2020 Update

No post from me in 2020. Don't want to re-hash that year but I do want to document/update from when I last posted in 12/2019. Sorry it's a long one, that's what happens when you only update once a year (that's going to change this year though!)

My last line from that post ...

"And here's to hoping that 2020 will be better than 2019."

Little did I know what would happen. Things were okay for us on a personal level. I had a new reason not to go shopping (I don't like to shop), I already had in stock, many of the things that got bought up, so didn't have to go out & about any more than I needed to. And, I actually enjoy staying home, so I did, for the most part.

Greg's business was condered essential, why, I don't know. He sells & services commercial lawn equipment. Don't ask me why the government thought that it would be essential to keep lawns manicured. He stayed open & thank goodness, no medical casualties for him, his employees or many of his customers. Unlike many others, his business actually thrived & on the financial front we were ok. He actually never opened on weekends during the summer like he would have in years past, so that gave us more free time than normal for that time of the year.

We came & went to the country house every other weekend & maintained distances. Not hard to do up there. A couple of weddings were cancelled & funerals were kept to graveside services. Speaking of funerals, one was an elderly aunt w/renal failure & the other a younger relative (Mom's side of the family) that had gotten in an accident & died from complications later. The medical authorities tried to classify both as Covid even though they weren't. I was told that the hospitals receive extra "pandemic" dollars if they were classified as such. Not right, in my opinion, but gotta keep those numbers up in order to keep the money coming in.

My sister, a hairdresser, did develop Covid but thank goodness it was a mild case & she recovered. She actually got it from a customer who also recovered & no other customers got it. She & her husband quarantined & she did what the Dr. told her & she's now fine, just a bit of lingering tiredness. My niece who is an RN in a hospital has been unaffected thus far. She actually changed jobs to work in the surgery ward so that keeps her away from the 'general' patients.

My brother-in-law drives a truck for a grocery chain & niece's husband works for a HVAC/Fire Security company & both their jobs were essential. So the family fared ok as well.

My FIL was still in LTC w/MIL staying w/him. She actually got clearance to stay & come & go like an Employee. I believe this was due to the fact that she did many of the things for FIL, like getting his teeth & hair brushed, face washed, etc. that freed up the nursing staff to spend that time with other patients.

However, FIL kicked her out of the facility in April, due to his worrying about Covid spreading in so many LTC facilities. She didn't like it but home she went, to the new house that she had never stayed in. Rough situation for her but we felt it was also the right decision. I went to the store & got her stocked up on essentials that could last her for a couple of months, so she wouldn't have to go out & about. 

In the meantime, we were already working on getting FIL out of the facility. That took the next couple of months, getting everything ready ... daily medical care, supplies, wheelchair, hoyer lift, etc.

He came home in June of 2020. Rough couple of months. But, by around Sept., they had found the right care giver (after going through 5 or 6 (FIL isn't the easiest person to get along with)). She is actually helping him more than any of the staff at the facility & he has improved a great deal. Even w/o the use of his left arm he can assist in getting in & out of bed w/o a lift & can stand/walk/shuffle with assistance. He still needs help with personal care & therapy but it's a whole lot better than it was June, July & August.

MIL continues to decline. Like FIL, her mind is all there but her movements, hearing, eyesight, etc. is rapidly declining. Much of it is due to the stress/demands that FIL puts on her. They've been married 65 years & he's pretty much always been like that. Nothing we can do to change that.

In the midst of everything, Greg was in the process of trying to complete the sell of his business. It got delayed several times over the summer & we were beginning to think that it never would happen. But .....

HE CLOSED THE SALE ON 12/31/20!!!!!!

He has to train the new owners for 30 days & after that he will be fully RETIRED on 2/13/21. It will most likely be quite the adjustment for us(me) but I think we are up to the challenge.

In preparation for full retirement (for us both) we purchased a 25' camper to do a little bit of travel for the next couple of years. We haven't been on a real vacation since 2011 & with Nelly (our pup), we figured it would be easier.

This is where I will document those travels so that's why I will hopefully be posting much more this year.

Whew, I'm done for now. Bring on 2021!

First Full Week of Retirement

Still walking most days, it was pouring this morning so only did a few stretches. Hey, I deserve a day off right? Oh, I have every day off, guess I shouldn't whine.

Monday I decided to clean, I mean really clean our master bath. Toilet scrubbed top to bottom, sinks, vanities, cabinets, floor, wash rugs, etc. 

