December already

I can't believe it's December already! Thanksgiving has come and gone... and now it is time to countdown until Christmas. I had an enjoyable Christmas with Ross and his family in the Willmar, MN area. We had a lot of good food, played some Catch Phrase, and talked. Ross's cousin recently adopted an 18 month old girl, so she was the focus of attention. She is really cute. I tried to get her to do the "so big" thing, but she wouldn't have it.

I worked the rest of the Thanksgiving weekend (which kept me out of the stores for a good chunk of the shopping madness) and Ross and I worked on some wedding stuff. I also met a friend for supper on Saturday, so I had a successful weekend. I drove back to Two Harbors on Sunday afternoon and arrived back in time to catch a majority of the combined churches Advent service. Each participating church had a choir/ensemble that performed a song, followed by a reading, and a congregational song. Two Harbors has a good number of churches considering it only has about three to four thousand people. The churches are not big, so the ensembles ranged from about 3 to 15 people. A handbell group from a church in Knife River (a neighboring community) also participated--and that was really impressive. It was not the most technically precise of handbell music, but they had only six people and twelve bells, so to hear them play the "Gloria" from "Angels We Have Heard on High" was really neat. I loved it. The service ended with a combined chorus singing Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus." I am so glad that I was able to make it to most of the service. I miss going to church on Sundays when I work and then drive back to Two Harbors--and there is something special about church during Advent. After the service, they served bars, cookies, and coffee in the church basement. I ate some excellent Minnesota bars and sat with some nice older ladies. I felt like an anomoly at the table, but then a middle aged lady joined us, so I didn't feel so out of place. I found out that she is a social worker who works with some kids at one of the schools that I go to for PT. I guess I shouldn't be surprised at how small the world is in Two Harbors...

This week looks like it should be a "normal" one in the clinic. I am hoping to increase my patient load and be more independent. I am learning a lot of good exercises and tricks for knee patients, and I am really enjoying that. I can't believe that I only have three weeks left at Bodies in Balance! I hope to learn a lot in these last weeks and really put things together with better mental organization.