I was sitting on the couch using my phone to skim through some articles on the internet when I came across one that caught my interest. “Okay, now I know what I have!” I called out to my husband Steven who was out in the kitchen making a sandwich. “I have all the symptoms!”

“What are you talking about? I thought you were feeling better.” he called back.

“I feel better from the cold I’d had but these other symptoms have been with me for a while now.”

Steven walked into the living room, a half of a ham and cheese sandwich in one hand and a glass of water in the other. He placed the glass on the coffee table and sat down next to me.

“What symptoms do you have?” He took a bite of his sandwich.

“I’m always ready for a nap.” I held up my thumb to show him how I was ticking off my symptoms. I held up my pointer finger. “Feeling stressed.” I looked over at him, raising my eyebrows. “That’s a big one for me.”

Steven nodded. “Okay.”

“Not being able to finish simple tasks.” I held up another finger.

“What simple tasks?” he asked as he reached for his glass and took a drink.

“Like unloading the dishwasher.” I shook my head. “I emptied the top rack but then I heard the buzzer going off on the dryer. By the time I folded the load in the dryer I just needed a quick break on the couch before even thinking about finishing the dishwasher.” I pointed to my phone. “That’s when I decided to start Googling my symptoms.”

“So what do you have?”

“I have low E.”

Steven looked confused. “What’s low E?”

“It’s low energy.” I looked over at him. “My energy is SO low that it takes too much time to say energy so they just say E.”

“So how do they say you fix it?” Steven took another bite, leaned back against the cushions and put his feet up on the coffee table.

“Well…” I skimmed the article. “Oh, wait!” I began shaking my head. “That’s not going to happen.”

“What?” Steven was trying to look at my phone.

“They say the best way to fight low E is to exercise.” I was still shaking my head. “I don’t have the energy for that!”

“They might have a point.” Steven tried to reason.

“Nope.” I clicked off my phone. “It’s the same in the beginning of every new year. They want you to join a gym or buy a new piece of exercise equipment.” I tossed the phone on the couch next to me. “Well, they’re not going to fool me!”

“But you have been exhausted lately.” Steven reminded me.

“That’s true but sometimes just knowing what you have makes all the difference in the world.” I leaned back against the cushions and looked up at the ceiling. “Maybe we should order take out tonight.” I turned my head to look over at Steven. “That might help my low E.”

On Christmas Eve I’d come down with a fever, so I put myself to bed and began taking Covid tests. After a few days, and several negative tests later, I felt like I was fighting a cold and could come out of quarantine.

A day later my son Alex and his girlfriend Chloe got sick. But when they took their Covid tests they both came up positive.

I was sitting on the couch listening to their persistent coughs in the other room.

“How are you doing it there?” I called to them.

“Hanging in!” Chloe called back.

“I think what we all need right now is for me to make a big batch of homemade chicken soup!” I grabbed by coat and car keys. “Anyone want anything else while I’m at the store?”

“Maybe some ginger ale.” Alex called. “My throat’s pretty sore.”

“Okay! Be right back!”

Wandering around the grocery store, collecting all the things I would need, I found myself in the soup isle ready to grab a few cartons of chicken stock. Next to the chicken stock I saw a box of chicken bone broth. Pulling both cartons off the shelf I tossed them both into my cart.

Once I was home I opened both containers and began pouring them into a pot. I could see the bone broth had a richer look to it than the stock.

When the chicken was finished cooking and was set aside on a cutting board to cool, I began chopping some carrots and celery.

My husband Steven came into the kitchen. “Already smells good in here!” he said as he walked by.

I held up the carton of bone broth. “Have you ever used this in any the the soups you’ve made?”

Steven looked over. “Sure. I used some beef bone broth in the beef stew I made last week.”

I tossed the empty carton into the trash and picked up the cutting board. Holding it over the pot I began pushing the carrots and celery I’d just chopped into the soup. “Well, this is the first time I’m using it. I hope it tastes good.”

“Of course it will. It also has more protein and minerals than regular stock has.”

Once the soup came to a low simmer I poured in some noodles, wanting them to absorb all the flavors.

“DINNER!” I called once the soup was ready.

