All the leaves are brown...

 ... and the sky is grey.... Only it is blue today. But that is coming, I am sure, and we have had gloomy days more.

I seem to be on a 3 month rhythm, maybe that's OK...

Old Business:

• Memorabilia is put away. 017 hit me with a BIG stack of homework too!
• Ordered some prints when Walgreen's had a sale, so now those need to go
• Been reading my book over breakfast. Never more than a couple of pages, but hey, it is progress
• Trail Guide? Oof, trying...
• Magazines, I've been trying to read at least 1 page per day, or article
• Devotionals - caught up, and do those before my book at breakfast
• Was able to hire 1 therapist in Wabash - S! Still nothing for Marion. But this is totally exciting! She is wonderful, I have known her for years. And wow, does it really change the way I think about things.
• We've moved into our new space with Hoosier Chiropractic.  It is so beautiful! They did such a wonderful job remodeling it, and then S did such a beautiful job setting it up.
• Gadget has lights and wall cabinets hung. And brought me a little fridge.
• Got the big fall push of planting done, including about 300 bulbs!
• Have turned in my resignation at Church, but they are holding onto it, just in case things with COVID and massage don't go so well. It's getting bad around here.
• S is so much better at social media than me!
• 019 is back at university and 017 is a senior - holy cow!
• Landscaping is "done" around the deck. Just ask the boys, I'm never really done.
• Gadget and I did a Labor Day camping trip by ourselves. Took the quads all over. Had so much fun.

New Business

• Working on 017's closet, because as of last week, we are DONE moving back into the garage. Just picked up the unit we want to use from Lowe's.
• Gadget broke it off with me. After almost 10 years. I am beyond heartbroken and confused.
• 017's girlfriend broke it off with him too. After 3 years. He is hurting too. Not a lot of laughter going on around here right now.
• 017 is managing to juggle Wendy's and schoolwork fairly well. I usually end up staying up too late so I can make sure he's home. I usually pass out on the couch.
• Have just really been evaluating my life, what I'm doing, where I am, where I think I'm headed, my priorities, everything. This has been such a kick in the gut.
• Finished a mini album for my sister in law and brother.
• Finished a scrapbook page, trying to get back to it.
• Not looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas, it is just going to be so hard without him.

Hot time, summer in the city...

...back of my neck getting dirty and gritty! Yes, it has been so hot lately. And dry.  We finally got about 3 days of rain.  It has been so good.  So yesterday in between the showers, I got my hands dirty and pulled weeds. It is so hard to do from the clay when it is dry.

I can't believe it has been 3 months since I posted anything.  Big news...

Old Business:

• Small pile of memorabilia
• Reading - slow, but consistent. I can be happy with that.
• Trail Guide - same, slow but doing it.
• Magazines - same.
• Devotionals - all over the place!
• Have now found 3 therapists, what the heck!  LOL 2 in Wabash, 1 in Marion. So there will be more on that, but not until it is official!
• Interior done! Need to hang lights and wall cabinets, but soon!
• Heart and Soul going at 50-75%, same as restaurant
• Water softener is IN!
• Weeding, weeding, weeding. But it does get better each year
• Church work holding steady. We have in-person services now, but no singing or bulletin
• Social media back to being a flop. Hoping one of the co-workers will be able to help
• 016 helped out so much! He weeded, he dug holes, he painted, he cleaned, he wrote, cut up cards, posted, all sorts of things! And then he got a job at Wendy's. And now I am sad!
• Had to quarantine after test. Procedure went well. 2 week recovery
• Delivered all the Mother's Day flowers. Everyone loved them.
• Still have flowers to plant
• Took a vacation over July 4. Gadget and I went canoeing and camping with 2 other couples. Don't worry, we were able to maintain plenty of distance and be smart about it.
• 019 got an internship at the Children's Museum, and has really enjoyed that.
• Their grampa passed away in early May, so they've been busy helping their dad clean the house.
• 016 had prom this past Friday with his girlfriend

New Business:

• Added additional bracing, and stained, old sections of the fence to lay down as a deck extension of my patio. Really like this. Had to buy a pressure washer. Something else 016 did. It looks great! Now to landscape around it.
• Just keep on keeping on. Trying to pace, and flow, and just be. It seems so counter-cultural. Yet so many agree with me. So how do we make it the norm?
• Waiting on estimate to "fix" bedroom closets
• 016 has drawn out what he wants for his, I think he and I can do together.
• Waiting to get moved back into garage for both of those. Need room to put things.

January 2018 Flickr Upload

Here are my favorites....

Not sure what they were doing, but always love to see them together!

Shoveling snow...

Solo contest...

Oh where, oh where has my little spring gone...

OK, maybe not quite the right words, but I think you get what I'm trying to say. It's May, ad it snowed.  Now it is just rainy and cold. My magnolia tree looks horrible, my Japanese Red Maple looks sad, and my dwarf lilacs look, grumpy!

