15 Years Ago

Its so hard for me to imagine that fifteen  years have gone by since I made an offer on my house.  President Obama had enacted a bonus for first time home buyers, and I qualified!  

When I took my first walk thru of the house, eek. It had been closed up for about a year. The bank owned it.  Previous owner had begun making improvements.  I was fine with all of them except the color.  He had everything sprayed in a brownish color ..... walls, closets, cupboards.   No character, everything just blended.  

Once I was approved, the bank allowed me to get right in and start painting.  I painted my room a lovely lilac shade, and Brian did three tone grey.  I let him choose, it was the first time he had a choice in the scheme of his room!!  We had a blast.  We would head over after work and paint a couple hours, pick up some drive thru, and repeat the next few days.  

But painting the main rooms was harder.  My fav aunt and uncle came over one Saturday to help us get started.  She even brought over some home made chili!!

I've always been one to believe that when you help someone, or someone helps you, on a project, a part of them becomes part of things.  I will always remember them helping paint the living room.  It was the same when I started painting stripes on my fence .... everyone who came over had a part in making this happen!

Being a homeowner isn't for everyone, but it was my goal my whole adult life.  And I love it!

At Home

Dear Brian,

It's a week past all the holiday hullaballoo and it was a rough one.  Being without you hurt like hell.  I could always count on you stopping by on Christmas Day to break up the ... boredom.  You know how it is in retail, I have to work the day before and the day after .... so one day for travel and festivities is just too much to pack into one day on my own.

In the middle of the night, the flush lever on the toilet broke.  So off to Walmart to buy a part and cross my fingers that I could fix it myself.  I found that the nut wasn't righty tighty ... after about a dozen tries of trying to get it off.  lol   When it comes to these little home repairs I miss you !!!

I had lunch at Brown Bear Diner today with Helen, my friend from work.  She managed fabrics and crafts just like I did for many years, so we're two peas in a pod!!  It was good to catch up and see her again. 

Work is bad. My workload was double what it usually is in a week, and they chewed my out for having 30 minutes of overtime ... not even $20 on my paycheck. *smh*  So, it's back to making sure I take every single break, a full hour for lunch and extra work ?? Nope.  They get what they what.  Or so they think. 

Sis has been having trouble with Miss B -  telling lies and not following the rules.  Personally, I think their issues are two fold:  she's nearly 18 and has had issues with sampling alcohol, so maybe there are other things being sampled.  That can cause real issues when you're also dealing with all the raging hormones stuff they do.  Then there's the lies:  they all need lessons in talking and listening - maybe even more so the listening part.  Miss B got her learner's permit to drive and T never bothered to mention it.   I raised that girl to be independent, but there are limits!

Can't believe it's been 10 years since we first moved into the house... Time flies!!   I took your idea for quarter round boards to paint and put along the backsplash .... I painted them bright red and installed them today.  Looks pretty good!!

Anyways, son, there aren't enough words to tell you how much you're missed
with love,
Mom

Well Done, Boys!

How do you sum up two weeks worth of events, family time, and lots of waiting?

It was fun, it was stressful, and everything else in between.  My emotions have been to every extreme in two long weeks, while at the same time they've hit peak times with family in two short weeks.  How can time be so fluid??  Isn't it either two long weeks or two short weeks?  I can hardly believe it's over and there were several days where I thought it would drag on forever.   I know that emotional situations can do that to people, and its never an easy time.

I'm really sad about leaving my mom, knowing she will be carrying on alone in the same house, the same bed, doing the same things she's been doing, but .... without dad.  I'm sure the next few weeks, or even months, will be quite the adjustment for her.  My aunt went through the same thing two years ago after losing her husband.  The only difference is that my aunt is much more willing to change than my mother will be.  I'm hoping that will change.  We will see.

We're planning to be here for some of the major events, probably returning in April for my father's birthday.  Perhaps we'll make a day of it, travel to the cemetery and check out the headstone that's placed.   It'll be easier saying goodbye for all of us if we know when we're coming back.  That will be a difficult day for her, so a perfect opportunity to come back and be with her.

The family that had arrived from out of town left in bits in pieces.  I said goodbye to my Aunt Elaine and cousin Maridel yesterday.  The last time I saw Maridel was .... probably 10 yrs ago now!  We were inseparable until my family left MN in 1963.  Family vacations took me to MN to visit her and we have wonderful memories that we share.  It's amazing how we're grown up women with kids and even grandkids!   Who knew??  We sure didn't think about that back in the 60s and 70s!

My dad's brother was here and we said goodbye today.  Tomorrow I will say goodbye to my immediate family, and travel home.  I miss my Sadie intensely!  But fly home with my own children, and that's a sort of comfort.