Steven came in first. “Where are the kids eating?” He asked as he grabbed a bowl and went over to the pot to serve himself.

I shrugged my shoulders. “I guess they’re going to eat at the dining room table.”

Steven took his filled bowl, went to the drawer to grab a spoon and headed downstairs to watch television. “Good to know, I’ll be eating mine downstairs.”

Chloe and Alex came out of their room.

“Do you want us to wear masks?” Chloe asked as she stood in the doorway.

“You’re fine.” I placed two filled bowls on the dining room table along with some freshly toasted ciabatta bread. “You two eat in here.”

I went over and grabbed another bowl, filled it with soup for myself and headed for the living room.

“Hopefully, a couple of bowls of this will help get you both on the mend before the New Year!” I called over my shoulder.

“I’m feeling better already!” Chloe called.

“What about you, Alex?” I asked.

“I’ll keep you posted.” He said while he stifled a cough. He picked up his spoon and took a tiny sip of soup. “I do have to say this is making my throat feel better.” He took another sip. “Okay, I’m starting to feel some hope here.”

I tucked the last wrapped present under the tree and stood back to admire it all.

That’s when my husband Steven came into the room. He walked up next to me and put his arm around my waist. “You’ve really done a spectacular job again this year.” He said as he looked at the tree with me.

“Thanks. But it’s always around this time that I can’t help but think I’ve forgotten something.” I sighed.

“Hey, you can only do so much.” He reached over and adjusted one of the ornaments.

“I know. It’s finally time to say ready or not Christmas is here.”

“You’ve been making lists for weeks.” He reminded me.

“And yet there’s always something to add!” I sighed again.

“I think you’ve finally gotten to the point where it’s time to stop worrying and just sit back and enjoy all the work you’ve done.”

“You’re right.” I went over to the couch, sat down and put my feet up on the coffee table. Steven came over and sat next to me. “It is nice to just sit here and look at the tree knowing there’s nothing more I need to do.”

Our son Alex came into the room. “Well, I just finished wrapping the presents I got everyone.”

I pointed to our tree. “Are you going to be putting them under the tree?”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “I’ll just keep them in my room until Christmas morning.”

I leaned my head back against the cushions. “You know I saw a post on Facebook that said you shouldn’t tell your kids that Santa gives them the expensive presents.” I looked over at Alex. “Because kids whose parents can’t afford to give expensive gifts think they’ve done something wrong when Santa only gives them something small or even nothing at all.”

Alex looked at me shaking his head. “Don’t worry I’m pretty sure Santa isn’t giving me anything this year.”

I had to laugh. “I’m not talking about you! It’s just that I never thought about that before.”

Steven started to shake his head. “Let me guess?” He patted my knee. “Now you’ll be feeling guilty about the presents Santa gave our boys?”

I tipped my head to the side. “Yeah. A little bit.”

“Don’t worry.” Alex came over and patted my head. “I don’t think any less of you for telling me Santa gave me my Game Boy twenty years ago.”

I had to laugh again. “Thanks.” I looked back over at the tree. “But I do look at what we have and I have to say I’m grateful.”

“Isn’t this the conversation we’re supposed to have on New Year’s Eve?” Alex asked.

“Any day is a good day to be grateful.” I reminded him.

“God bless us, every one.” Steven said.

I looked over at him while shaking my head.

“What?” Steven shrugged his shoulders. “I just thought it was a good time to quote from ‘A Christmas Carol’!”

I swatted him on the arm as I got up from the couch. “I’m going to go start dinner.”

It had been a long day at work. As I unlocked the front door my son Alex came out to greet me.

“How did your day go?” he asked.

I dropped my bags in the foyer and looked over at him. “I think I need a minute to meditate.” I said as I slipped off my coat and tossed it on the nearest chair and headed for my bedroom.

“I think that’s a great idea!” Alex called down the hallway.

“Just doing a little self care!” I called back as I closed my bedroom door. Slipping off my shoes, I took my phone and hit my meditation app. Laying down on the bed and grabbing a soft throw I settled back on my pillows and listened to the sound of the ocean waves rolling onto the beach.

Within seconds I could feel the day’s stress falling away as I slowly took a deep breath in and then exhaled.

