Welcome to the World, Clifford!

Thursday Evening

We are grandparents! Clifford Henry Seisler surprised us all when he made his appearance nearly 3 months early on December 11th, weighing in at 2 lbs 13 oz. It was an exciting time but also a concerning time as Rachel's pregnancy was only 28 weeks along. He's been in the NICU and will be there for a little while longer. It won't be until early March before Rachel and Drew can take him home and introduce him to PJ. Medical science is amazing!

What will Clifford witness in his life and how will the world change over his lifetime? When he's Tammy's and my age the year will be 2089; not far from the turn of the next century.

Tammy and I have mostly stayed close to home since Cliff's arrival. We made the 75-minute drive to see him the day after he was born but then Tammy went back a couple days later and picked up a Covid infection (at the hospital we're assuming) and brought it home to me. She's in the clear now and will be going to see them all tomorrow. I'm on my 11th day with the virus. I'm still very tired and I'm still testing positive as of this morning. I'll bide my time at home working on some stained glass projects while Tammy is away. 

I've had a couple of stained glass projects on the back burner since last spring that I'm finally getting to. Fortunately, those who requested them are patient and understand that it's only my wintertime hobby. I finished the project in the photo today for a guy in St. Paul. 

My inventory of sun-catchers is running low. I think I'll try and use the next month or two to replenish my supply for my Etsy shop. 

We're still adapting to life without Charlie. He would have loved the bonus walks we would have enjoyed together in our warm December weather; a record-breaking December that was 12.5ºf (7ºc) above average. Needless to say, it was a snowless, brown Christmas. And speaking of a brown Christmas: I was out vacuuming up leaves Christmas Eve day! (Thanks for the photo, Katie!) 

New Year's Day

I finally tested negative for Covid this morning after having been positive for 14 days. I'm surprised at how long the virus stayed with me. I thought I would be done with it after a week or less but I was wrong. While I'm now testing negative for Covid, I still have lots of coughing, sneezing, and congestion. I was hoping the vaccine and its boosters would've minimized the virus's effect on me more than they did but who's to say how much more serious my condition may have been without their help? It's time to order more test kits in case we have to do this all over again someday.

I finished two more stained glass sun-catchers over the weekend. I'm waiting for the sun to show itself so I can get some proper photos of them before adding them to my Etsy site. It's been nice working with glass again. I've missed the calmness that settles in when I'm involved in a project while watching murder mysteries from Dateline or 48 Hours or listening to podcasts or audiobooks. 

I finished 2023 with 4223 outdoor miles (6797 km) plus another 2162 miles (3479 km) of indoor training. It's not as many miles as I would've liked but I golfed more than any other year in my life with 62 rounds for a total of 365 miles (587 km) walking the links. I also did more walking this past year with 608 miles (978 km), almost doubling the previous year's total. Plus, Charlie and I walked 145 miles (233 km) together. I will miss my walks with him most of all.

For my Trump-supporting friends, I hope you'll take the time to view this. 

Wishes to everybody for a safe and healthy 2024.

That's all I've got. 

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