Sunday

Well, DAMN. Closing did not happen.

Three days before closing, our broker Greg was notified by the bank that they had re-reviewed the appraisal, and noticed that the   gossipy damn  appraiser had written in her  official report that in talking to the Realtor she learned the new owners were planning on replacing the roof. Also that the pool was going to be brought up to speed.

Now, never mind that the appraiser was completely unprofessional: She shouldn't have mentioned this in her official appraisal!  She definitely was not involved in the roof or the pool inspections even. How dare she pass on gossip with the Realtor??  What damn business is it of hers what we plan to do? For all she knew the roof was just fine, and we just wanted to replace it because we didn't like the color!  Instead, she felt it was her business to mention a rumor in a professional appraisal.
 
Never mind that the pool has been neglected for almost a year--naturally, because no one has been living there. Despite the official inspection, the 36-page report which does  mention the condition of the roof and pool along with everything else, this appraiser felt it necessary to give her opinion about what the new owners were going to do.  This opened up a huge can of worms and the bank then put a hold on the whole sale. I want that appraiser to be fired, or at least officially reprimanded.

Closing has now been moved to "on or before 2/29".  ARGGGHHHH.

Well, I'm going to get myself all upset all over again. I have to stop and breathe.

The upshot is we had to scramble to get the Realtor, the broker, the title company, and my wonderful sister and her husband to collect official statements from a roofing contractor and a pool company, and get them to the bank. These statements need to point out that 1) the roof is just fine for 2-3 years, and 2) the pool is not hazardous to anyone's health in its current condition.

However, I do think this is all going to work out. The broker, Greg, assures J that this is all the bank is looking for. J jumped on all of this like a hero, and has been coordinating via text and phone calls and emails who does what.  The roofer will write an official statement, and then we will use his company to do the repair after closing.  The pool company will do the same.  Assuming the bids are within reason of course.

SO disappointing.  I was so looking forward to putting in my resignation tomorrow. Now, who really knows when that will happen. It could take as long as the end of February. Whenever it does, I will give 2 week's notice, and we will be driving East the day after my last day.

J did point out that even if closing doesn't happen until the final day allowed, the weather going across country should be better for driving. Yeah, wonderful news. I feel so bitter and frustrated. I'm trying to calm down, and to accept this gracefully, but it's hard.

In other news: MissS is away for the weekend again with her new bf, Aaron. On Friday she took her kitten down to the low-cost clinic for spaying, and then came back up afterwards to our house with the kitten, and with her bf whom we met for the first time. She dropped the kitten off, packed, and they were out the door 30minutes later. I've seen a couple of photos she has posted--they are at the coast. It sounds like she is very happy.

Yesterday J and I inventoried and measured almost every single piece of artwork hanging on the walls. J then will be able to take this list to Uhaul tomorrow and get the correct amount of packing boxes for the move.

We were supposed to go to the university's gymnastics match yesterday since I had free tickets from my employer. But by 4pm it was so cold it was raining hail, and we were warm and cozy inside--so we just didn't go. It was peaceful inside.

Today after my walk with my friends I will be preparing for the appointment next Saturday to have our taxes done. That means going through all my files and folders, and separating out the various papers we need. It usually takes me 2-3 hours.  I had wanted to go to a movie this afternoon, but once again that is not going to happen--not enough time to do everything. Weekends need to be three days long. 

Tuesday we have a mobile groomer coming to the house. She will be giving Missy a professional "puppy cut" and clipping both dogs' nails. The puppy cut is necessary. After a year with us her hair has grown out a lot from the badly-shaved shivering little thing that arrived here---but her hair is so fine it mats at the drop of a hat. It's so hard to keep her looking nice.

So a puppy cut is where instead of trying to grow out her hair to be long and sleek like Murphy's (hah!), the groomer will cut all her hair so they are only an inch or two long. It will give her freedom of movement, and match her personality: she is so damn active, such a hyper little thing. I think it will be a lot easier to take care of. Long hair like a traditional Havanese suits Murphy, but a shorter cut will fit her better.