It seemed like only seconds later I could hear my bedroom door being slowly opened.

“Everything all right in here?” my husband Steven asked.

“Just finishing up on a quick mediation.” I said as I sat up.

“I think you were sleeping.” Steven laughed.

I looked over at my phone and could see the ten minute meditation had run out. “Seriously?”

“I came in a while ago but you were sound asleep.”

I looked over at the clock and could see how much time had passed. “Wow! I guess I needed a quick power nap.”

Steven laughed again. “I’m pretty sure power naps are supposed to be around twenty minutes. You were in here over an hour.”

“Okay, fine.” I sighed. “I was out cold. But I feel better now.” I tossed the blanket off of me. “I’ll go start dinner now.”

“You don’t have to. I ordered Chinese food. Alex is on his way to pick it up now.”

I stopped and looked at him. “Really?”

“When I was in here earlier it didn’t look like you were going to be in the mood to cook tonight.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Alex and I were both in the mood for Chinese food so we thought we’d do the cooking tonight.”

“That is so awesome.” I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before I headed into the bathroom. “Thank you!”

When I went into the living room Alex was just coming in the front door holding up the bag for me to see. “Dinner’s ready!” He said as he went into the dining room.

I looked into the bag to see what they’d ordered. “Oh, my gosh! You got a ton of food! What were you thinking?”

“Leftovers for your lunch tomorrow.” Steven said as he began to unload the bag.

I looked over to see Alex getting the plates out of the cabinet and grabbing some forks and napkins.

“How’d your meditation go?” He asked as he put the plates on the table and handed me a napkin and fork.

I sat down in my chair and began pulling the lids off the containers. “Best meditation ever!” I said as I began filling my plate with beef lo mein. I looked over at Alex. “If this is what meditation is going to do for me I plan on doing it more often!” I couldn’t help but smile as I handed the container to Steven.

“We’re out of ice cubes!” my son Alex called from the kitchen.

I was grumbling under my breath as I went into the kitchen. “The ice maker not working is driving me nuts!” I sighed as I took the two ice cube trays from the freezer, twisted them to loosen the ice, and dumped them in the ice holder that was in the door of the freezer.

“Thanks!” Alex said as he pressed his glass against the lever and ice began tumbling out.

“When did this turn into my job?” I asked as I went over to the sink and began filling the now empty trays with water.

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “I keep forgetting about it. I just pushed the lever to get ice and nothing came out. I forgot we’re using trays now.”

I slowly walked the two trays back to the freezer and Alex opened the door for me. “Well, I guess it was worse when I was a kid.” I admitted.

“Why? What happened when you were a kid?” Alex asked as he went over to the sink and began filling his glass with water.

I’d spilled some water so I got a paper towel and began wiping it up. “Ice cube makers weren’t in the refrigerator yet.” I tossed the wet paper towel in the garbage. “We had metal ice cube trays stacked in the freezer but there really wasn’t anywhere to store the ice so, once you opened the tray everyone would take a few cubes out and toss the rest of the tray back in the freezer. Ice cubes would spill all over the place.” I shook my head and laughed. “It was just normal to go in the freezer, push a couple of loose cubes out of the way when you were on your way to getting the carton of ice cream.”

“That sounds gross.”

Now it was my turn to shrug my shoulders. “I’m pretty sure that’s why I’d rather not use ice in my drinks.”

Alex looked over at me with a confused look on his face. “I see you use ice in your drinks all the time!”

“That was before.” I corrected him. “When we had an ice maker. No muss no fuss.” I looked over at him and shrugged my shoulders. “Now that I’m the ice maker I think we’re all going to be cutting back on our ice use until everyone starts filling the trays.”

That’s when my husband Steven came into the kitchen. “Hey what’s everyone up to?” he asked as he opened the cabinet and took out a glass.

“I hope you’re not going to be filling your glass with ice.” Alex said.

Steven went over to the refrigerator and placed the glass against the lever to get ice. “Why are we out of ice again?” Ice cubes started tumbling out of the freezer door and landed in his glass. “There’s plenty.” He held up his glass to prove it.

“That’s because I’m the one filling the ice cube trays.” I complained.

Steven walked by and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. “You’re such a cute little ice maker.” He called over his shoulder as he headed to the sink to fill his glass.

