Tom and I have been back in Ohio since the middle of September and it has been a very full fall and Christmas.  Here are just a few of the things that I have done in this full fall.

The end of September was spent preparing for my hip replacement surgery.  Tom and I cleaned the house.  I made sure there were meals in the freezer and tried a few early Christmas cookie recipes.

Our full fall October was hip replacement surgery and recovery.  Not having had surgery like this before, I didn’t know what the recovery would be like.  I was very pleased that I recovered quickly and completely.  But walking and doing strength exercises took a lot of my time.  I am still taking long walks (two to three miles) twice a day and doing a half hour of strengthening exercises.  I feel like I am fully recovered at this point.  I get stiff when I sit too long but that may be age instead of surgery recovery.

In the full fall November I preached three times and did a funeral, so it felt like I was working.  Writing sermons, preparing to preach and putting together Powerpoint presentations takes a lot of time.  I also spent a lot of time with the Jelly Roll Placemats which will be a future blog post.  I ended up making 30 of them which were all given away.

Full fall November led into December.  I sang in the church cantata again, which required several hours of practice every week starting in October.  Christmas cookies were my main priority and, again, will be a future blog post.  When I am baking, I like to put together puzzles.  The puzzles were also a good activity during my hip replacement rehab.  I have finished ten so far this season, which is about one per week.  Getting out Christmas cards and wrapping presents also took some time.

I led an online Bible Study with 25 participants of the One Year Bible.  It has really been fun to have this weekly obligation, but I am glad to be finished with the reading.  Eleven people (including me) finished reading the whole Bible in the one year time period.  Awesome!

And, mixed in to all of that in the full fall, was time spent with Mom and Dad.  Each visit with them is precious.  I don’t know how much more time we will have together.  We love to play dominoes.  We go out to eat.  Tom and I do their shopping.  We spend the day with them at least once a week.  We take drives just to get them out of their little corner of Mansfield.  The time with them is a joy and I am glad to be able to help them at this stage of our lives.

It has been a full fall and busy Christmas season.  I am blessed and life is good.  I am thankful for activities I enjoy and people I enjoy doing them with.