Last year at this time both Carl and I were blissfully unaware what was in store for us. In 6 more days it will be 1 year to the day that things started going down hill. On the 25th of February Judy and I were in an auto accident that gave me a concussion, wrecked our handicap van and started all of our trials.... Next on the list was Carl's open heart surgery for quadruple bypass surgery in April. The problems were found before he had a heart attack and that is a blessing. Now, we thought, everything is going to go super easy and life will be good again..... WRONG!!! Judy moved into a group home, no nursing jobs for me to find, AND Carl goes back in to the hospital for a hernia operation in August. We breath a sigh of relief that the operation goes well and he will be able to go back to work, NOT!! Now he is fighting C-diff, which is a nasty bowel infection that you get while in the hospital and are given strong antibiotics. Nope, he can't go back to work because he can't get more than 5 feet away from 'Johnny' for more than a few minutes. On to the next challenge of the year, finding me a job. I sign on with Mollen Clinics to give flu and pneumovax immunizations during the 'season'. It is only a temporary job, so I must still look for permanent work. In a lot of ways me not finding a job is a blessing because when I do find one it is one that I love. A friend at church knows an Allergist that has asked her if she knows of any nurses. Yep, my friend says and I have an interview over the phone and am hired. Shocked, I start work the next day. Now, onto the next challenge... MOVING! The place we are renting is way to big for us and way to expensive. I am ready to down size..... so down size we did! Right into an extended stay place that was not much bigger than a small motel room with a 'kitchenette' that didn't even have an oven!! The best thing about staying there was the hot tub! Yep, I tried to spend time in it each and every night. Slept like a baby! I was willing to stay for longer, but Carl was ready to get settled sooner, so one day while driving around in Sun City we found a cute place at the right price. Soooooo, on to the 3rd move. We are still getting things from storage and wondering where we are going to put everything. This place has 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, living room, eat in kitchen, car port, laundry room and best of all an Arizona room that has been enclosed that houses my sewing/quilting room. As I unpack stuff I am sorting so that I can 'down size' even more. Some stuff is going into a garage sale, other stuff is going to family and yet other stuff is going to Goodwill. As I unpack boxes I see the estate sales that we go to and think to myself, "My kids going to have to dump this stuff after I am gone", so if I can't use it now why am I keeping it???
One of the things that Carl and I have done is decide that we don't need a TV in every room of the house. We have 2, one in the living room and one in my sewing room. Life is a lot simpler. We have our computers set up in one bedroom and I am slowly sorting pictures, linen, books, and assessing what is truly important to keep.
Another thing I have done is to close my online store 'Coyote Quilts and Specialties'. Not enough time to take care of and get everything else done. Instead I am doing quilt classes at Sally's Fabrics in Mesa. I have a class coming up the last Saturday of February. I was hoping to be able to take another class from Kaye Wood, but she has personal things going on this year that has prevented her from visiting her house here in Sun City.
I finally have most of my swaps taken care of that I started last year and have joined a couple more for this year. Today I was able to get into my stash and get fabric picked out and started sewing blocks again. I hope I can get them done tomorrow so I can get them in the mail before the end of the month.
Wearing Grandma's hat and coat. It was a little chilly just starting out.
Great Daddy, keeping her safe and helping her see the animals.
I guess Pa is okay, too.
Almost kissing. It's a good thing there is glass between them!
It is getting late and I have bent your ear enough for tonight. I'll be back again to post more pics of our weekend at the zoo and of course quilt blocks!
Sharon
