Welcome 2025!

 

Wishing you happiness and good health in the new year!

Happy Christmas

 

Merry Christmas Eve! I have a question for you.  Do you send out Christmas cards?  Or is it an outdated practice?  I have noticed I receive fewer and fewer cards each year, but still, I send them. I enjoy hand making cards where no two are exactly the same.  Here is one I made this year.  I wish the shading of the moon showed up in the photo.

So, do you send cards?

I stuck to bags and decorative boxes this  year!

This is so me!

Except I don't need gas.  I currently drive an EV.  But utilities and groceries would be helpful!

Have a very merry Christmas, and don't forget, some of us are trying to be jolly despite our grieving the loss of a loved one.  Keep us in your prayers.  And don't forget to visit Happy Tuesday and Random Tuesday Thoughts.

Sunday Synopsis - East of Eden

 

East of Eden by John Steinbeck
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book follows the Trask family and one member of that family in particular, Adam Trask. There is a lot of lead-up to the part of the book where Adam moves from Connecticut to the Salinas Valley in California where he can start anew after facing multiple problems in his life. He and his new wife Cathy, move to California. She gives birth to twins. The boys then become dominant characters as they are quite different from each other. Many have compared them to Cain and Abel from the Bible, but it is VERY loosely connected. In California, Adam meets and befriends the Hamilton family who also have intricate relationships that demonstrate the major themes of the book.

The main theme is good versus evil. Through characters and events Steinbeck explores how man's humanity is flawed, the power of free will over fate, and redemption. The author tackles some big existential issues. The characters are not put in a mold, save one, that is purely good or purely bad. There is only one character who fits solidly in the bad guy mold.

I don't want to spoil the book for anyone because it truly is worth a read. The ending is a little ambiguous, and the author did this purposely to show that redemption isn't always about others forgiving you, rather that you can find redemption for yourself.

I'm surprised I graduated college with a major in English and never had to read this book. It would make for a great literary analysis. I'm glad to try and catch up with reading classics that were not assigned to me. Just because. If you read it, I hope you like it.


View all my reviews

Random Tuesday

 It's been six days since we buried our mother.  I still find it hard to accept.  I'm sure that's "normal."

I typically have a lot of joy this time of year.  Christmas is such a magical season, and I love it.  We did put up a small tree, about as tall as I am.  I have purchased some gifts.  And Christmas will be fun with the young granddaughters, but this Christmas will be vastly different in my heart.

I suppose I should take comfort knowing that mom is made whole again.  No more pain.  No more tangled wires in her brain.  Her ability to speak coherently, her strength, and her memories restored (I do take comfort that she always knew who we were - we being my husband and I, my sister and her husband, and our children).  I hope she is reunited with my father who died suddenly about 20 years ago.  What I wouldn't give to see him again! I hope they are together now.

Thank you for stopping by.

Grief

 In case you stopped by for an update, a funny cartoon, or a photo, please know that I will be back next week.  I am currently planning my mom's funeral and working through our grief as a family.  Thank you for coming by!