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/

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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!

Why is it so hard...

 I'm sure you must feel as if you've been hearing about our new house for months... you're right, you have. Yesterday marked the 17th month since we signed the contract to build our home. I can't hardly believe it's taken this long. And the end is not in sight yet. I don't think it's going to be completed this year. There's not a thing I can do about it. I work mightily at not giving in to disappointment.

But, the good thing is that this time as given me the opportunity to purge, downsize, declutter, face the reality that I'm never going to get to some of the craft projects I thought I'd like to do. Haha

But, why is it so hard to let that stuff go? One reason is because I spent money on it in the first place. I choose to counteract that procrastination by realizing that giving those supplies to someone who will use them is a good use of that money. Another reason is that I keep holding out hope that I'll actually try that craft one day. The reality is that one day hasn't come for years, so why would I keep hoping it will! 

I've been giving my 6-year-old granddaughter a lot of craft supplies. So many, evidently, that she told me this summer to please not give her any for awhile! She uses the supplies she receives and does crafts alot, but even she's wise enough to know when enough is enough. I need to be like her!

I have an aversion to moving stuff that I know I'm not going to need/use. It's a waste of time, money and effort. Now that our house has been extended so many more months I'm seriously going to sort through the craft boxes in storage and be brutal in facing my truth. I am 66 years old and I'm only going to keep the crafts that I actually do. The rest can go to someone who will use and enjoy them. In the past I've donated needleart supplies to the local high school. I may see if the art department wants some of my other supplies.

Either way, I woke up this morning serious about really purging. Hope I keep my intention!