For the first time in 9 years, I have Christmas cards in the mail before Christmas Day! Woo Hoo! Christmas has been a struggle for me since my family was broken up. I know people don’t like to hear about that part, but it is completely normal for women to feel this way after abandonment– even 9 years later. This year is the second year that I’ve felt a bit better around Christmas. Until this year, I mostly only mailed out cards to people who sent them to me– because I felt bad about not returning a card. This year, I got them in the mail BEFORE Christmas.
Somewhere in the hustle and bustle of life, I stopped this tradition (almost a decade ago!). I used to send over 150 cards out each year and received the same number in return. Christmas got rough for the first half decade after BD. I stopped making my handmade cards and crafting all together. I still have not gotten back into crafting. In 2026, I want to get all of my crafting supplies organized. Believe it or not, it is the last hold out of what happened. Still shoved in closets and in baskets on the floor. On that day, I scooped them up and shoved them in places to get them off the floor, and that is pretty much where they have stayed for 9 years. I have tried to sort and straighten, but about 10 minutes in, I become overwhelmed with the mess and stop. When I made the wedding invites, I ordered new things to make them and it all sits on a table in the room with no place to go. <laughter> 2026 is the year that the last hold out gets cleaned up. I’m not going to let the anxiety stop me!
Cards were the yearly communication between friends and I loved it! I loved making cards for everyone and I always loved receiving the letters and hearing about everyone’s year. It’s fun to hear about the amazing accomplishments in everyone’s lives. Now that we have social media, I am able to keep up with quite a few friends on the daily, but not everyone is on social media. It was fun to get back into the tradition this year. Do you send out Christmas cards? If you don’t maybe consider getting back into the tradition. For me, it made this year seem normal again. Maybe next year, my craft area will be straightened out and I’ll actually make cards again.
In other news: we made it to Dollywood for the Christmas lights this year! Yay! I was sad about missing them last year because it’s such a neat place to visit. My favorite show there is the Birds of Prey show. They have Challenger who his a 37 year old Bald Eagle and other birds of prey. Of course, O Holy Night is my favorite Christmas show there at the park. If you have not gone at Christmas, you really should give it a whirl. The Candlelight Carolers sing beautiful hymns once the sun starts to set. It’s a great place to remember the reason for the season – Jesus – and a great place to get the Christmas season kicked off.
I cannot remember if I have ever mentioned the WILD kitten we rescued back in July. We couldn’t find him for the first month. Then, during the second month, we were able to trap him and get him to the vet. Slowly over time, he has accepted the human members of our family. He has wanted nothing to do with any of the dogs. Before we had to put Shadow down, Shadow was the one dog who could get the closest to River. In the last several weeks, River has been coming closer and closer to the huskies. AND…Ammy doesn’t chase him. She just stares. This allows little River to explore and get close. I was able to capture a video with my Oakley glasses and got it uploaded to YouTube. Now to figure out how to resize it to share. I was able to post it below! Last night River was adventurous enough to get close to Ammy and even touch her paw and nose.
This morning before work, however, an altercation ensued. River rubbed all over Ammy and was purring loudly. When Ammy nosed him back, he went crazy. Hissing and swatting like he had been attacked. It might be a while before River decides to touch a husky again.
I like the Oakley Meta Glasses
I am hoping that eventually River won’t be spooked every time one of the dogs moves. We have an appointment to get him neutered on Monday. He’s not going to like his Christmas present! He really is a sweet cat albeit strange. He sleeps in the litter box. It’s a litter robot, so the waste is whisked away, but still……I have never had a cat sleep in a litter box. He’s also a mess and gets litter EVERYWHERE!
The prescription in the Oakley Meta Sunglasses is perfect! I can see clearly now. The transition lenses are awesome, too. I have been wanting to get a prescription pair of sunglasses for a while and once I learned I could get the Oakley Metas with transition lenses AND a prescription, I was sold. I had been wanting to get just regular Oakleys with a prescription already. If you are in the market, Oakley has a 40% off coupon available on its website.
These glasses stay on my face which is amazing. I’ve jumped and turned upside down to test this. The real test will be taking them on a hike or backpacking trip. I have a pair of Ray Ban prescription sunglasses that I can only use for driving. They don’t stay on for anything. When I tried them on at the eye doctor, I felt they stayed on better, but once I started using them in real life– I can’t hike, walk, ride or do much. Even when driving they slide a bit. This is another reason I went with Oakley Meta instead of Ray Ban. I think Oakley makes better glasses and it’s what I was already using in my physical activities.
I’ve learned to use voice commands to capture video and photos. There is also a button you can press to get a photo, as well. Oh how I wish I would have had these on the 71 miles of the AT this year or at Crater Lake! When we are backpacking, I miss a lot of photo opportunities because we simply cannot stop to get a camera or phone out every time we see something amazing. We would never get anywhere!
This weekend, I want to take a short trip up to pilot mountain for a hike to see what I can capture with the glasses. These are going to be phenomenal on the trail or on the water! Both Marty and I have GoPros but we never use them. My GoPro doesn’t do well with the voice commands and trying to find places to mount it is a pain. I will be donating my GoPro in the next few weeks. It’s an older model, about 5 years old. Still works!
The Oakley Meta glasses work perfectly and solve several issues for us– the transition lenses mean you can just leave them on your face. Typically, I end up taking them off when we get in the trees or shade. I have damaged so many sunglasses this way–forgetting they are up on my head and scraping them on branches, etc. I also lost a pair in a waterfall because I forgot they were on my hat, on my head! Boo.
Not having to hold anything to take photos or record videos solves the safety side of things. I watch so many thru hikers on YouTube who hike WHILE video recording with their phones. I ave seen a few people fall. I cannot walk and record with my phone. The glasses solve this– I’m hands free! I can use my trekking poles and record at the same time. I really cannot wait to get video while we backpack along the 100 mile wilderness in July. Won’t it be great to get video climbing Katahdin? Then capturing the climb to the summit?
My Little Red Bike 