Welcome 2009 -- An Update
The holidays have come and gone...They were both fun and meaningful...and now here we are -- 5 days into the year 2009 and 5 days closer to SPRING! First, an update on my physical condition:I have an appointment with the surgeon this coming Thursday (Jan. 8) at which time I expect he will tell me what kind and how much more Physical Therapy might be required to get me back into shape. I have had considerable discomfort the last six weeks, especially muscular pain around my waist, but none of the shooting pain or Sciata that had gone on for months before the spinal fracture was discovered. On Saturday, I actually was driving my big tractor and raking stone dust around in the run-in shed without much discomfort at all. This is an indication that most of the post-operative healing is complete -- but I still didn't push myself past the point of exhaustion. If I have learned anything from this experience, it is that (while I hate to admit it) at age 55, I can't do things like I used to! I'm fighting the aging thing tooth and nail, but realizing my limits is inevitable.My part-time seasonal job is over for the time being. This was one of the worst years sales-wise on record and all that remains at this point is the annual inventory. I helped some with it last January, but the truth of the matter is there are people working there who need the money much more than I do. Also, it's very cold in that warehouse this time of year and just sitting in one place counting items is torture for someone like me who hates the cold and for whom sitting still is almost impossible. I told my boss when I stopped in on Friday to get my paycheck that I would help if they needed me, but to please not call me as long as there were others willing to work who were truly in need of the income.So today I will try to get myself into "clean out and organization" mode. This is something I struggle with...I am a habitual packrat and hang on to some things for reasons I can't explain. Last year after Christmas I did pack up about 5 boxes of Christmas decorations and collectibles that no longer interest me and either gave them to friends or donated them to local charities. That in itself is a very cleansing feeling -- but there are still lots of "things" around this house that I need to weed out.I never take my Christmas trees down until Twelfth Night (January 6) but because I don't have one BIG tree (I have about 7 little ones all decorated in different themes) I can take a few of them down today. I have decided to repaint the stairway and hallway upstairs in the next few weeks, so putting Christmas things away first is the logical move. I hope I will be able to get these chores done before being called back to work...sometimes they get a rush on orders from various wholesale customers to restock after January inventory!This week, besides my doctor appointment on Thursday, I have to drive a good friend to the airport -- tomorrow morning, in fact. Unfortuntely, the weather is not looking good for tomorrow at all -- forecast is for sleet, freezing rain and perhaps SNOW (the dreaded "S" word) and I am not a fan of navigating even locally in that kind of weather. Hopefully, it will hold off until afternoon. I have to leave with my friend by at least 7 a.m. to get her to BWI in time to make it through Security and get on her flight. Keeping my fingers crossed that the weather doesn't impede us!Also under the heading of "General Preparedness" I have to take my big honkin' pickup truck to town today to get gas, fill up the gas cans for the generator and snowblower AND get diesel fuel for the tractor. At long last, NEXT Tuesday, a long time friend is coming up from Baltimore County to get all the horse-drawn wagons and running gears and single trees and double trees out of my barn and shed! These are items that the EX didn't want...and so he left them here for me to deal with. (What he DID take was an antique horse-drawn market wagon and a darling little spring wagon that we had bought for our 10th wedding anniversary many years ago. It irked me that he insisted on taking it -- even though I knew he was sending it to auction -- because I did enjoy harnessing Strollin' Nolan from time to time and taking a little buggy ride around the neighborhood here. Oh well...) Anyway, my friend is coming to get all this stuff which will give me loads more space in my machine shed that I need for other things. I will finally be able to back the tractor all the way in there so the bucket doesn't hang out being exposed to the weather. And getting the rest of the junk out of here that my Ex collected over the years will remove all the last traces that he ever existed. Ahhh! What a relief that will be!Other than these mundane things, nothing real new or exciting going on. Tom and I love our peaceful existence here. This farm is down in a valley where it is very quiet and private. I have always valued my privacy and places like this are a rarity around these parts anymore. The next BIG EVENT will be our trip to Barbados -- we leave March 5 and will return on March 13 this year. (Eeeks! That's not much time for me to lose 10 lbs. and get my "easy bake oven tan" going! but I'll squeeze it in somehow). Then last night, Tom got a call from his best friend who lives in Vero Beach, FL and the friend wants us to come down and spend a week sometime in the near future. We already looked at possible dates and we may go as early as January 30th! So I might get TWO much needed getaways from winter in Maryland. Just have to check with the housesitters to see if they would be willing to come stay another week in addition to our week in Barbados.
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