Saturday, January 4, 2020, MN

Happy New Year! This was my first year ever of spending New Year’s Eve alone - that is hard to imagine considering that it represents 71 years of celebrating in a variety of ways - many with family or friends but some quietly at home with Mike. I spent a good part of the evening on the phone with Tom and the calendar changed to 2020 while I slept soundly in bed.

Good news this week! Tom is coming for a 2-week visit at the end of the month. I only hope that the weather does not turn severe during that time.  It has been pretty mild so far - the last few weeks have been in the upper 30s and we have even seen some days in the 40s. Now, I hope it stays around.

The last week has been one of being at the store doing training modules for at least 4 hours every day. I was supposed to complete 24 hours worth and was about 98 percent finished (mostly due to some confusion and technical issues. Unfortunately, when I went to my class this morning, I learned that they have to be complete before I can move on - so, back to the store for a few hours this week and then to Coon Rapids next Saturday to take the class that I missed this morning. No problem since the deadline is still a week away.