to your bedroom in the dark, and thinking there is one more stair than there is. Your foot falls down, through the air, and there is a sickly moment of dark surprise as you try and readjust the way you thought of things.

~Lemony Snicket

 

Wayne couldn’t bring himself to speak either.  Carl did speak though, and used these two quotes in what he said:

 

Picture a wave in the ocean. You can see it, measure it — its height, the way the sunlight refracts when it passes through. It’s there and you can see it and you know what it is. It’s a wave. And then it crashes on the shore, and it’s gone. But the water is still there. The wave was just a different way for the water to be, for a little while. That’s one conception of death for a Buddhist. The wave returns to the ocean  — where it came from, and where it’s supposed to be.

~The Good Place

 

"If I die," he whispered in the dark, "dinna follow me. The bairns will need ye. Stay for them. I can wait."

~Outlander

 

 

Rest in peace, and goodbye, Mam.

Logan The #Cavapoo Is Confused

Hi everyone.  This is Logan the Cavapoo.

 

I’m so confused; I don’t understand what’s going on.

 

Nana isn’t talking out of the plastic ringing thing almost every day any more.  Not even when I poke it with my nose, or nudge it with my paw, to make it say things.  I never understood how she got in there in the first place, or why she talked out of it instead of being here.  But now I don’t understand why she isn’t hiding in there any more.

 

Also, Mummy went to Nan’s house, but it wasn’t Nana who picked her up or brought her home again.  I know that’s where she went, because she smelled of Nana’s house, and so did the things she brought home with her.  And the things people who weren’t Nana brought to her afterwards.  I did wonder if Nana was hiding in with the things, but she isn’t – I looked.  I mean, if she can fit in the plastic ringing thing, surely she could fit in a bag or basket, right? But, nope.  No Nana.  And why is Mummy bringing some of Nana’s stuff here anyhow? I just don’t understand.

 

I’m so confused!

 

Lots of licks,

Logan