She has decided I'm the best thing in the world, and likes to sit jammed up against me, or at my feet cuddled next to Murphy.  She dances with joy when I come home, standing on her back feet and waving her front paws so high she looks like she is going to tip over backwards.  She's a darling.

At work, the Powers That Be have asked my NP what she thinks of working part-time in Gyn, instead of Endo.  Later she asked me what I thought of that, and I assured her I would be absolutely fine with this. Gyn always fascinated me. Again, who knows how fast this would be happening, but it would definitely keep us busier. Two days there, three days in Uro.

Thursday I had one patient on my own schedule for the acupuncture treatment, and NP had one patient as a walk-in. That was it, all damn day. We literally were watching cat videos online, killing time.  Sigh.

Friday was the complete opposite: we had 8 scheduled patients, and a walk-in. The other two docs were out, so one of the RNs left at 1. The other RN and I were then handling all tasks and messages, but at 4 she got a phone call that her daughter had just fallen and broken her arm. So she asked if I was okay alone, and of course I was, so she rushed out. There was only an hour left, and we were fine.

And finally, J's daughter V emailed him 10 days ago, after almost a year of ignoring him, and silence, and her threat to have him arrested if he tried to contact her. She wants to meet with him before we leave.  J is hesitantly excited, and at the same time he is very skeptical of how  sincere she is. She wants to not discuss anything in depth; she literally wrote, let's just keep it happy and agreeable. They agreed via email to meet tomorrow, Monday, when she drives up to visit her mother, and they will go have coffee or something.  She said she would email him later when she knew her plans better.

That was a week ago. Nothing since, no word at all.

Meanwhile, all week he has been working on a letter to her, which he will give her at the end of this meeting, should it happen. He reluctantly agreed to keep it light when they meet face to face, but also decided to write a letter in which he will go into more detail on how she has hurt him this past year. This way he has the pleasure and closure of letting her know his feelings and thoughts, but she then has the option of reading it or not, and responding or not.  J would infinitely rather discuss this face to face, but since she won't, this is a good compromise.  Then he can wash his hands of the whole thing. (That's his plan anyway; I'm sure this won't be the end of it.)

So he is waiting, waiting to see if she confirms for tomorrow.  Poor guy; she is such a nasty girl, and so mean. I have never liked or trusted her, sorry to say. I do not see how she and Zeke could have come from the same union; Zeke is loving, funny, intelligent, steady, respectful, and unfailingly warm and polite. She is the opposite, and manipulative to boot. Well, we will see.

Gotta go meet my friends. It is so damn cold, and foggy, and I do not want to do this! But I know I will feel better after I do.

Sunday

We had the house appraisal and  received wonderful news. It's been appraised at 11K more than we paid. We got a very good deal despite the work we will have to have done. The work is mostly cosmetic, except for the roof.  We watch a lot of the renovation/fixer upper shows on HGTV, and while this is definitely not "move-in ready" (according to their definition), it's certainly livable-in while we do the "fixing-upping".  Getting more and more excited! 

Closing is still scheduled to take place on Friday, 1/29.  They will be over-nighting us the official papers, which we sign before a notary and then over-night back. I have a notary at work so it should be okay.  

The only hitch is my poor sister's hip--the pain she's experiencing might prevent her from being able to physically go to the bank to get that certified check (for the deposit to the people who are managing the closing). So J is looking into doing that here and enclosing it with the paperwork when we send it all back. Sis has a Dr appt soon, and hopefully she will be out of pain very soon.

Once closing happens, I will go straight to my manager on Monday morning and give my notice. It's going to upset her in a way because not only am I a valued employee but we are having a severe shortage of assistants right now. There are 5 positions open, and only 2 float MAs...once I'm gone there will be some major juggling to cover my provider's assistant position.