Most of today was spent in recuperating mode.  It seemed as if we were all operating on auto pilot, doing what needs to be done, without anything extra.  Except for my son and nephew.  I refer to all of them as "the boys" and today they took down Mom's Christmas lights from the house, and then trimmed the tree in the backyard.  My Aunt commented:

"What you do for your Grandmother honors your Grandpa."  

Well said,  and well done, boys! 

Back Yard, Left Side

From this to that!

In 4 years, the backyard has been transformed.

It didn't happen overnight.

There was a lot of "trial and error"

trying to find the right combination of plants, brick, rock, etc

But with a little imagination, 

some ingenuity,

and plain old hard work - 

Much better, don't you think??

(right side tomorrow! )

Shopping Spree!

I'v e been telling myself "I will get around to it" and that time never seems to come.... there's always something that needs to be improved in the back yard, but gosh.... that will always be the case, I'm sure.

So in a spur of the moment with my brain screaming "I can't stand it any longer" I zipped into our local landscaping company and placed an order for some Santa Fe Brown rock -- 7 tons of it to be exact! They said they could deliver on Saturday... but I opted for next Thurs when I'm off work -- and when the forecast predicts only the 80s instead of high 90s for this weekend.   So..... yes, I will be a busy gal!  I think I outta start taking my vitamins now, get something in the reserve tank for next weekend.  But it's gonna be great!

When I bought my house, the backyard was bare, except for one palm tree, one slab of cement, and a bunch of weeds.  From there, I found that when it rained, water sluiced down from the back of the yard toward the house, creating a huge puddle on top of my covered patio.  I didn't like this one bit, and experimented from time to time with digging up parts of the yard to make room for some natural water flow, but water doesn't flow on an upgrade very well.  So .. next idea!  I slid a piece... ok, so I hammered a piece of PVC pipe under the walkway so water will have a place to drain. Attached to the PVC I stuck on some special PVC drainage pipe that has holes in it.  Unless we get more than 1.5" of rain in one shot, the water all goes where its supposed to... down the drain and into the ground without leaving puddles behind.

I also worked hard on the yard, creating a cactus corner, raking all the loose river rock from the yard into the section around the palm tree, edging it in with some brick.  Then with some wall blocks, created a planter box along the fence line, painted one wall of the fence that was a different color (now its rainbow stripes!) and planted a bunch of different cacti in places... all fun stuff for me!!!

But now ... the biggest major steps are done.  I think.
Even if they aren't, I've had all I can take and we're putting in some rock!
Thursday is going to be one busy day!

Three Years

It's amazing how quickly three years can go by.  Three years ago yesterday, I signed the papers to my very own home.  It's not a grand home nor is it a McMansion. It's a small house, 1056 square feet that I call home.  It's a place of refuge from the world.  It's a place for quiet reflection.  It's a place that challenges my creativity to make it into something perfectly comfortable.  It's a place where I can be myself.  It's a place where I can dream.   A place I call home.

“Happiness doesn't lie in conspicuous consumption and the relentless 

 amassing of useless crap.  Happiness lies in the person sitting beside 

you and your ability to talk to them. Happiness is clear-headed human 

interaction and empathy. Happiness is home. And home is not a house-

home is a mythological conceit. It is a state of mind. A place of communion 

and unconditional love. It is where, when you cross its threshold, 

you finally feel at peace.”  

--Dennis Lehane

Anniversary

Was sitting here, talking with a friend, and realized this was an anniversary weekend of sorts for me.  In 2004, this is the weekend I moved out, left my ex, my step children, and started over.  Again.  I look back on that time as mixed blessings.  Moving to Ohio was a big step for me, a good growth period.  It was also a very good thing for my children and their education.  And I loved and adored my stepchildren -- still do! 

In the past eight years now, so many good things have happened in my life.  After moving, I transferred to a different BigBox store, and made many good friends there.  I was able to get by, get through, and move on to different phases in my life.  On a trip west to see my aunt and my folks, when I arrived in Mesa, AZ, I knew this was where I needed to transfer to.  Who knew then that it would take a year, that when the pieces fell together, they fell perfectly.  And a new journey started.

After moving to the Valley of the Sun, I knew I'd found home.  Life hasn't been without trials, but we move through them and keep going.  It took two years, and I finally had enough saved to purchase my own home.  And I couldn't be happier here!  Its small, cozy, and not enough maintenance required to drive a person crazy during off hours.

They say change is good.  

I couldn't agree more.  

But change is also a very scary thing.  

Sometimes we need to take little steps; 

sometimes we need to take gigantic steps. 

 Either way,  keep moving forward.  

If it doesn't work out, 

we can always turn around.