I shook my head and laughed.

Alex looked over at me, a questioning look on his face. “So, are you over the ice tray problem?”

“I suppose.” I sighed then laughed. “Because I know neither one of you are going to remember to fill them.”

Alex smiled as he held his glass up. “See? You know us so well!”

When the bag that held our Christmas tree came down from the attic I opened it up and pulled out one of the limbs.

My son Alex’s girlfriend Chloe couldn’t help but laugh. “I think you need a new tree!”

“I know.” I sighed looking at the sad limb that barely had any needles left on it. “We’ve had this tree for over thirty years.” I tossed the limb back in the bag. “We meant to get a new one at the end of last year but I couldn’t find one I liked.”

“Let’s go look this weekend.” she suggested.

I looked over at my husband Steven and shrugged my shoulders. “What do you think?” I asked.

“I think it’s time for a new tree.” he said.

On shopping day we all headed for the nearest department store.

Chloe and I went ahead, wanting to scout out our favorite tree first.

By the time Steven and Alex got to the tree section Chloe and I had already decided we didn’t like any of them.

“Okay, I’m ready to go to the next store.” I said.

“Wait a minute.” Steven said. “What about this one?” He pointed to a tree that had the fullness I liked but was only five feet tall.

“I don’t know…” I sighed.

“I think it’s perfect.” Steven said. “We don’t need a huge tree anymore.”

“I guess.” I looked at the tag that hung on the tree and went to find the box that matched the number.

As I walked around the corner looking for the box the tree was in, Chloe came over to me. “But you don’t like that tree. It’s too small.” she said.

“I know but it’s the only one here that’s even close.”

“Wait, here.” She walked over to Steven as I peeked through the shelves to see what she was going to do.

I couldn’t hear what she was saying but within minutes Steven was calling over to me. “Let’s go look at another store and see if we can find something taller.”

I came around the corner, taking Steven’s outstretched hand and looked over at Chloe who mouthed “You’re welcome.” as she took Alex’s hand as we left the store.

The next store was where we found the perfect tree. A gorgeous seven and a half foot, pre-lit beauty.

Loading it up on the cart Steven pushed it to the check-out and minutes later we were loading it in the van and were headed back home.

Once we were home Steven and Alex began putting it together while Chloe and I began going through the decorations.

The next hour we were all decorating the tree while Christmas carols played in the background.

Once we were done and all standing back to admire our work I couldn’t help but look over at Chloe. “You know, this is the first time in years we’ve all decorated the tree together. It’s usually me doing it by myself.” I gave her a little hug. “It looks like you’ve replaced Alex as my new secret weapon.” I whispered.

We both looked over at Steven and Alex as they were making some final adjustments with the ornaments.

“You’re welcome.” she whispered back.

“Okay, Thanksgiving is over.” I was standing in the middle of the living room, hands on my hips looking around the room. “Who’s helping me get the Christmas decorations down from the attic?”

My husband Steven and our son Alex were laying on the couch, both with their hands on their bellies.

“Seriously?” Steven groaned. “We just finished eating Thanksgiving dinner!”

“I know. But now it’s time to think about Christmas!” I began walking around the house collecting all my pilgrims and pumpkins and putting them on the dining room table. “I’m serious people! We’ve got things to do!”

Alex just groaned again while Steven slowly got up from the couch. “Okay, what do you need?”

I went into the linen closet to get the stick we used to pull down the attic stairs.

“I’ll go up and hand the bins down to you.” I’d already pulled the stairs down and was climbing up. Crawling on my hands and knees I reached the first bin. “Okay, this one is heavy.” I called as I dragged it to the opening and began lowering it down.

Steven grabbed it and took it into the living room while I turned around and crawled over to the next bin.

We repeated this a half a dozen times before Steven looked up at me and asked. “Exactly how many more are coming down?”

I looked over my shoulder and began counting. “Well, we still have the wreaths for outside, the tree and the tree decorations box.” I turned back and smiled at him. “That’s it!”

Steven looked over at the bins stacked in the living room. “Are you planning on decorating the whole house tonight?”

“I doubt it.” I was lowering the wreaths to him.