However, there was an interesting development last week: the management is trying to find ways to keep my NP busy. They are really worried that she might leave, because of the amount of time it's taking to build up her practice. So it turns out the one endocrinologist in our company is over-loaded with her practice, and would welcome the assistance of a part-time NP. This proposal was greeted with delight by my NP, and so who knows what wheels are turning behind the scenes. Presumably her MA would go with her, the same way I accompanied my previous provider when we went to PainManagement part-time.

So while it would be interesting to work in endo, I don't think this will be happening before I leave.  It would be great actually if it did:  the endo is a young bright personable woman who works in the same hallway as PainManagement, so I would be sitting at the exact same desk as before, and NP would be occupying the same office as my previous provider. Small world.  I get along very well with the other MAs in that hall.

In fact, Friday my NP was out again due to an ongoing illness. My manager had me work over in that hallway assisting both that endo doc and the MA who does the prior auths for Internal Medicine. We had a blast that day. It flew by, and I felt good about what I'd been able to help with. Endo could be an interesting field.  Something to consider when I look for work in Fl. I'm definitely not going to work in Uro again.

The day before, NP was also out, so my manager had me stay in Uro for that "extra training" she thinks I need. The only hitch was that there was only one doc working that day and there were none of the procedures scheduled that I need the training on.  That was fine with me. I was able to help with paperwork, making phone calls, rooming patients, and it was a very nice low-key day.

Meanwhile my provider mentioned on Facebook yesterday that she was actually feeling worse. I hope she makes it back to work tomorrow, but if not, I will be working someplace else. Sigh. Only four more weeks.

Yesterday I went to my friend Jennie's MIL's celebration of life, down in a small town near my old residence. I did feel I needed to be there to support her. It was not something I wanted to do, because I knew almost no one else besides the woman herself.  It actually turned out better than I expected: Jennie's ex Scott (the son of the woman who passed), and their only child Jamy were also there, all of them having flown out Friday from NJ.  I hadn't seen Scott since 1983, and I hadn't seen Jamy since he was about 8 or 9.  It was a real time warp experience to see them again.

I can confide here that I never thought much of Scott, just as Jennie never thought much of my ex, but we whole-heartedly supported each other's choices over the years; I have nothing but respect for the way we have been such blessings in each others' lives. She is disappointed in Jamy's lifestyle choices, just as I am disappointed in my own sons' lifestyle choices, but of course we dearly love our sons despite those extremely difficult relationships.  It's been such a comfort to both of us for so many years, knowing we both understand what's going on.

I also met Jennie's dad, who flew up from CA specifically to support her. I should have met him back in '83 when I was supposed to be in Jennie's wedding. But my own job situation changed and I ended up moving to Charleston before the wedding. Anyway it was so nice to meet him and to see their relationship. They are very close.

I only stayed an hour or so, and it was very nice. The property is stunning, with magnificent views, stables, barns, gardens, even a small caretaker's cottage. Easily worth a couple million. It was nice to see it again, for one last time. I drove back in ever increasing rain. Sigh. I really will not miss the endless grey and rain of Oregon in the winter.

When I got back home I was emotionally drained.  J and I just got a pizza, and watched an old ThinMan movie. Early to bed, both of us spent.

My daughter had another piece published in the Huffington Post. I'm so proud of her!  It's pretty exciting watching this develop in her. Then she went to a new/old male friend's house for the weekend, leaving late Friday. She is in a remote area south of Eugene, so  she can't even text me. I'm assuming she will be home sometime later today. I'm also assuming it went well, as she would have come home earlier if it weren't working out.

Today J and I will re-cover the chicken coop; it will be a temporary fix to get the coop through what's left of winter here. MissS will need to re-do this when the sun is here permanently. But it's just been torn and tattered for a few weeks and the poor chickens have no dry area left; it's just mud and dirty and the poor things always look so bedraggled.  So far its not raining yet today, but it's about 40 degrees and grey and cold. Ugh.

