All Souls Day

In the Roman Catholic Church, today is All Souls Day, meaning the day that you remember and pray for loved ones who have passed on.  The day was always bittersweet for me, after the fun of Halloween, and the additional fun in our house of November 1 (which is All Saints Day), which is my sister Nancy's birthday.  I used to feel melancholy, if not sad, because I knew so many people were especially missing someone on November 2.  Of course, as I got a little bit older, I had my own someones to miss.

But this year it seems like it's hitting me even more.  And I realize it's because there are so many souls missing that shouldn't be this time around.  So many family members and beloved friends gone too soon and unnecessarily because of Covid-19.  Even if you are not a praying type, please keep a special thought for them especially today.  I really can't begin to fathom how hard it must be.

On a lighter note, our weekend was quiet but nice.  We got to see some kiddos in their Halloween finery.  Since it was just a neighborhood block kind of thing, we only saw about ten kids, but they all looked adorable - and fierce for those who would shudder at the thought of being adorable!  One little girl was dressed as a veterinarian, and she wanted to be friends with Hamlet, so he was thrilled.  Even better, she was carrying dog treats (as all good veterinarians do, you know).  Even Halloween seemed bittersweet though, since I fear the pandemic may mean the end of trick-or-treating altogether.  At least in our area, there seem to be fewer kids each year.  Which is just too bad.  I mean I know people have their reasons for not wanting their kids to go out, but I always enjoyed seeing the costumes.  

We did have one special Halloween visitor though - a lion pirate!  He looked like he'd had a wee bit too much grog though, as his hat was somewhat askew.

You may recall that Dug the Doodle Dog used to let us dress him up all the time.  Hamlet is not as likely to do so.  However, we have discovered that if we tell Hammy that he is a good boy and make a fuss, he'll keep it on long enough for a photo or two, so here you go.  😊

The cats found the entire enterprise appalling.

Yesterday was a quiet day - I switched over my closet, which never takes that long because frankly, I don't have that much to switch.  Then I put away some things in the kitchen and cleaned up some in there.  The Tim fixed pizza for dinner, which was truly delicious.  I managed to get three new squares on my Cozy Squares of Memory blanket, and I'm gonna have to start knitting other stuff quickly if I want to have more leftovers for it - right know I have about 6 left waiting to be added!

Today I'm headed to CVS to get the second part of my shingles vaccine, and then I need to pay some bills, since Friday was payday.  It always feels good to get the bills paid, but it's stressful having to move things around and recalculating so they can all get something paid on them.  I try to do it early in the day so I'm feeling better by lunchtime ...

I hope all of you had a good weekend.  This will likely be a difficult and/or stressful week even if nothing else is going on in life.  But I keep telling myself that I've known that all along, so not to let myself get overwhelmed by everything if at all possible.  I really hope all of you can do the same.  Take care, and do the best you can.