2018

As the sun sets on another year, I realize what old is. Old is how fast the days go by. They fly by so fast, yet can be excruciatingly slow at the same time. Then you look up and it's the end of another year.

A year ago we were waiting for the holiday season to be over, hoping that the real estate market would pick up in Georgia. We were packing away the Christmas decorations we'd put up to 'stage' the house just in case someone were to come through. There was no family decorations put up. We'd bought some inexpensive ornaments for the tree to match the decor in the room. (Blah) It looked okay, it just wasn't our traditional decorations.

I didn't even know if we would have room in the town home for a Christmas tree. I was happy to find out there was plenty of room, even with the huge couch we have in there, too. I did retire our old tree and picked up a new one. This one isn't as round and fluffy as the old one. A newer, slimmer tree for the new place. It decorated up nicely, though, with all the family ornaments I could fit on it!

Dayna hadn't seen any of these for a lot of years. I think the last Christmas she was living in the house was in 2005. (How is that possible?)

But this year we celebrated Christmas early. Dayna and Bryan are busy, busy people, so they came up on the 5th of December and we had a fun few days with them here!

 Bryan helped us get things hung on the walls while they were here. He brought up a couple of mounts for the TVs and he and Bill got them hung up on the walls. We ventured out into the stores in search of some decor to add to the place. Bill was encouraged to open a gift early, because we thought it would come in handy hanging things up, but we gave him the wrong one. So he knew what he was getting before anyone else.

 We had a list a mile long of things that needed to be fixed in this newly built place and the dishwasher was one of them. So for the first time in many, many years, the girls washed dishes together. Welcome home, Dayna.

After many months of boxes, packing, unpacking, tearing down, taping again, the dogs weren't too sure about these brightly covered boxes under the tree and the flurry of ripping and tearing them open to see what was in them. They probably think their humans are broken.

They were each happy with their new toys, though.

It didn't take Maddie long to tear hers apart. I think it went in the trash the next day.

We had some time out shopping before Dayna and Bryan headed home. While things are more expensive for us, they're cheaper for them. Everything costs more in California!

As the New Year is upon us, the house is getting more put together. We've gotten rid of a ton of stuff, but I still have a few boxes to empty. I am looking through pictures choosing favorites to print and put up on the walls. I quit hanging things on the walls, because it seemed as soon as I did we would be off and moving again. The walls in the Chandler Bluff house were pretty bare for most of the time we lived there. Bill has been hanging shelves and decor up all over this place for me.

It's taking some time to get used to the noise! We live right next to a pretty busy street and there is traffic noise all the time. Not crazy, but not what we're used to hearing all night long. The street right outside our door is the main road for a lot of ambulances that get dispatched in the area. Maddie will sometimes howl as they go by. It's really cute.

We're not venturing out of the house this New Year's Eve. Downtown will be much too crazy for us. I'm hoping we'll be able to see the fireworks display from the strip, though. They are supposed to be setting them off of several casinos at midnight. We'll have to see if we can see them from the upstairs window.

Then the tree will come down and we'll be ready for the New Year. It is the first winter here for Mary and I. And it has already been getting cold. And really, really windy.

And the Rose Parade. The last time I saw the Rose Parade on west coast time was probably 1995.

Wishing everyone a Blessed and Happy New Year!

Breathing again.

This morning I was prompted to read Ezekiel 37 by an email received and, as I read, I really could see how this pertained to me. Although the text appeared to be about something altogether different, I could apply those words in verse 5 to myself.

2018 has been a perplexing year. From January 1st to May 9th it dragged on in excruciating pain, even though it began before then. Waiting is hard. We all hate waiting. And waiting for that ONE person to want to buy our house in Georgia was SO hard. I fought waiting at every turn; filling myself with anger and confusion, skeptic that anyone would come along and buy that house. In my mind, nothing was wrong with it. I could not understand why no one wanted to buy it, I just wanted to get moving. Bill had been in Nevada already for 6 months when Mary and I finally boarded a plane taking us and the dogs across the country.

The waiting was hell. I think I cried every single day. It left me stuck. We didn't live. We waited. We cleaned the house to sparkling every day, trying to keep the dog hair to a minimum so someone could walk through the house in ten minutes and decide it wasn't for them.

We had started packing up the house in October 2017, as soon as we heard that Bill would get the job and knew we needed to have the house present well for potential buyers; no clutter, no personal things out. We wouldn't want anyone to know we lived there, for heaven's sake. The garage was packed to the gills.

We were packed and more than ready to be on our way for six months.

The day someone actually decided the house was for them was the day the movers were there. We had decided to go ahead and move, hoping it wouldn't take too long to sell once the house was empty. If it didn't, we were prepared to put it up on the rental market.

The first couple of weeks in Nevada were new and exciting! We had a week to kill before the movers arrived, bringing all that stuff that had waited in the garage along with the furniture. We drove around, getting a feel for the area, exploring the mountains and waiting. The movers came and went and we settled into the task of unpacking.

Then we decided to build the town home. We signed the contract to build in June. Now we're waiting again. The rental home was not the type of home we could stay in, not only because the rent would just keep going up, but the layout was just too much. Home prices seemed to be going up and the medium price of a home was more than I thought we could handle, so the town home was a great option.

We've had quite a list of issues since we got the keys about seven weeks ago (already?), and, at times, (many times) I've wondered if this was the right decision. 2018 is drawing to a close quickly and I need to make my way through this past year of questioning, doubt, loneliness, anger and holding my breath, waiting to see what will happen.

I've felt stuck. Hopeless and helpless. And, quite frankly, alone. Too alone.

So, whether you believe in what the Bible says or not, this passage talked to me. For me.

'I am going to put breath into you and make you live again.'

For a year, I didn't live.

I'm looking forward to living and breathing again. I am intentionally walking into the new year, preparing myself, looking for the joy and breathing... every day.

Merry Christmas!

I've been sitting at my desk, mountain view out my window, writing Christmas cards to get in the mail, searching and wondering if I have correct addresses for all of those on my list.

With every envelope addressed my thoughts wander to years past and all the time that has passed since we moved out of California, jaunted around the country for so many years, following Bill's job where it has taken us, now, back to the west side of the country and, hopefully, finally settled here in Nevada.

Lives are busy. Raising kids and all the chaos that goes along with it. Jobs, family and just plain getting through the day. People come and go throughout our lives and it leaves me wondering if anyone thinks of us so far away from their daily grind.

As I finish up my cards, admittedly, the first cards in a couple of years that I've sent out, know that I am thinking of every family member and friend that comes to mind, wishing everyone a blessed and happy Christmas season!

For those who have lost a precious loved one this year, my prayers have been with you and my heart aches for your loss. Words aren't enough to comfort such a loss most times, but know my love is with you.