Last Friday of the Year!

Today is the last Friday of the year!  We won't have another Friday until next year! 

I had another relatively quiet day, today.  Daughter and I were up till quite late, last night, discussing various things and plans for the future.  She still doesn't know if her job contract will be renewed, next year, and, if so, if there will be a raise.  What she does know is that she needs to let her apartment management know if she will renew her lease by February and the rent is going up by another $105 per month (making her rent $2,300 per month for a 430 square foot studio apartment!)  She has been looking at other apartments in the area, but rents are steep in Berkeley (and the Bay Area in general) and the apartments with lower rents mean a longer commute for her.  Her current apartment is a 10 minute bus ride from her office and within walking distance.  Last night, she was also searching on-line for jobs in her field closer to home and there were one or two possibilities.  So, we had a lot to talk about.  As a result, we went to bed very late and slept till late today.

It rained a little, last night and early this morning.  Then, it drizzled a little bit in the evening and the forecast calls for more rain, tomorrow.  Which means I don't have to water the garden!  But the afternoon was dry.  Cloudy and overcast, but dry.

Today, daughter helped me to replace some burnt out light bulbs in the ceiling light fixtures in the family room.  I took the opportunity to wash the glass globe in the center of the ceiling fan light.  It reminded me on an incident that took place several years ago, when I washed a similar globe and broke it.  I told my mother that I'll need to buy a new globe for that light, and my mother, who was at the very beginning stages of dementia, insisted that she had a replacement!  Then she went looking in her closet and drawers for it!  It didn't matter what I said to the contrary (I knew we didn't have a spare glass globe), she insisted that she had a replacement.  Eventually, she triumphantly produced a stapler and handed it to my daughter who was working on a school project with a friend, saying she knew she had it, she had been a teacher and knew what my daughter needed!  Daughter, then aged about 11, looked very confused (as she wasn't needing a stapler).  But I told her to just accept the stapler so she did.  My poor mother was very happy.  Most days, when I reminisce about this incident, it makes me smile; today, however, it made me cry.

I also spot cleaned the family room area rug where a certain kitty had thrown up partially digested food!  He tends to eat too quickly at times and then throws up!

I called my supervisor in the afternoon to tell her that I was planning to return to the office next week, on Wednesday.  She told me not to stress myself about returning to the office before I was ready and to take my time!  I am both grateful and a little confused!  I thought she was anxious that I should return to the office but maybe I am the only one pressuring myself to do so?  Anyway, I told her I will call her again, next week.  Maybe I'll work from home next week, too?  It will give me a little more time to put away the holiday decorations and tidy up the house before I return to the office.  

In the evening, daughter and I went to the Armenian grocery store to buy a few items, including the 1 lb. of semolina I needed for the love cake (a Sri Lankan specialty cake) we are planning to make tomorrow.   After we came home, I cooked rice and a fish curry with tomatoes and a type of yellow chilies for dinner and did the dishes.

I felt tired afterwards and lay down on the sofa and took a 2 hour nap!  My neighbor across the street called while I was napping and spoke with my daughter. She wanted to give my daughter some Armenian meatballs called kufteh that her mother had made, since she knows my daughter loves them.  So daughter went over and brought home some kufteh, which she will freeze and take back to Berkeley with her. 

Today, I am grateful for:

- Memories
- My daughter's hugs
- The rain we had last night and this morning
- Naps on the sofa
- Neighbor sending over food because she knows daughter likes it
- My supervisor being so flexible about my return to the office

On the To Do list for tomorrow is baking a cake. 

How was your last Friday of the year?  What have you planned for New Year's Eve?