She and J refinished the final wall in the living room this week, and then refinished the flooring too. It just looks awesome. It was basically the final BigJob needing to be done before we leave. Makes a huge difference in the attitudes here, all around.

One bad thing though: one of the cats peed on J's side of the bed this week. Have no idea which one, or why. (My own personal theory is that there are four cats here all milling around and two small dogs, and it's a small house. There are three cat boxes, but I wonder if that's enough.) In any case, he cleaned it off as best he could, and Febreezed it, so mostly it doesn't smell anymore. This definitely means we are not bringing that mattress. It's a bummer, because we were going to use that in the second bedroom, for guests. Now, no way...   We will use the air mattress in our own bedroom until we buy a new bed for ourselves right away, and then use the air mattress in the guest room.

So many changes, so many hurdles have been overcome.  Headaches continue, but I'm living with them. Mostly they are not terrible.  I've completed  the transition to melatonin at night to help with sleep, and am so relieved it's working for me. 

Okay, must get outside before Rain starts again. I think of my friends and family back East dealing with the blizzard, and hope everyone is safe.

Sunday

Just got back from the low-cost vaccine clinic for animals at our local PetCo. Much to my surprise we were the first ones in line, so we only had a 1/2 hour wait before the clinic started. Missy only needed the rabies shot, and Murphy's isn't due until November, so she had her exam and shot, and we were out of there.

The pouring rain started during the night, and woke me around 2. I was then awake until about 4:30. Slept until 7.  I was supposed to walk with two friends at 10, but the rain was heavy and continuous, and hasn't stopped all day. So the three of us went to one's house and had coffee and talked for 2 hours. It was wonderful.

I have a dull nagging headache due to the lack of sleep, but I can deal with that.

This past week we got our tax forms from work, so tomorrow J will contact the AARP volunteers and schedule our appt to have them done.

 The house appraisal was done in Florida; now we are waiting for those results.

We had a moment of panic when we were told we needed to arrange for insurance. Two of the four suggested providers refused to provide an estimate, saying we didn't  pass the inspection because of the roof situation. The third one gave us an estimate of $700, and the fourth suggested $1000.  We went with the third guy as he was the quickest to respond. Same coverage for both. Huh.

I hadn't thought the roof was needing to be done; sis' husband  and the inspector had said we had probably 2-3 years left before it would really need it. But the insurance person saying we had actually not passed made me re-think this. J and I have discussed this, and agreed that while we have the help of my dad, we will do this now, sooner rather than later. So after closing, we can start that process.

I know nothing about roofs, but in my slow time at work, I spent time researching. I had no idea the price range was so varied!  We've decided on asphalt, in a light grey color. My research suggests it should cost anywhere from $3-6K.

My daughter is attending a funeral today, of her middle school guidance counselor; this is the woman who first identified MissS as a youngster in need of special help because of being "overlooked"at home, because of her brothers' serious issues. I'm so grateful to her, as she was the one who arranged for Lori to come into MissS' life through the mentor program. That was many years ago, and since then Lori has shared so many of MissS's big Life moments.  Rest in peace Ms Jennifer, and thank you.

Next weekend, I will be attending a service for my friend's MIL. I hate missing an AlAnon  meeting but I owe it to my friend Jennie. She has been an unimaginable support to me for all the years of our friendship.

J has been busy this week: he identified a significant source of his stress as being his expectation that MissS would eagerly jump to learn everything needed to manage this house after we leave. So he had been postponing certain tasks, thinking that MissS would surely want to know how to do these things, and he was waiting for her to say, Ok, let's do such-and-such.

 Meanwhile MissS is working hard during the week and is basically ready to just relax on the weekends instead of working around the house with J. So she has not really shown the kind of initiative J was expecting.  (Expectations: these will get you every time. I've learned that expectations are a surefire premeditated path to resentment...)  And sure enough, he was beginning to really be frustrated over not getting stuff Done.

