Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! It seems that 2016 was a challenge, in some way, to almost everybody.  Everywhere I go I hear people commenting on what a rough year it was.  I am included in that group.  From September until yesterday, our life was so incredibly busy -- and expensive -- that it is hard to get our heads around it.

In September my MIL fell and broke her hip, had surgery, had a heart attack as a result of the surgery and spent a large amount of time in rehab.  After the heart attack  she was treated more as a cardiac patient than a surgical patient and she spent a lot more time in rehab than a usual rehab stint.  She doesn't seem to be having any lasting effects from the heart attack and she is back home from rehab but she didn't get home until mid-November.

In the middle of all of that my husband had cataract surgery on both eyes.  It all went very well -- they really have that down to a science.  Very little downtime, very few restrictions.  He can see to drive at night now which is a blessing as we were beginning to live our lives in just the daylight hours.  That is fine except for the times that it isn't.  At any rate he is doing quite well.

Then, in the midst of all this health care, we had quite a few things come up with the house.  It was almost like the house was feeling left out of attention and decided to give us some issues.

The first thing involved getting a new roof due to the hail storms last spring.  We opted for a dent resistant roof because we tend to have hail and ice and such a LOT here.  In fact, we are supposed to have softball sized hail tonight.  Yay!  Because the whole town apparently needed new roofs we were on the docket for December but, fortunately, we were called in November that they were read to start and we were doing the happy dance.

The hail also did a number on the gutters.  The yard cutters do a number on them as well so new gutters were in order, after the roof installation.  The house needed fresh paint so my husband decided to paint the house between the roofing and the guttering.  It is all done now and looks smashing!

In the meantime, with all this exterior work going on and all the health caring going on, the washer decided to quit, a ceiling fan remote stopped working and the replacement has been discontinued which required a new ceiling fan and  the hv/ac went out which required a new unit. 

Now, last spring I made a list of things that I wanted/needed to get done before the end of the year because my goal was to start out the new year with things taken care of (like an adult) and caught up with and just generally being on top of things.  On this list were things like -- get the new crown on the back tooth, get new glasses, have the mammogram and try to work in more exercise -- all before the final doctor appointment for the year on December 30.  Well, as September rolled around and the great Brinkley Collapse happened, all my list got shoved to the end of the page giving precedence to the other stuff.  So, the last two weeks of December found me playing catch up with my own list.  I crammed a lot of stuff in that last two weeks which pretty much put Christmas on the sidelines which was really ok, I guess.  Christmas celebrations aren't what they used to be when we were young and our kids were little but I do find that I am quieter during Advent, more thoughtful and closer to the real meaning of the holiday.  Over the years I have mourned those youthful, kid-filled, noisy, rowdy Christmases but this year I realized there is something deep and meaningful about it being quiet and calm.  The focus is shifted but I am not sure that is a bad thing.

So, last night I sat here with the Hubs, quiet, trying to finish a book that I am simply not enjoying, one eye on the football game and I realized that I was calm and peaceful and feeling very accomplished.  I had accomplished a lot in four months even though a lot of it was not of my choosing.  I feel like I am going into 2017 with a clean slate, I feel caught up and like I have a handle on things.  I have a list of things in my mind that I want to commit to habit -- these aren't resolutions -- I don't do resolutions -- they are just habits that I need to tweak to make my life easier and help me not get behind -- staying on top of things so to speak.  I have been working on these changes slowly and will continue to do so.  I am learning, in my old age, that self -discipline is not just for the young -- all of us need to have some self-discipline in order to control the stress and the feeling of being out of control and that being "retired" doesn't negate the need for self-discipline. It is a good thing to quote Martha.

As I close this first blog of the new year I have to say that I am going into this year with hope and calm and the knowledge that I can't change anything in the world or in anybody else's life but I can change mine and how I do that will have a direct affect on how I deal with the world around me. 

Oh, and I have to take care of the one thing on my list that didn't get taken care of.  I have to have that new crown made.  So, I will be making that appointment on Tuesday.  No more putting things off for me -- Melissa will be striking while the iron is hot -- nipping things in the bud -- whatever cliche you want to use.  My goal for this year is to stay on top of things and persevere!!

Have a wonderful day!