A new "normal"

Just when you wonder how in the world you will get it all done, you get a cold and your body says, "rest". Then you realize some things don't have to get done and you just set out to really enjoy the blessings of life around.

We have worked for the past two weeks to get Mom moved from Missoula. Lots got done - from find a condo, buy the condo, move, and have her sleeping in her own bed - all in less than one month. That is a miracle!

The grass in the front of the house is down, raked and ready to be baled. The man who takes care of that for us every year had some problems of his own this year. He is okay. We can see the house again from the road. That is good!

The kitchen project is back on and is moving forward now after taking the two week hiatus. It is looking good and painting will get done after Bob and I get over these colds that came to give us some much needed rest. That is amazing!

Gus is waiting patiently for some time to take a little trip, but he is waiting as are we. It may be that our "few days away" will have to wait until September. That is okay!

I enjoyed a few hours in my studio. I got caught up with the "block of the month" online group. This block was a fun one. And, I did some work on my next show quilt and some work toward a new dream. That is heavenly!

It is all part of this brand new normal!

Precious Peepers . . .

Today I went to the eye doctor - a new eye doctor. I had a feeling in May that I needed to go to an opthomologist rather than my regular optometrist. I don't know why for sure. I trust my optometrist and have liked him since moving here from Colorado almost 18 years ago. But it seemed like I should do this. Today was the first appointment I could get so I went. There is a lot going on and I almost changed it last week.

But I went and really felt confident in this doctor. All was going smoothly - no problems and then he found a failry large tear in the retina of my left eye. He felt strongly that it should be repaired right away - today - so I hung around for a couple hours in his office until he had finished his other patients. He wanted me to call my husband, so I called Bob to come in, and had the laser surgery to repair the tear. Interesting.

No problems with continuing on with the plans for the week. I can see out of the eye 0kay - a little blurry, but the other eye is fine. No rough stuff for a week or so - can't ride horses or a 4 wheeler - which I don't get to do much anyway.

I am sure glad I had the little angel on my shoulder telling me to make this appointment and to keep it today. I am blessed - always have been.

A terrible blogger . . .

Who knows why I even keep trying - I have become a "bad blogger"! I hate to quit entirely thinking I might get going with it again. It is just that there is so much going on in our life right now - all good - that I don't have time to do this very well. So, if you are reading, "thank you" - I would love to hear from you if you have a minute.

It has been two weeks again since my last post. We had a wonderful week with Roy and Meagan here from Portland, OR. But that meant a lot of rearranging to make the "non-kitchen" in the back pantry area function for at least a little cooking. It worked fine, but we all agreed that we really will enjoy the "real" kitchen when it is put back together.

The picture is of Roy, Meagan and Mom when they left last Sunday. Roy and Meagan flew in and out of Missoula and used Mom's car to bring them all over here for the long week. My brother and wife from Seeley Lake also joined us for the 4th. We had a great celebration and a wonderful week. Meagan was enjoying her red cape as she got ready for the 200 mile car ride. The picture is a bit blurry - must have been before I had enough coffee. Mom moves over next week. I am in Missoula for a few days next week to help with the moving coordination stuff - well probably mostly moral support and driving her back here. Her condo closing is on Friday and then comes the fun of unpacking and arranging so she will enjoy her time.

More on the kitchen later . . .

My feet are touching the bottom . . .

I am back . . . I feel like I have been in the deep end of a pool and I have just been getting my head above water enough to gasp for air once in a while. It has been a very busy month. But, I think the hard part is behind us.

Bob . . . You know about our kitchen water and mold damage - well that is just a part of the story. Bob hadn't been feeling good at all - not since mid April when we returned from Arizona. He had tests done, several doc visits and numerous treatments for sinus infection - but nothing else could be found. Now it seems the symptoms have gone - maybe it is all of the work.

Kitchen . . . The kitchen demolition started about three weeks ago to remove all of the wet and mold. They removed everything and ran the fans and other machines 24 hours a day for 7 days. Then the electrician came to do the wiring changes and decided after 35 years the entire kithen should be rewired. The plumber came to do the plumbing changes for changing the location of the sink and the stove and to add gas to the kitchen. And while he was here, we thought, what the heck, just have him add gas to both fireplaces for inserts. Everything takes longer and leads to at least one more thing. The first picture is kind of how the kitchen looked just before the demolition except the refrigerator had already been moved around the corner to the dining room which is our makeshift kitchen for a couple months. The second picture show how it looks after everything is out - tile gone - cupboards gone - counter tops gone - wall board gone - some subfloor gone. Now we will start to put things back together. I am excited - I think.

Mom . . . Then last week Mom decided it was time for her to really move to Bozeman so I went to get her from Missoula and brought her over here for a week. We found her a really nice condo that was being sold by three grown kids for their Dad who had just moved into assisted living. It is going to be really nice to have her close and I know we will get our mother/daughter mojo back which is a blessing for me. She will move toward the end of July after closing.

4th of July . . . This weekend, my son and granddaughter from Portland are coming to visit for the week. It is going to be a marvelous 4th of July and week. Lot of memories are just waiting to be made.

Question for you . . . No quilting going on. In fact, I have to go outside to get to my studio as it has been all sealed off with the demolition. The plastics are coming done tomorrow for the next week while everyone is here. We will clean things up and get by. The electric stove is now temporarily in the back area we call a "butler kitchen" where we had 220 already from a time when that area was a laundry room - it might stay there. It is a fairly new, smooth top, black Jennair. There is a sink there with countertop so it wouldn't just be sitting there, but would be built in. I am wondering if it is crazy to have two stoves. Most of the time when I cook for family or company gatherings I would love to have two ovens, but there is no room in the kitchen for a built in dual oven and I don't like the way the dual oven stoves have the big oven so low. I will have a new gas stove in the kitchen. Do you think it crazy to have two stoves?