Yes, I'm Still Here...

 It's been so long since I've posted that I literally forgot how to write a new post! I apologize for dropping out without notice. What can I say? Life happens.

I can't believe it's been two years. I have missed you guys and understand that you've probably forgotten about me.

In 2023 our lives underwent a monumental change. For several reasons, some good, some not so good, almost all of them challenging.

Updates:

• We finally moved into our new home on 2/7/23. We love it! It's hard to believe we've been here 2+ years. Adjusting to the smaller size was not as difficult as we worried it would be.
• The most surprising, shocking, wonderful thing that happened in 2023 was the addition of a very unexpected family member. In March 2023,  my youngest son Zachary called me and said DCS had just called him to say that Ashley (Skye's mom) had given birth to a baby girl. They asked Zach if he would be willing to take placement of Baby L because Skye is her blood relative (even though she was 12 year old). He said yes. So two weeks later after being weaned off of the drugs her mom had been using Baby L came home to our family. I can't begin to tell you what a blessing she has been. Her adoption was finalized last week and she is official! She's very healthy and so far no drug related issues. (Thank You, God!)
• In 2024, our oldest Granddaughter Sunny turned 15 and we celebrated with a Quinceanera! It was a brand new experience for our family and it was so fun. Now she's 16 and learning to drive. I don't know where the time goes.
• During the last two years we've also dealt with moving my mom into a memory care facility associated with the independent facility my folks were living in. She died March 1, 2025. If you've gone through dementia with a loved one you know that death can definitely be a celebration. She had not been "Mom" for many years. It's clear why they call this "the long goodbye". My dad is still living in the independent building and is doing great. Especially for a 92 year old man!

Of course, all the Grands have grown and are involved in a variety of activities. I'm going to abandon the use of weather terms to identify them because there are so many of them I need a "cheat sheet" to remember who is which term!

Savannah is 16, Raiden and Kennedy are 14, Jackson is 11, Norah is 9, Jamison is 8, Elowyn is 6, and Livy is 2. Pictures to follow... I hope!

I'm hoping to blog more frequently. I definitely need to update with photos!

No promises, though! 

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One Word

 I have to be honest, picking my One Word had not even crossed my mind until I read in a fellow blogger's post that she was choosing hers.

It's funny though, the first word that popped in my mind was "grateful". I figure if it came to me that quickly I should just go with it and not try to over-analyze or second guess myself.

grate·ful

/ˈɡrātf(ə)l/

Learn to pronounce

adjective

1. feeling or showing an appreciation of kindness; thankful.

   "I'm very grateful to you for all your help"

I always have so much to be grateful for and 2023 will be no exception. The most prominent thing I'm going to be grateful for is moving into our new home. Along the journey to that event I have already experienced much gratefulness.

I am actually grateful that it has (will have) taken 681 days for this house to be built. That long time frame has given me the opportunity to think about God's perfect timing (especially in the face of all the comments from others asking why we don't just give up on this). I've had the time to think about the house itself and the environment/atmosphere I want to cultivate in this home. Because we started packing way back in 2021 and placed a lot of our non-essential belongings in storage, I've really come face-to-face with the knowledge of how many non-essentials I actually have! 

Someone asked me recently what I'm most looking forward to in the new house and my reply was "unpacking my books". I have missed my books terribly. They are my friends. 

Another unexpected result of these 681 days has been the change in how I look at my role in the family. The Grands have all expressed trepidation of some sort at our move. They constantly comment "things will be different". Yes, they will. When we signed the contract we had an 11 year old, two nine year olds, and a 7, 5, 4, 2 year old. Now we've entered the teen years. Although they're concerned about not having a playroom, I realize that the days of Hot Wheels, wood trains, Baby Dolls, and Play-Doh are basically past. I only need to provide room for Legos, Dan's model train display, Boardgames, and crafts. The park at the end of the street will provide them with outdoor space. 