We finally walked with the dogs one afternoon, and as he was venting in general about that and other stressors, I suggested  he just stop expecting her to ask to learn, and just do these things himself. If she wants to learn later, she will ask. And in the meantime, he would feel better being able to check things off his list instead of waiting to the last minute. 

Well, it was like a light bulb went off. He just said, You know you're right. And he started in on those things. The change in his attitude is amazing. He is much more relaxed and cheerful because there was so much to do and the time is getting short. Now he's checking stuff off the lists, and becoming more excited as the time draws nearer. Frankly, I'm very relieved too.  MissS has the basics down, and if she wants to learn, someone else will available to teach her, or she can go on you-tube to learn. In the meantime, the atmosphere here is much better.

Except for the freakin boxes everywhere.  This is the only thing getting on my nerves, really, and there's nothing I can do about it. It's going to look like this until we leave.The office area is our holding space because it's too wet to store boxes outside. I think we are up to #70-something boxes of various shapes and sizes. We have to box all the artwork yet, and about a third of the books are left; along with the TV/stereo/DVD, my desk and its contents, my file cabinet and its contents, and whichever clothes we are bringing. So we are pretty much done.

Last Sunday MissS and I had an appt for our mother-daughter tattoos to be done at 1 pm. We arrived, and the artist...didn't. We waited about 30 minutes, and no one could tell us where she was or what had happened to her.  So we left, with the understanding that when she showed up the place would call us and we'd reschedule.  I wasn't sure whether to be worried about her, or frustrated at her non-appearance.

The place did call us about 20 minutes later, and we did reschedule for 6pm that evening; when we arrived she was not exactly apologetic, and gave no explanation. But she did give us a good discount for our inconvenience. She did wonderful work: it's a very simple outline of a doe, looking over her shoulder. It's feminine, yet strong and graceful. Deer mean a lot to both of us, and MissS noted later that deer meant a lot to her grandmother also, and that seemed to comfort her.

 Hers is on her right inner wrist, and mine is above my left breast; they are small, being less than 2 inches long, and getting it hurt like anything!  This is my fourth tattoo in the past 20 years, and I swear each one gets more and more painful. It was very quick though, just about 6-7 minutes each, total,  and we were done and on our way. I loved  her artistry. We are both very pleased.

It's getting darker later and later, which is nice; leaving work during the daylight makes a big difference. But I sure don't remember as much rain before; this year I am sure we are breaking records. It seems endless.  I am so ready for warmth, and sun, and palm trees, and blue skies, and the ocean. TYG.

Sunday

I had planned to walk with a friend this morning, but just as I arrived at the meeting place, she texted me she was suddenly a witness at a bike vs car accident, and wouldn't be able to make it. So we have rescheduled for next week. And then I walked on my own. It's cold out, but not raining or foggy, so I got my Vitamin D fix from the brightness if not the actual sun.  Almost everyone in Oregon is on supplemental Vitamin D.

This past week we have more progress on the Florida move. We have "conditional approval" on the mortgage. From what I could tell, we only need now to pay for an appraisal, since the inspection is done. One of those was about $400, the other is closer to $500.  We don't do anything on our end except pay for these. And then wait for the results.

Thank God J is at home to deal with all of this! I am working all day and unavailable to manage these multiple emails and texts--so he is more than happy to take over the process. We review everything at night, so I'm fully aware of what's happening of course, but if I needed to be dealing with this while at work, it would not be happening.

 At lunch time I check email and then forward to him anything from the Realtor or the broker or whoever and then I can let it go. He takes care of it all.  Sometimes I need to print out something, and in my slow moments I can do that at work--because my very own printer is right next to me. (In my previous position the printer was in another hallway, and certainly not private. Again, thank you, God.)