I'm still sorting through work paperwork & need to nail down Insurance, 401k stuff, etc. Received the new TV HD hookup boxes but they aren't hooked up properly. TVs work but not as clear as I think they should be plus I cannot program the new remotes to save my life. And, they forgot to send 1 box. I spent several hours trying to figure it out & now I'm giving up. Called for service person, they are coming next week. I'm sure it will take them all of 30 minutes to do what I couldn't.

Had Lab work for upcoming Dr. appt. on Tuesday morning fairly early so since I had to shower & put on a bit of makeup I decided to run a few errands after taking Greg some breakfast. Wow, what a difference in going from place to place without having to rush back to work. Shopping is not a favorite thing of mine but it wasn't bad that day.

I have a baby shower to attend for one of my former co-workers. It's this coming Monday morning. Last weekend I looked at her registration list from Target & saw that her colors are grey & white. Hey, I just happened to have a stash of grey & white fabric. I think those in the know call it a "charm pack". Anyway, I decided to make her & her future little one a baby quilt. It rained several inches this week making it a great week to stay inside & make a quilt. 

I had to buy the inside & outside borders & binding (didn't know if I would have enough leftover fabric to make it, turns out I didn't). It's a bit wonk eyed but the colors are very pretty together. It measures about 45 x 55 so it's closer to a crib quilt that a baby quilt. I even tried my hand at fancy machine stitching on the borders. Probably shouldn't have done that but it does add a bit of homemade charm to it, plus there are plenty of mistakes. I'm not a perfectionist when it comes to quilting so it doesn't bother me, but I know they're there, but I doubt the baby will mind. I'm calling it my shabby chic style.

The quilt took up most of Wednesday, Thursday & just finished binding it today. Messed up on that too but I didn't notice until I was 1/2 way done & I had made the mitered corners perfect! No way was I going to rip it out & start over so I just made do & it still turned out ok. I needed to finish today as we are headed to the country this weekend & the shower is early on Monday.

Hubby went to the Dr. & got some meds & seems to be on the mend.

Meals this week consisted of pan fried Cod w/Quinoa & Squash Casserole (pulled from freezer), Lamb Sliders w/Baked Sweet Potato Fries, Pork Tenderloin w/leftover Quinoa & Casserole, Ham (pulled from freezer) & Brie Sandwiches. Greg is bringing home Italian takeout tonight.

Gotta go feed my worms & get quilt wrapped. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Officially Retired! My first day ...

Started out with me getting up at 6:30a, stretching for 20 minutes, then going for a 1 mile mini walk.

As I was leaving I decided to grab my house key which detaches from my car key. Locked door, put garage door down & realized I had grabbed my car key instead of the house key. Locked out! Oh well, I'll grab the hidden house key to let myself in when I get back. Walked .5 miles & then turned around to come home.

About 1/2 way home one of the neighbors door opens & out rushes their very unfriendly dog which came right at me. It's a medium sized dog & just stood their growling & barking at me but never lunged. Neighbor comes out to road to get dog which is sniffing me & decided I wasn't such a threat after all. Gave him a pat & continued on home.

The next house down, another very large black dog comes out barking but never left their driveway. I knew about the 1st house & their dog but the dog at the 2nd house is new. Will have to investigate if he is a permanent resident or just visiting.

Made it home, retrieved key & tried unlocking the door. It wouldn't work in the door I had left from. Go around to back patio to see if it will work on that door. Yep it did but because I came in a different door than I had left from the alarm goes off. Jeez, what a way to start the first day of the rest of my life.

Now it's on to technology world. New laptop wouldn't connect to internet. Tried a couple of things & it finally connects. Sign in to email to thank all my wonderful friends for the retirement presents & keep getting kicked offline. The connection is hit or miss.  It's disconnected twice while I'm typing this post. Will have to get on the phone with HP. My old laptop doesn't have this problem.

Now on to the new TVs we had to buy because we got hit by lightening a couple of weeks ago. Note: Several neighbors also lost TVs in the same storm - 10 in all. Got both connected but they aren't even half as clear as they were in the store. Called carrier & they said that my eqipment is old & they will have to send new boxes in order to get HD service. At least it wasn't something we did when installing them.

All in all a pretty rough start but I think it will only go uphill from here. Gotta go, I've got boxes to unpack.