This time has also allowed the girls and I to transition into a change in hosting duties. I will continue to have Family Christmas and random family get togethers throughout the year, but I don't plan to host Easter, Thanksgiving, Birthday celebrations. It's time to pass the torch.

UPDATE: I started this post 12/26. That evening my mom was admitted to the hospital for Gall Bladder issues. While her medical issues were taken care of, her cognitive decline snowballed. Seven family members took shifts to be sure she was not alone. She was discharged to rehab Saturday night. I am so grateful for Gracie! She emailed a New Year's Card to me which I opened this morning and let me tell you, it was just what I needed! 

I guess it was confirmation that I chose the best One Word for 2023!

Happy New Year!

December!

 

Good news to share as we move into December! We have a move-in date, in writing, for our new house. We are to get the keys on February 7, 2023. We are excited, but skeptical.

We sold our current house a week ago and are preparing to move out this weekend into a 2-bedroom apartment. It will be an adventure for sure. 

We'll have family Christmas at my daughter's house because the apartment is too small. We're taking a bare minimum of furniture. Primarily the office equipment and a bed. One of the positives is that I was a little concerned about transitioning from a 2613 sq ft home to an 1851 sq ft home. Now we'll be in a 1000 sq ft home in between so the new house will feel large when we get there! haha

November!

 

Now we're really on the downhill slide of 2022...

Progress on our house again. Yay! The drywall is up, taped, mudded, and textured. The back wall is up in our rear yard. We're expecting stucco any day now. The latest estimate is January 23rd for a finish date. We'll see. We've had a lot of "expected finish dates" this year.

I realized the other day that I bought a New Home ornament for Christmas, but we won't have a new home this year. Fortunately my daughter just moved into a new house so I'll pass it on to her.

Thankful for so much this year and planning to focus on that this month.

Christmas Time's a'comin'... no, it's here!

 Today's the day I've been waiting for since July... Hallmark Christmas Movies start! I enjoy watching the new releases, but I think I enjoy revisiting old favorites even more. 

I plan to settle in today to watch movies and cross-stitch. Plus the high temp today is forecast to be 89 degrees so I can have my doors and windows open! 

October

 

October! The month when our temps usually drop below 100... The month that I'm usually almost done with Christmas shopping... The month that we can finally open our windows at night...

Of course, as with every other month this year there's not much that's "usual". 

I'll start with good news. Our new house has been insulated, the roof tiles have been installed, and the drywall has been dropped off. Yay!

Our current home is still on the market. We've had three lookers since it went back on and two of them indicated they were interested, then nothing. While it is frustrating, we're not really worried because our house is scheduled to be completed January 10, 2023 (February 10th if the drywall isn't installed in the next week). 

We were going to move to an interim apartment, but we've cancelled that completely. We'll deal with it when the house actually sells. I have absolute faith that God knows (and knew all along) what's happening. I know He has a perfect plan for us and I'm trying to not get in the way of His plan! That's not to say that we don't have our moments, we do. But for the most part we feel a peace underlying all of the uncertainty.

Some of the Grands are in Soccer, so we're enjoying their games. The model railroad club has a huge event at the end of the month that we're looking forward to. The San Diego Padres are in the hunt for post-season play, which we're very excited about. And football season has begun. 

My plan for this October is to embrace and enjoy the unusual!

September

 

September! The month when sometimes we get temps in the upper 90s-low 100s. Sometimes the overnight lows drop into the low 80s-upper 70s. We've had the strangest summer, I don't know what to expect from September this year. We had several weeks of temps in the 90s... very rare. We had several weeks with a chance of rain each day and we actually received rain multiple days in a row. We haven't had a monsoon like this for years. It was awesome.

September brings the start of grandkids' sports events. Hopefully it will bring some progress on our new house. And hopefully our current house will sell... again.

Whatever September brings I'm always filled with anticipation this month. The anticipation of the Fall/Winter holidays. Of cooler weather. Of being able to open up the windows at night (maybe). 

Bring it on September, I'm ready!