Old Business:

• Memorabilia filed.
• Reading, slowed down. Makes me sad.
• Trail Guide, slowed down. Makes me sad.
• Magazines - mostly the same. Doing OK.
• Devotionals - goes back and forth. Not good.
• Still having trouble finding a therapist who would like to come work for me. What is it? Sniffing armpits...did I forget to shower???
• Interior of garage is mostly done, just have utility area to do. Outside has had HUGE improvements.
• Heart and Soul started back up 14 May. Slowly. Reduced client load, extra cleaning work.
• Water softener still not there.
• Got the alley flowerbeds cleaned up. Been picking at other sections, but probably need to make a deliberate go around. Have come up with an idea to use old gallon jugs cut down into strips to make root barriers for the edges.  I'll let you know how that goes. Most of what I get is creeping charlie and grass.
• Did yet another newsletter here at home.  Getting good at it. Hours at church picking back up a little bit.
• Have finally gotten some financial relief, but not nearly as much as what I have lost.
• Still staying in contact with family better.
• Have gotten a little bit better with social media for the business. Spurts.
• Have been trying to still help those who can't go out.
• Got a massage - wow! that was great!
• Started painting my grandfather's chairs. Then it got really humid. And then they moved everything around in the garage. Sigh. Need to do second coat.

New Business:

• Going to try and train 016 to do some of the business work for me.
• Still trying to view this as a sabbatical and a schedule reset. Enough with the hamster wheel.
• Go in today to get COVID test. Have a medical procedure next Friday that dictates one. Should be curious to see.
• Have been working on planters for Mother's Day, since we couldn't do our usual flowers at church.
• Plant the flowers I bought off of the sad plant table.

December 2017 Flickr Upload

My faves...

016 Shoveling the driveway...

016 Getting his Letterman's jacket

014 Getting his numerals

My dad

016 practicing driving

016 and 014 being goofy

014 being goofy - we were assembling his desk chair and he said "look, it's a booster seat!"

All done...

Back to Winter? I'm getting whiplash....

So, after almost 2 weeks of near-60 degree days, we've plummeted!  Last night it was in the 20s!  What the heck!  I had to go out in my winter gear and cover up my lilacs. I'm worried about the peonies, but hope they will be hardy! Next week is supposed to be better.

Old Business:

• Small stack of memorabilia needs filed.
• Been reading 2-3x a week, so that is getting there.
• Been studying the Trail Guide 2ish times a week, so that has been good too. 016 is a good body model for me!
• Been good at reading magazines, at least an article a day. That is very good.
• Still not getting anything serious on the new hire. Suggestions??
• No more movement on the garage.
• Getting a LO done every week, pretty much. That's been fun!
• Pace has been better!  LOL Now I have to be careful that I'm not getting sucked into black holes that are not worthwhile.
• Directory updates are done, printed out, and 016 helped me fold and staple them. Will have to mail them out this year, but that is OK. Guess it is a good thing I saved all of those old shipping envelopes!
• Heart and Soul still on hold. At least until 1 May. But, I'm not really expecting to be able to go back to work then. It will depend on the governor.  
• Water softener still needs hooked up. Gadget has not been able to get down here to do it.
• Flowerbed look so much better!  Haven't gotten along the alley yet, but soon! I've ordered new flowers, but not sure if they will be able to fulfill the orders. Garden Centers are closed. But I'd like to hold off on the alley until I can start planting more back there...
• Was able to get the newsletter done and mailed out to everyone!
• Relief bill has been frustrating! No one know what's going on!

New Business:

• Keep up with family
• Keep up with blog writing and posting
• Keep searching for ways I can help people - my neighbor and one couple I go to church with have needed grocery shopping
• Not focus so much on myself
• Looking forward to sunshine, getting massages (myself) again, and of course giving massages
• Keep working on leads from the Wabash salon
• Maybe work on house project list
• Keep hoping that all keep peace and calm in their hearts. And that we come together and forget the political craziness that all of this has stirred up. Love to all of you!

Spring has Sprung!

Well, somehow I missed February and March.  So much to catch you up on! Gadget and I went on our first ever cruise early February.  So much fun! We are going again next February!  Can't wait!!!

