Back Again - After A Long Hiatus

Once again, I have let time get the best of me. I fully intended to write blog posts each month, but as you can see it’s been a long time since my last update. 

Things are going well in my life. I’m still working from home and still loving my job. People keep asking me when I plan to retire: my response is typically “As long as they keep paying me to work from home, why would I quit?”. I’m the only person I know who can honestly say that the Pandemic was good for them: I moved to working from home, I got a new employer who bought me a new phone, a new computer with two HUGE monitors, and a new desk & chair for my home office, AND I got not one but three raises!  There has been talk recently of having me come in to the office perhaps once a week in order to train the new guys – but so far that has not been implemented. We’re still working out the kinks in the plan. I do think that will only be a one-time only deal, but even if it’s two or three times – that won’t be too bad. At least it’s getting lighter now, so I won’t have to drive in the dark. 

I’ve been playing with paper this weekend. Got myself some new dies for my die-cutting machine, so had to see what I could do with them. I must say, I like the Elephant card – that turned out really well. 

This whole area up here is slowing coming together finally. His pool room is a big hit: it’s nice for him to be able to come upstairs and play a few rounds anytime he’s having a rough day at work. And his big screen TV was excellent for the Super Bowl this year! I’ve also been tidying up my craft area and going through some of the boxes of stuff that used to be in the storage room. 

Mother is still living with us, although she is working on moving to the Pioneer Home finally. It’s quite the process: first you get put “on the list” which just means you’ve filled out some paperwork saying that you want to move in “one day”. When you eventually decide that “one day” could very well be “tomorrow” then you have them move you to the Active List. When they think a room might be coming available soon (which sadly means the current resident will no longer be needing it) they schedule an Assessment appointment, where they ask a lot of very personal questions designed to let them determine the level of care you will need. This tells them what kind of room you’ll be needing. Then, when the room is open, you can move in. Mother is scheduled for her Assessment appointment this week.  

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this. First, I am so ready for her to move out. Taking care of one’s mother (who is just beginning to show signs of dementia) is not easy, to say the least. But she’s my mom, so I don’t want her to leave. But I do want to have my house back. But I feel like I’m a horrible daughter for thinking about “stuff” and sending my mother off to an Old Folks Home. But she’s chosen the Pioneer Home, and all her friends live either right there or within walking distance. But it’s a place you send your elderly off to die (I know, it’s not – but it feels like it sometimes). Ugh…

On a happier note, we are planning a big trip this year: we’re going to Iceland! It’s an Earthwatch Expedition to study the Orca – but we’ll also have about 4 days on our own to explore a bit. I’m thinking we’ll take a self-guided tour where they rent you a car and put you up at little hostels and/or farms along the route. This way, we’ll get to see as much of the country as possible in such a short time. We’ve just now started the process of getting our flights in order. We put our deposit down on the expedition a few months ago and have paperwork to fill out for them. I’m quite excited – it will be my 10^th and his 3^rd.