A Day of Small Things

 Who dares despise the day of small things...
Zechariah 4:10

I actually kind of like days of small things. Big days, days filled with drama and deadlines, upset and chaos, even of the exciting kind, are the ones I tend to shrink from. Small things are just as important as big ones to my mind. After all, no days filled with big things tend to happen without a lead up of some kind, an incremental build up of small things resulting in the big ones. 

Today is one of our many days of small things. Here are some of our doings in the works:

Charlie knows suitcases bode a dog no good.

• Luggage Forward will be picking up our two 50 lb suitcases today. The next time we'll see them will be on January 5th when we board the Viking Sky in LA! We'd hoped to only need these two bags. If you've followed this blog at all, you've seen the photos of the DH waggling a cart with luggage stacked so high, he could barely peer over it on our previous extended voyages. I really wanted to lessen his load this time, but I think we'll need one more big case to hold all the things that didn't quite make the weight cut-off for these.
• This morning I'm baking a couple of cobblers for our church's fundraiser for the medical mission trip to Jamaica next year. I'm afraid I wimped out and bought a couple of frozen cobblers instead of making them from scratch, but to be honest, I've never been much of a baker, so I think those who end up eating them will be grateful I chose this path

• My trusty treadmill is an important part of all of my days of small things. I'll spend about an hour to an hour and a half spread out in several sessions, on this machine. Herkimer, my dependable big portable O2 concentrator, is with me every step. Last May, I was diagnosed diabetic with an A1C of  7.4. After changing my diet, dropping 30 pounds and committing to daily exercise, I'm at 5.7. Nearly NORMAL! In this one area, at least...
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  Speaking of dietary changes, this morning the DH and I put together a yummy cauliflower and pork sausage crockpot casserole. I've gone pretty completely keto and fortunately Viking offers a low carb option in its menus. The casserole we're cooking will be ready for lunch when we go pick up my mom. We love having her eat with us and spend a leisurely afternoon together. 

Here's my mom with another small thing. It's Albert, our 5 pound poodle. He was a rescue dog after being abandoned by a puppy mill once he aged out of being a good breeder. He knew nothing about being a dog, but Charlie soon helped him learn how to behave in the house and climb stairs and drink from a water bowl. Most especially, Albert has learned to bond with a select few people after years of abuse. One of those people is my mom. He adores her and she returns the favor.

Albert isn't worried about the suitcases like Charlie is. After all, his favorite person, our #2 Daughter will be here to care for both the pups while we're gone. 

I'm so looking forward to our action-packed, thrill-a-minute world cruise that is shining ever more brightly on the horizon! But until the day we head to the ship, I'm relishing the small things that create the quiet joys of our land life. 

What small thing brings you joy?

PS. The DH just reminded me of another small thing we did today. We were able to check in to the Viking Sky online! Our boarding passes have been printed out and for good measure the DH has them stored on his phone too. Redundancy relieves my travel stress!