December 2021

 December was a quiet and fairly warm month.  Dave and I continued working at Honey Baked Ham up until Christmas eve.  We worked long hours every day and saw overtime hours on our paycheck.  Dave got several customer reviews for doing a great job, (if you ever purchase a ham from Honey Baked, there is a survey at the bottom of your receipt, just go online and fill out the short survey giving your opinion of the person who helped you).  The store we worked at would post the certificates on the wall behind the counter.  I would point out to Dave all the "Atta' boys" that he got.  He would just smile, and say, 'Really?".  I have several customers who asked for me, and when the manager and assistant manager would call me upfront, the customer would thank me for doing a great job of helping them place the order, or give them clear directions to find the store.  A couple days before Christmas, a gentleman came into the store and asked for me.  When I went up front to the register, he said, "Hi, I'm ***, and you helped me on the phone.  I want you and the managers to know that you are just too nice to be working here at Christmas time".  I just laughed and thanked him.  He then said, "I also own a bakery, and I wanted to give you this loaf of Chocolate Raspberry Rum bread, freshly baked this morning.  If you want you can share it with the store or take it home.  Also here are 2 of our store's oatmeal white chocolate chip cookies.  Enjoy."  I thanked him and told him I would give the cookies to my husband and pointed out Dave to him.  He told Dave that I was a real keeper, and Dave gave him a thumbs up.  Kyra, (our assistant manager), whispered in my ear, "No customer has ever done this before".  Since that day we already had so many homemade cookies, candies, and treats, I decided to wait a couple of days to share the bread with the crew.  After setting a couple days, the bread was delicious, I wish I could find his bakery to buy more.

On December 9th, we finally got snow, and boy did we ever get snow, (8 inches).  And it snowed for 2 days.  The mountains got 2 1/2 feet.  It really helps our water situation.  Then the temps got warm and it melted, but it started to feel like winter and look like Christmas

Our grandchild, (who was living with us), had an auto accident on the night of the 19th and now was no longer with a car.  So then the grandchild decided to move back in with their mom for a while.  It was been nice and quiet around the house.  Dave and I spent days working at Honey Baked, coming home eating a quick dinner, going to bed, getting up, and going back to work again.  

After finishing up at Honey Baked, the last week of December we got ready for a Caribbean cruise. 

We took our Covid test, (with negative results) on the 28th, and we dropped Opal, (our cat), at the kennel on the 28th.  Packed and left for Miami on the evening of the 29th.  We spent the night at a motel in Miami, boarded the cruise ship at 11:30 AM on the 30th of December, and set sail at 4:00 PM, for 10 days.  The ship normally cruises with 5,000, but for safety, they only allowed 1,500 passengers, and we had to be fully vaccinated, and have a negative Covid test 2 days before sailing. 

New Year's Eve was a formal night.  The whole ship was decorated, and dinner was extravagant.  The partying went on until the wee hours of the morning, but Dave and I didn't last that long, just around midnight we crashed into bed.  We knew that we had plenty ahead of us.  We were on our way to Panama, Costa Rico, Columbia, and Aruba.

What a way to end the year, and after more than 2 years without any cruising this was a great way to start cruising again. 

November 2021

November temps started cooling down, but they were still in the 50's, and still no rain.  We normally get our first snow around the 3rd week of November, but still no snow and the ski resorts, (which usually open on Thanksgiving weekend). turned off their snowmaking machines and decided to wait until Christmas, (it was just too warm, and the little snow they were able to make was melting as fast as they were making it).

Dave and I finished cleaning out the garden the 1st week, we had quite a few carrots, a few turnips, and a few potatoes left in our root bed to be dug up.  We shared a large bag of carrots and gave all the turnips to the neighbors across the street.  They were very grateful, and later the next week as Dave was cleaning up the leaves, their oldest son, (he's 13), came over and asked if he could help.  Dave was very grateful for the help and gave him some money for the help, (which he was very reluctant to take).

The first week of November, I got a call back from Honey Baked Hams, asking if I would come back again for the holidays to take phone orders.  I started back to work on the 9th.  There was pretty much a whole new crew of holiday workers this year.  Our unemployment rate in Utah is so low, (less than 3%), that those who are want to work are already working, and it's very difficult for employers to find help.  There were only 4 returning holiday workers, and the rest were all new hires.

Dave was one of those new hires this year  He worked the front of the store, (cashing, stocking coolers and shelves, and even training other new hires).  He learns so fast, and he's so good with people.  The general manager and he bonded so quickly.  They would go into the cooler to talk about store strategies and where to place products and which employees needed more register help, etc.  The assistant manager really appreciated Dave's help with training the other employees.

When the season was over, and we picked up our last checks, we were asked, "You are both coming back to help us out at Easter time.  Right?"

This year, I managed to finish an advent cross stitch calendar for our great-granddaughter, (Autumn).  On Thanksgiving weekend, Dave and I drove over and gave it to her.  She and her mom were so surprised.  Trevor remembered when I cross-stitched the same one for him 25 years ago, (the first Thanksgiving his mom and dad were married).  Autumn ran over to the living room wall, (where she had a little store-bought advent calendar, took it down and hung up the one I made.  Dave helped me during the final production, he cut and painted the dowel, and helped with the measurements.  I was worried I wouldn't get it finished, but Dave was a great help.

November flew by, and we were so busy with working every day and still trying to get the last of our outside chores done before winter.  We were so exhausted by Thanksgiving.  We just had a quiet day at home alone, (just the 2 of us).  I fixed a small meal, (we got a free turkey breast from Honey Baked, a fixed a couple sides, and we had a small pie.  It was a nice quiet peaceful day.