The last two weeks has been quite rough for me. I have met a lot of “less nice” people. Strangers, patients and even people I consider friends has surprised me with rudeness out of nowhere. It came to a point where I had to take a step back and “isolate” myself to not be affected by all this negativity. Then Twix was sick on top of it and thankfully he is back to his normal self now.

So then today… it was time for the annual Christmas Parade in Terrell. I am coordinating all the volunteers for EastTex CERT as the county coordinator. We have done this several years now so we have it pretty well nailed down, but some of the volunteers are new and this is their first time. And there are some trickiness to it as well. We first assist the Chamber of Commerce with lineup of the floats. Right before the parade starts we all move out on the route and help Terrell PD with blocking off the roads and safety during the parade. This may not seem like a hard task but there are a lot of people out watching the parade and a lot can happen. We have to be able to change tasks quickly and be very flexible. Thankfully this year went very smooth!

But today was a day when everyone I met was in a good mood and nice. I have had such a good time, from beginning to end! Met so many nice people, dogs, horses and… ducks…

Meet Hazel the duck! It was so soft! Never have I thought of having a duck as a pet but okay…

The event went really smooth on our end. That was simply thanks to all my volunteers today! Y’all made my day. When I say teamwork makes dreamwork… that’s what we have proven today! I couldn’t be more proud over the Kaufman & Van Zandt Team (with some help from other counties, yes) today! And a member even came with Lingonsylt (lingonberry jam) for me! I am over the moon happy!!! I just got that kind of energy kick that I needed so much! Sort of restore faith in humanity!

I am now going to thaw up my very cold body. It was absolutely worth it, as it always is! I will go to bed with a big smile on my face today! Thanks to everyone I met for making my day great!