Old Business:

• Still putting away memorabilia as it comes in, more or less.
• Finished a book! Trying to weave that into being regular. I had started another book over the cruise, and it is a fun one, so maybe that will be easier.
• Not studying so well.  I plan the days, and then I let things happen.  I need to be more firm in my boundaries.  Not good at the blogs lately either.
• Reading magazines, not so bad, but ugh! such a backlog!
• Worked on service entrances, and that is mostly planned out. Have some of the materials. A lot of work has been done on the garage, we even have some new walls up! Garage doors are in. Bit of an issue with the existing one.  It was a 10' instead of 9' opening, so I had to either spend an extra $1000 to get a custom sized door, or just have him frame up a 1'.  Went with that. Down the road, it will save more money. Pull down ladder is installed.
• Leads on possible therapists keep not being really anything.  Getting discouraged and frustrated, but not going to give up!
• Have been kinda good at scrapping.  Have another page that I need to finish. Averaging every week or so.
• Still trying to figure out how to slow pace enough that I can breathe, but not so slow I don't have money.
• Still need to do background checks at church, but have the legwork almost done.
• Closer to better flow for household chores.

New Business:

• COVID-19.  Where do I start. Oh my goodness.  There were a few rumblings about it on the cruise, but washing hands is pretty much life on a ship.  But now, wow. What a change.  It has almost completely taken over in the 8 weeks since then.
• Heart and Soul is on pause during this time. We shut down last Friday. Hard decision for sure, from both sides of the argument. However, not sitting around twiddling my thumbs.
• Water softener needs replaced.  It went kaput probably some time ago, but didn't make the connection until January. Waiting on Gadget to be able to come down here (travel ban in both states) to redo the plumbing before we have it installed. Which, I really wanted to redo the plumbing over there anyway so that we could get wallboard up, so I guess no biggie! just have to be patient.
• Trying to take this breather as just that. I've been weeding and tidying up the flowerbeds.  That has felt so good!  Great to be outside, and great to get a head start with it.  I'm usually not out there doing that yet. But that will free up more time later to work.  And, I figure every weed I pull now, and bare spot I fill in is at least 10 more in the summer that I don't have to worry about! So it's sort of like weeding ROI!  LOL
• Trying to also still work on the business, there is online marketing to write and schedule, and settings on MassageBook to get ironed out if I want to do memberships, etc.
• Will still do some church work from home. I did manage to get stuff I need out on Google Drive before the travel ban, so tomorrow is newsletter day.
• Probably need to fill out some hardship applications for utilities, etc. Will need to check into them and see if I'm eligible.
• Also working on refinancing the house.
• Waiting to hear what they do with the relief bill and if I'll be eligible for unemployment.  That will also drive the points above.
• Wanting to just enjoy 016 and cooking more from scratch and maybe just being a bit. After weeding I even had a beer outside. It was still so nice. It's raining then.
• Maxine the neighbor stopped by and we talked for a bit, at a distance. That is hard to judge, as she can't always hear (doesn't always have her aids in) but obviously way more than 6'. She's older. And such an amazing woman. Had a hip replacement the year we moved in and man, does she go go go!  Which is great.
• Anyway, my hope is that all of you will have peace. His peace. I would wish that everyone stay healthy and unaffected by this, but that is not practical and not going to happen. I hope that you will be granted the wisdom to make good decisions for you and your family. It is tough for sure. And I do ask that you help your neighbor in whatever way you may be able to. We are all in this together, and we need each other to see it through to the other side.

New Year, New You!

Well, I guess I missed posting in December. Thanksgiving at my brother's house went well.  It was full of a bunch of people I didn't know (my SIL's family) but I guess that is just opportunity to grow. We ended up having Christmas there too, but smaller, just our side.  And that was fun too.  Got to play some Euchre, which I haven't been able to do for a couple of years, at least.

Old Business:

• Been able to keep up with putting memorabilia away as soon as it happens!
• Been doing pretty good at reading either an article, or section of the book, a day.
• Studying still bad, unless you count blogs.
• Garage now has a roof, and shingles. They've been working on siding. Gadget got most of the electrical done this past weekend, and is scheduling next trip. I think the goal is to try and get the outside done as quickly as possible, so that when the snow starts flying they can be inside. Also need to call electric company and internet company so I can get my service entrances moved off the front of the house.
• Have a lead on a possible therapist. Need to call. That would be awesome and would free me up to do better marketing and running of the business.
• No one has bought the bolsters yet.
• Finished the medicare videos.
• Have been scrapping - that's felt really good.
• I took Christmas week and New Year's week mostly off.  1 massage appointment each week, and my church shift.  That felt really good. Just to slow down a bit, and try to focus. Want to carry some of that forward.
• Still need to work on church projects. First up is the time and talent and the background checks.

New Business:

• Time and Talent and background checks
• Keep scrapping
• Keep reading
• Get more consistent with online marketing (blog, facebook, instagram, linkdin)
• Get more consistent with household chores. This has been a hard one since 018 went off to college.
• Speaking of 018 it was sooooo much fun having him back home for a bit. He's turned into such a neat young man! Pretty incredible. We played a bunch of Magic The Gathering. And we went to see Rise of Skywalker. I had to spend the 3 weeks out at the dining room table since I couldn't use his bedroom, but it was worth it. Miss him so much!