“Then why are we doing this now?” he cried as he carried the wreaths to the foyer and stacked them on the floor.

“Because I need help getting all this out of the attic.” I called. “Once that part is done I can take my time decorating the house.”

Steven just shook his head as he grabbed more wreaths that I was lowering down.

“I swear you’re almost done!” I called to him.

When he came back I was lowering an empty orange bin to him.

“What’s this for?” he asked.

“I need to put all the Thanksgiving decorations away.” I said as I climbed down the ladder.

Once I was down Steven started to fold the ladder, ready to put it away.

“Wait!” I cried. “Don’t close that yet.”

Steven stopped and looked at me. “Why?”

I pointed to the dining room table where all the pilgrims and pumpkins were stacked. “I need to put these away first.”

Steven sighed. “Do you want me to stand here and hand them up to you when you’re done?”

“You don’t have to.” I picked up a scarecrow and folded him in half so it fit in the bin. “This one will be light. I can get it up there myself.”

“Okay, well I’m going to go get some seconds of your stuffing.”

I watched as he went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator.

“Weren’t you just laying on the couch groaning that you were so full?” I asked.

Steven shrugged his shoulders as he patted his stomach. “What can I say? I worked up an appetite lifting all those bins for you.” Steven looked in the living room where Alex was still on the couch. “You ready for second Thanksgiving?” he asked him.

Alex popped up from the couch. “I’m in!”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “You two are ridiculous.” I said as I snapped the lid closed on the fall bin and headed for the attic.

My son Alex walked into the kitchen and looked at me tossing a clementine up in the air, catching it in one hand and than the other.

“What are you doing?” he asked as he went over to the cabinet and pulled out a loaf of bread.

“Teaching myself to juggle.” I kept tossing it while he went and got the jar of peanut butter.

“You know juggling is done with more then one thing.” He got the jelly from the refrigerator and went over to the silverware drawer to get a knife.

“Very funny.” I tossed but missed and it landed on the floor making a wet squishy sound. “Oops!”

“I’m not eating that now.” Alex warned.

“No worries.” I picked it up and tossed it in the trash before going over to the bowl of clementines we had on the butcher block. “These aren’t in the best of shape anymore. I was going to throw them out but then…” I tossed a new one in the air. “Why not practice with them.”

Alex began making his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. “What made you decide to learn how to juggle?”

“I was reading about how you should keep your brain active by learning new things.” I missed again and heard another splat as it landed on the floor. “Darn it!” Tossing it in the trash I grabbed another one.

“So why are you starting with just one?” He leaned back against the counter top and took a bite of his sandwich.

“Well, if I’m having trouble catching just one it seems ridiculous to move on to more don’t you think?”

Alex put his sandwich on a paper towel then came over to the butcher block and grabbed three clementines.

I stopped tossing mine and watched as he easily started juggling the three.

“You still remember how to do that?” I’d forgotten when he was younger we’d put a juggling kit in his Christmas stocking.

He caught all three and placed them back in the bowl. Shrugging his shoulders. “It’s like riding a bike. Once you know how you never forget.” He went back to eating his sandwich.

I raised my eyebrows. “You mean like that time we went bike shopping for all of us, and when I tried to ride mine I slipped and fell and took out a whole line of bikes?”

Alex started to laugh. “Oh, yeah! I remember that!” He began shaking his head. “What happened?”

“Clearly I forgot how to ride a bike.” I said in a monotone.

“No you didn’t! What happened again?”

“The bike salesman wouldn’t let me try a bike where I could put my foot flat on the ground. He said your leg was supposed to be fully extended on the pedal.” I shook my head still clearly annoyed at the memory. “Once I was done riding it I went to get off and my foot slipped and down I went!”

“Taking the whole line of bikes out with you!” Alex finished.

“I’m sure I taught that salesman a lesson.” I tossed the clementine up in the air again.

“Never let a customer get off a bike near all the other bikes?” Alex laughed.

“Something like that!” I laughed as I caught the clementine and tossed it in the trash.

My husband Steven and our son Alex and I were all sitting at the dining room table eating dinner when Steven stopped in mid-sentence and pointed past me.

“There’s a balloon floating in the woods.” he said.

