It's Time to Change My Focus

For the last month Tom and I have been focused on helping Jill and the kids get comfortably settled into their newly purchased home.  

This house was built in 1960 and for most of it's life it was lovingly cared for.  But we have learned that it was horribly abused for three years and then vacant, and finally rescued by Fannie Mae, who restored it cosmetically.  It is a clean, solid house.  But the plumbing and electrical were not really checked or fixed.  We spent $2250 to get the plumbing unclogged and functioning.  Tom is still figuring out the wiring.  He gets one thing fixed and another problem occurs.  One light fixed, and another stops working.  Outlets still need to be replaced, but some are waiting because the circuitry is still a mystery.  Now the new wall oven doesn't work. Tom has been wonderful in putting up with these frustrations and working through the issues.

This week, after working at home in our own yard, we worked outside at Jill's house, moving dirt, and spreading gravel to increase the parking area and leveling a pad for the storage shed we moved from the rental.  After the site has a chance to settle, we will reassemble the shed.  Then we can get Jill's van in the garage along with her car.

Today we helped Jill move some furniture around and add a guest room bed she bought at a friend's yard sale yesterday.  Jill still has boxes to unpack and organizing to do, but right now she is finishing up report cards and  will have parent conferences the next two and a half days.  She has been a trooper, battling through a days long migraine headache.  I think she has come through that finally. 

We will be having Thanksgiving without the kids this year.  With the divorce still a recent event, there are firsts to be dealt with.  The kids flew to Colorado Saturday morning and will be gone all week.  None of us here are happy about that, but Dad and the other grandparents will be happy to have them for this holiday.

I am hosting Thanksgiving dinner and starting tomorrow I am changing my focus.  I am going to prepare a beautiful setting and a lovely traditional dinner for my adult children, my sister-in-law and her partner, my cousins and my Aunt, all of my Seattle family.  

I am going to go for my daily walk, enjoying the cold, clear weather while it lasts.  And I am going to start thinking about Christmas.

Tom will still be needed to fix things at Jill's house, and sometimes I will help too.  And I will certainly be working in the yard there when the time comes.  I have newly rediscovered this week how much I prefer working outside to being inside. It must be the farm girl in me. But for now my heart and my head will be here at home.

And I intend to fully appreciate the beauty of the season.  I started that today.  

As Tom was finishing up, I went for a little walk in Jill's neighborhood as the sun was setting.  A block away I got views of Mt Rainier.

And then as the sky got all pink, I hurried back and announced that we were leaving and we had to go to the marina right now!  Only about two miles away, we watched another beautiful day come to an end.

I'm glad I had my iPhone camera!

And I am very thankful for all that we have and all that we are still able to do.