Lull between Holidays

Happy Holidays from Emma & Wendy!

It has been a long semester of school... fingers crossed I will graduate in May 2016. I continue to work at walking, all the while marveling at the skill of my surgeon and the incredible blessing of finding him. I was unable to return to my job since I worked at a shipping company and the extreme package lifting combined with compression weight was not recommended for my new ankle. I am a bit anxious anticipating the finances of this "retirement" & as a student in the new year. Ducks in a row (I hope), I will find a job with my shiny, new degree in hand. My internship assisting in an ESL program went well and allowed me to get a sense of how I would do as a teacher. I got favorable reviews and frankly enjoyed the experience; all positive signs!

We celebrated a small Christmas, managed a group effort on decorating and the paper tree was/is beautiful. I believe any "tree" becomes a magical vision once decorated and the paper tree seems to prove that theory. Christmas is not one of my favorite holidays considering I have worked so many of them and the obligatory consumerism has created a holiday event rather than a meaningful experience. So I have modified my Christmas activities, I shop August to October, we eat out on Christmas Eve at a local Thai restaurant, and we only do a few gifts apiece with lots of chocolate. This seems to be an easier approach that we are all comfortable with, then Christmas Day has become a brunch smorgasbord with quiet music.

This year we were snow-free, but WOW did it rain! Locally, we received ten inches of rain and the Missouri River came up fast. Flooding is underway in areas close to the river. We are a couple of miles uphill, so no flooding here except the small stream running through my basement.This is the Lewis & Clark Museum and Boathouse which I frequently use as a flooding marker. See this post a couple years ago  http://dustoffurthinkin.blogspot.com/2013/06/local-flooding-of-missouri-river.html 
that was shallow flooding... this flood is several feet in swirling depth.
The river isn't slated to crest until Thursday, so I'm thinking that the water will be over the KATY Trail by then. I have heard the levee at West Alton is being breached. I hope everyone has evacuated, cuz this is fast moving, cold, really cold water. So do we believe in global climate change yet? I surely do.