Pikku Joulu 2023

 

November Journaling

1.     Had blood work done today, then chiro, nap, dinner, and prayer meeting.

2.     Going to Hamilton with my mom to help out with the grandkids. Super early morning so I can drop off the grandkids at school.

3.     Going to attempt to buy very few groceries this month, to save money. I have prepped several meals and we have a full freezer, fridge, and pantry to work with. Prepped some regular and vegan chili.

4.     Baking for tomorrow at church. Also made chicken pot pie for dinner.

5.     Church. Cobb salad for lunch.

6.     Writing my lesson on the last half of Ephesians 6 on the armor of God. Shrimp fried rice for dinner.

7.     Attending a doctor’s appointment with my mom. No nap today. She thanked me with flowers. Homemade turkey burgers for dinner.

8.     Scrambling to finish my lesson.

9.     The grandkids and our eldest daughter are coming for two nights since they have a PA day tomorrow. I made homemade chicken strips and corn on the cob.

10. Doing crafts with the grandkids.

11. Remembrance Day.

12. Church.

13. Writing. Got a second opinion for my mom about dental work, so now she will switch to a dentist who goes to our church. The other one suggested full lower dentures because she lost a tooth. Too extreme. She has kept her teeth for 83 years.

14. Finishing my summary of Ephesians.

15. Finished, printing it at church. Prayer meeting. The three Mexican men who worked with John for the summer and rebuilt our deck are returning home this week. We’re going to miss them. One in particular, Jhosmar, has been very involved at church and hopes to return to Canada with his family.

16. Presented my summary. They do appreciate all the work, but I’m happy to take a break from all the preparation and do a book that is already done; Exodus. It’s also one of my favourites.

17. Taking my mom to the dentist. Working on my podcast. I’m in the book of Joshua, chapter five.

18. Christmas shopping. My insulin levels which had been three times normal, then two times normal, are now normal. Yay! Anything to avoid getting diabetes.

19. Church. This evening our pastor preached about the gender ideology issues.

20. Finished my lesson for this week. So much easier to rework messages I already sweated over.

21. Dentist for me, then my mom. I’m switching dentists on my next visit after 30 years, to one who goes to our church.

22. Last night I processed 10 pounds of potatoes into three bags of mashed potatoes for the freezer, a large serving of hassleback potatoes, and homemade hashbrowns. Today I’ll use the rest to try to make gnocchi for the first time. Also writing. Frozen sheet pan meal for dinner. Church tonight, my husband is leading it.

23. Bible study, beginning Exodus. Only two chapters, but I made a fill-in-the-blanks page for each chapter to guide their reading and aid comprehension.

24. Baking and shopping for the weekend in London.

25. Drove to London for Pikku Joulu (little Christmas) with the Finnish side of the family. All of the husbands are non-Finns, or outsiders as my husband calls them. A lack of dark sour rye bread caused this one to be known as the Great Potato Sandwich Famine. My daughter will search for a recipe and make sure this won’t happen next year.

26. Home. Missed church today with our youth leader and his wife becoming members.

27. Prepped my lesson for this Thursday, and the fill-in-the-blanks worksheets. It will be online only this week since I’ll be in Hamilton again, helping out.

28. Decorated for Christmas, the housekeeper was here to clean up the mess from the garland bits.

29. Made Finnish buttermilk cake. Working on my podcast. I haven’t posted in a month because of my class, but I should be able to do more now because of the change in format. Prayer meeting.

30. Went to Hamilton to help out because the grandkids’ school is changing locations and they need two days to make the move. Did paper mache with them. They love crafts. Made ribs and hassleback potatoes for dinner.