Great Thanksgiving, Planning For Great Yule

 I’ve recovered in the last few days and am feeling much better, so I can actually focus again.

As I’ve written, our Thanksgiving holiday went pretty swimmingly, with Cat managing to feel a sense of mastery, accomplishing her goals and proving to herself that even with her mother gone, she can still enjoy delectable holiday meals. She got a new car which we took for a long drive, and she felt really good about taking care of her transportation needs well into the future without adding anything to her debt load.

Okay! Halloween and Thanksgiving at Heron House went well!

Now it’s time for Yule (Winter Solstice pagan Xmas) and I’ve been really getting into it the last few years of my life. Even during my awful divorce, I made myself decorate because it made me feel better. This year is our first year in a beautiful Victorian and I want to set a precedent of really making a thing of it! How perfect a backdrop is this for such a thing?

So, tomorrow I’m cleaning house (with Tess’s help) and Wednesday I’m going to decorate my own area in the Keeping room by the kitchen. Thursday I hope to pull some of Cat’s old decorations out (with her permission!) to see what can be used around the parlor and salon (what I’m electing to call the rec room.) I’m hoping to get a cut tree for my area, but looking into a large artificial one for the parlor area. If Tess wants to get one of her own for the salon, she can, but her budget is super tight this year.

Tess wants to decorate her room with string lights, and I’m going to put my own purple ones up finally. I have a couple of green LED string lights I’m giving her for that purpose (green is her favorite color.) She was in a much better mood yesterday evening, and I’m hoping making our home nice for the holidays gives her an additional little bit of pep. She’s fighting depression and having to get her meds adjusted, but that’s a part of what she has to deal with. A nice home atmosphere helps, though, I know that from my own issues.

This year, I’m really excited to give her the gift Cat and I went in on together. I want to pull it out from under the tree last, and I’m anticipating her reaction. I don’t think any of her friends or family is in a position to get her what we did, and she needs it so badly! But it will contribute to fun and passing time, not just making a little more money or giving her a way to keep track of things.

This may be the last year I can actually have enough extra in my budget to spoil someone a little, so I want to take advantage of it. Cat feels the same way. Her nest egg has diminished considerably and she’s being put on a strict budget at the end of the year she has to adhere to. But one last holiday to enjoy playing Yule King will be nice.

Lots to do, but I’m looking forward to doing it, which is a very good sign!