Back To Me

Dec 31, 2019

What a year it has been! Where do I even start?!?

Back in January our electric furnace died on us! Luckily, we had the wood stove. But, on the other hand, if I didn’t have the wood stove payment, I would have been able to replace the furnace. Catch 20-20, right? If I didn’t have to do this, I could take care of that…right?

While the wood stove is work, I enjoy it. The heat from the stove is much better than the electric furnace! My mom always said the furnace produced a cold heat…it could be 72 degrees in the house and still feel cold, walking around in sweaters. With the wood stove, at 72 degrees I’m walking around in shorts and a sleeveless top! It’s usually somewhere around 80 degrees in the house. I have been known to wear a sports bra and shorts…

Things were kind of quiet through out the summer…enjoyed my pool, which needs to be replaced in the spring! It sprung a leak somewhere, it’s old! Everything in this house is old…LOL! Well, almost everything! (The roof is relatively new! and so are the wood floors and carpet!) Anyway, it’s not worth trying to fix or patch… I’ve had the pool since 2011 or so. It’s just one of those pools you can get from Wall-Mart for $200 or so.

I quit my job in October! I just couldn’t do it anymore… I realized that being a caregiver wasn’t where I was supposed to be, wasn’t my calling, so to say. And I didn’t have a back up plan… Sometimes, that’s what happens. It’s happened to me before, actually, when I worked at the Ground Round as a server. They shut their doors, went bankrupt…and just like that everyone was out of a job! I called my parents to tell them…and long story short, I didn’t have to find another job as long as I helped with my mother (she had aplastic anemia), and helped out around the house. While I did help my dad take care of my mom in her final days/years, raised my son by myself (with a little help!) and I was my dad’s caregiver, being a caregiver wasn’t/isn’t my place. Anyway, come the new year things will change. I’ve got some ideas up my sleeve…

I have always been an artist! Ever since I could hold a pencil or crayon…art was my thing! While in high school, every class that wasn’t mandatory was an art class! I got my AA in art from the local community college and BA in Photography from Shepherd University (West Virginia). I didn’t get into digital photography until I went to Shepherd. I love the darkroom… the smell, the process… and eventually would like to set up my own darkroom in the basement. So, 2020 and the years to follow will be centered around art…in some way, shape or form!

water color paintings…please ignore the reflection in the top one? Actually, the blue reflection is me, so…

Also in October, we had a tree come down on the house. Or at least part of one! This happened about the same time that I quit my job.

We felt it hit on the other side of the house! No damage was done and, the best part? It got cut and stacked for the wood stove. Luckily, the tree was far enough away that it wasn’t a major threat to the house! Of course, where it broke helped, if it had uprooted, we probably would have had damage.

What you see in the photo above was the second part that came down…the first part came down away from the house a couple of days before. The main trunk is still standing. Eventually it will be cut down…

We got out and about more this year…not as much as we used to, but more than we had the year before. In 2020, I plan on doing more “getting out”. Hiking, fishing, exploring…that’s my plan!

And of course, a camera will always be close by! With all the extra attachments as well!

Over the summer the fridge went up and in November, the washing machine went up! They were both old! I’m just glad that, for the most part, most of the things that quit through out the year are relatively easy/cheap fixes! At least I won’t have to worry about these things for a while!

Now, just for that leaky faucet in the tub…

And for 2020? Only time will tell! I have hopes and plans…most of which center around being who I am meant to be, and is for another post!

Hope you have an absolutely fabulous day and stay safe what ever you are doing for New Years! I will probably be working this afternoon, so I may or may not be back later! If you do hear from me, it will definitely be a short post as I have pretty much been up since 230am! And this post is much longer than normal 🙂

Thanks for stopping by!!