Both Alex and I turned around to see what he was talking about.

“What balloon?” I asked.

Steven was already out of his chair and headed for the kitchen door.

“Where are you going?”

The blue balloon had lost some of its helium and was drifting out of our woods and headed for our back porch.

Alex and I watched as Steven reached out and caught the ribbon that was attached to it and brought it back in the house and handed it to me.

“Here you go.”

I took the balloon from his outstretched hand. “Um…thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He sat back down and continued his story from where he’d left off.

I sat there holding the balloon with one hand and eating with the other.

“You know you don’t have to keep holding it.” Steven smiled. “You can let it go and it will just float around the room.”

I let it go and I watched as it slowly drifted toward the kitchen.

Once dinner was over and we were all clearing our plates, I walked in the kitchen where the balloon was hovering near the sink. I gently swatted it out of the way and started rinsing the plates before stacking them in the dishwasher.

The balloon had made its way over to the refrigerator and once again I tapped it away to put the leftovers in.

Once the kitchen was cleaned I reached over and grabbed the ribbon attached to the balloon. “Okay, you’re coming with me.” I told it as I went into the living room.

Alex was sitting on the couch and when he looked up and saw me there holding the balloon he began to laugh.

“Taking your balloon for a walk?” he asked as he moved over on the couch to make a space for me to sit.

“I’m just bringing it in here so I can watch it float around the living room while I’m watching my shows tonight.” I let go of the ribbon and watched it drift over the coffee table.

“You really seem to like that balloon.”

“I like what it means.” I smiled. “Your Dad saw it outside and thought I’d like it and went out and got it for me.” I looked over at Alex. “It reminds me of all the times you and your brother would pick a dandelion for me and run into the house all excited to give it to me.”

Alex laughed again. “Dandelions and balloons. Good to know!”

“Hey,” I nudged his arm. “It’s the little things that make me happy.”

My son Alex and I were standing out on our back porch, bundled up in sweatshirts, looking at my potted herb garden.

“Are you going to bring any of them in?” He asked as he pulled off a yellow leaf from my basil plant.

“Nope.” I shook my head. “I’m not making that mistake again.”

Alex looked confused. “What does that mean?”

“You don’t remember the ant problem we had one year in the kitchen, when we lived on Riverside?”

Alex shook his head. “No.”

I pointed through the dining room window at the large pathos plant sitting on a tall pedestal table in the corner of the dining room. “I put that pathos plant out on the deck for the summer when we lived on Riverside. It looked so pretty out there on the table, and it really had a growth spurt while it was outside.” I shook my head. “But when I brought it inside, when it started to get cold out at night, I began to notice little black ants all around the kitchen.”

“So what did you do?” Alex asked as he bent down to get a closer look at the parsley plant.

“First, I couldn’t figure out where they were coming from!”

Alex looked up at me. “But didn’t you just say it was because you’d brought the plant inside?”

“Yes. But I didn’t know that at first.” I sighed. “I spent weeks trying to track down where they were coming in.”

“But they weren’t coming in.”

“Exactly!” I looked over at the bird feeder where a squirrel was hanging upside down, doing pull ups to eat the birdseed. “When I finally followed an ant trail back to the planter and began to pull the plant out of the pot I realized the entire thing had turned into an ant nest!”

“What did you do?”

“What anyone would have done if they’d been me.” I looked over at him and shrugged my shoulders. “I screamed and ran to the kitchen door, opened it, and threw the entire pot outside.”

“Seriously?” Alex started to laugh.

“Yup.” I had to laugh too. “The pot broke into a dozen pieces and ants were scurrying all around the deck.”

“So what happened next?”

“I waited until most of the ants left. Then I went outside, took the plant and shook all the dirt off it’s roots, brought it back into the house, found a new planter to put it in and re-potted it.” I pointed back in the window by the dining room. “And there it is now, looking as beautiful as ever!”

Alex bent down again and looked at the mint plant. “It doesn’t look like any ants are on any of these plants.”

I shook my head again. “Nope. Not worth it. Unless…” I looked over at him. “You’d like to bring them into your room?”

Alex stood up, brushing dirt off his pants. “On the other hand, they seem fine out here.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, that’s what I thought too.”