J also texted the Realtor to find out if the room (which was converted from a single car garage) had had all permits obtained at the time it was done. We sure don't know when that was done. But I learned from the process of selling my mother's house that if permits weren't properly obtained, that will or can cause a great deal of grief down the road.  So she will look into that.

This past week at work I'd forgotten I was signed up by my boss to train an MA who is now a float; she will be learning all jobs at the Clinic so she can fill in for anyone. That would be my idea of hell on earth. I've written here before about how much I hate being floated to another area--I can't imagine choosing such a job. Anyway, she is scheduled to be learning urology for the foreseeable future, and Monday was her first day. 

Good lord, she is young! She is only 20. Seems very capable, competent; she has been working in oncology the past 7 months so she can certainly learn Uro. She was quite surprised at the procedures here though, just as I was. She doesn't want to learn those, and I had to say I agreed with her, and absolutely hate doing those.

Unfortunately whoever works in this department is expected to be able to do them, and to help out the RNs. I have been able to put off most of the worst ones. But midway during the week I got an email from my boss telling me that once this girl is trained, I really needed to work on getting fully trained myself. Umm. I have to go along with that right now, but hopefully I will be able to give my notice before they have to put any time or energy into completing my training.  It's so ironic: the RNs know I'm leaving, and I think the docs know, but no one can say anything yet, because it's not official. It will be in just a few more weeks...

Monday should have been her first day with me but Sunday night there was a lot of ice and snow overnight. Schools were closed on Monday, and some businesses were closed, but not ours of course. I had J drive me to work because I was not comfortable, and we did make it--but more than 25 staff called in unable to get to work. My own provider couldn't even get out of her driveway. So all her patients were rescheduled. I thought I'd be available then to help out the RNs with their patients, but my boss emailed me at 9 and asked me to fill in over in Pain Management since that MA couldn't make it either.   I'm fine with doing that, since I know that job, and working with the doc is very easy. Also we had lots of cancellations-- so it was an easy day.

So Tuesday the float showed up promptly at 8, and we jumped right in. Because of the rescheduled patients, the schedule that day was  quite full--I think we had 10 patients. That's the most we've ever done in one day. I am out of practice at  managing that many! I felt quite frazzled between all the patients, all the phone calls, all the messages from the previous day, helping the RNs, and training the float. A couple of the patients were fairly urgent or emergent, and took longer than planned.

Wednesday was much quieter, and so was the rest of the week. I'm no longer doing the gym after work so frankly that's nice-- I can go straight home. I plan on walking after I get home, either with MissS or with J.  In Florida we will have a pool! So I can do my hip work there.

J kept busy too, this week. He is getting close to being done with stuff which needs doing before we leave. The cab is now back on the truck, waterproofing and sealing done. He is packing a lot of the books and extra miscellaneous stuff; today I get to catch up on numbering and inventorying the ones he has packed.

Friday night we three were tired to the bone, mentally and physically. We decided to splurge and eat dinner out at a nice restaurant-- can't remember the last time we did that. We had coupons so it wasn't a complete budget blowout, but it was very nice to not prepare a meal!

On Tuesday this coming week J and I will celebrate the 9th anniversary of the day we actually met; we'd been emailing for a few weeks after having met through an online site. Then we agreed to meet for coffee...which turned into lunch...and within two weeks we knew we had something pretty amazing. On the one hand I can't believe it's been 9 years already, and on the other I'm astounded it's not longer.

Today will be a relaxing day. My favorite kind.

Sunday

It is a very cold day!  It's actually been a cold week, and although we did walk a few days, it's been generally too daunting to do a lot more. Today it was 20 degrees when we woke up, and there was even some snow.  J and I went to his youngest son's house for brunch and a gift exchange, and their house was even colder than ours. The roads are slick and icy, and when you turn a corner, your back end slides... it's started raining/sleeting, and is just a good day to stay inside, cuddled under a blanket. We were there at Z's a couple of hours, and are now back home.

