Here are some lists that came to mind about where I’m at on this lovely Thursday. Items are presented in no particular order.
Things that made me cry today:
Thinking about how sad I’ll be on New Year’s to leave Kellie behind in 2026
Making a meal plan for the weekend
Looking at my budget
Seeing video and pictures of Margot and her family’s new dog
Remembering how happy Kellie and I were to dress Coco & Ivy up last Halloween
Things that almost made me cry today:
Buying groceries for the meal plan
Buying Halloween costumes for the girls
Changing the batteries in my wireless mouse
Thinking about plans for Kellie’s Quaker memorial service
Having to make and eat lunch
Having to make and eat
supper
Having to do dishes
Having to sweep the floor
Having to throw away trash
Stopping Coco from eating poisonous berries in the yard (several times)
Catching Coco chewing on a metal spring (for the second time in two days)
Trying to decide on emergency food and water supplies to buy before the power grid and supply lines shut down and giving up on all that once I realized that I’d also need a plan for dog food.
Catching Coco on the dining room table eating the remnants of my Cajun rice and andouille sausage.
Things that made me happy today:
Sleeping until 7:30am
The fact that Margot and her family got an incredible dog
The sound of my wind chimes through the window
Coco and Ivy being themselves
Turning off the furnace and on the central air
Planning some future Kent State stuff
Texts and Marco Polo messages from special people
Having a slightly less-cluttered office
How excited Coco gets when I’m done working for the day
The fall leaves
Being able to help students
Being able to help counseling clients
Finding a 12-pack of my favorite peach tea in the mudroom fridge that I have no recollection of buying
Someone offering to play board games with me over the holidays so I’ll be less sad
Getting the incredible food storage containers I Kickstarted back in early June
I keep wanting to tell Kellie a story about a conversation I had, and wanting to remind her to order some pantry staple we usually have on hand, and wanting to give her a kiss. But she’s not here, and sometimes there’s nothing I can do to feel even a little bit okay with that. But we take the good with the bad around here. Today, the good outweighed the bad by a lot, and I still cried multiple times. That part is no fun.
Talk to you later,
Matt