We had a great week, with the best news being the official house inspection. My sister and her hubby went to the house with the Realtor and the inspectors one afternoon. Sis took 4 wonderful videos, the best one being 12 minutes long, where she went walking through the house, filming for me a much, much better idea of what the place looks like.  I can finally picture it entirely, almost like I was really there. I was thrilled to see it all! I was also very scared about the amount of work that is needed. But J, and Sis's husband who is an architect, and Sis herself--none of them seem too worried.

We got the emailed results of the official inspection today.  Again, it sounds scary and official to me, but as J was reading through it with me, he sounded very comforting and reassuring. A lot of this is do-able by him. Lots of the comments in the report say "repair needed", or "replacement needed". 

Particularly in relation to the roof. Here I thought the AC was going to need work-- turns out the roof is in much worse shape. So: the roof, and all existing appliances will need replacing, and the whole place needs a massive professional cleaning. It's been uninhabited since last April, so there has been some neglect. Painting all the rooms of course, some dry rot or mold around a few of the door or window entrances. Obviously the pool needs going over, and it's enclosure. If we have enough money, this will all be manageable. Nothing is urgently needed, and it's not enough to make me think this house is a mistake at all. So far, all opinions are positive, and we are hearing a lot of "congratulations!" type of comments.

Thank God, no termites, no flooding, no electrical concerns. Sis and I will all talk this afternoon about what they recommend doing before we get there, and what should be left for us to manage.

We decided to go with a local mortgage broker who has been helpful, and who offered a better estimated monthly payment and a better interest rate, which Chase couldn't match. Our--my-- paperwork has been submitted. Closing is still set for Jan 29.

These past two weeks I have been waking a lot after just a few hours of sleep. I lie there long enough to realize that I won't be falling back into slumber very quickly. So I decorate the new house in my head, or I try furniture placements in the new house. Or I ponder paint colors. Or I try to plan how to manage the costs of replacing all appliances. Thankfully there are a few Habitat For Humanity stores, and there are a lot of vintage and second-hand thrift shops--we have already looked at some of those online and are very pleased with what we have seen.

I honestly do know it will all work out; but the damn anxiety gets to me despite all my logical self-mantras.  I am so excited about the house, especially now that I've seen the longer video; we have watched each video about 4 times at least.  What's even better is that my wonderful patient darling husband is almost more excited.  And that makes me feel so relieved. I know he was worried about what he would be doing all day there in the land of warmth. But he easily will be busy with (minor and cosmetic) fixes for months to come. 

He also pictures himself fishing, and boating, and exploring the country part of Fl, as I do. I'm so excited.  I just keep imagining myself, us, living in a warm land--especially during these so-very-cold winters.

Work for me was very busy for the 3 and a half days we were there. Doc #1 and the other doc's RN were gone on vacation, so there was just Doc#2 and an RN, and me and NP. Turns out  a lot of patients just decided to be seen during the last week of 2015, and ...walked in, fully expecting to be seen. So there was a lot of logistical juggling with the schedule, and we had tons of phone calls, and I was called upon to help out a lot more than I did before. I liked it, it kept us pretty busy. The time flew.

I did have time to run over to our optical shop one morning before patients and in less than 10 minutes I chose a new pair of backup glasses from the discontinued/discounted rack. I'll be able to pick them up next week, or actually this week. I'm excited about that. I don't think I will wear them a lot, but when I do I won't be so frustrated about the work-around aspect. I've always bought the cheap less expensive frames, and as a result I never liked wearing them.

Miss S has been dealing with hand-foot-mouth disease, which she picked up at work. Poor thing has been home all week, miserable. I've never seen an adult with this,  and it looks just awful.

Yesterday J and I went to see an actual movie in a theater; we saw StarWars. It was just as good as all the reviews indicated, and I was so glad we went.

Happy 2016. A year full of changes ahead. Very exciting!!!