Sooo.... over a year later....
(This was started sometime in December of 2015)
Well, hello to all my friends out in LJ land! It's been a while. It certainly has.
Lessee.... what happened after losing the job and the apartment and just about everything a year ago? Hmmm... Well... Of course, I was technically homeless, but that was - and continues to be - less of a problem than the word itself connotes. I was helping to care for a nonagenarian in her home, overnights, so for a few nights I had a bed to sleep in. On the off nights, I had been offered - of all places - the spare bed back in my ex's house! smh You never know who you will need to help you out of tough situations... It was nice to be able to be around the cats again (my life continues to be such that it would be plain unfair to the cats if I were to take them out of their current house) and having the amenities of shower and laundry was good... but once you get asked to leave somewhere, it just never feels the same, ya know? *shiver*
So, I don't really remember everything that happened later on that Fall and into Winter... The 95-year-old I cared for grew into something of a friend. As I found out consciously just this morning, I lean very heavily into seeing caregiving as more of a relationship than a job, so I read to her, sat and knitted with her, fixed her evening tea, and sang silly songs with and to her before putting her to bed. She had an outdoor cat that I became fond of, and after putting her to bed, I would let the cat in to sleep with me on the recliner. When his feet hit the floor, I was awake and would put him outside. It killed me to see him outside on the really cold days, but she was adamant about not letting him in.
I got a really nice - I mean, NICE - tax return this year. I bought a camper and the truck to pull it with from a friend who also gave me a place to hang out during the day while I had no place else to go. It got moved to another friend's property 25 miles from where I bought it, to stay while I worked out the finances to get the truck fixed enough to pass inspection (I'm STILL paying down THAT bill!) and get tagged. The truck is legal. The camper has been more of an issue. Everything took so long that the money ran out. PLUS.... there was so much water damage from a couple of small leaks that were ignored over the years that one friend's husband darn near had to rebuild the thing just to take out the damaged wood framing and put up new stuff. It took weeks, and he only worked on it on weekends because of his job. But, it's done now, and it's wonderful. I only have electricity hooked up, (when you're in someone's back yard and there's no zoning allowance for fully functional RVs, you roll with the punches) so it's more like a bedroom/workroom than an actual home. So I go into "the big house" (my term, I thought it was funny) for any water-related needs. They love me - they are some of the best of friends - so I pretty much come and go as I please. But I still want to get the money together to get the camper tagged so I can get on the road and get out of Maryland.
My client was put in a nursing home back in early November. I was the catalyst for that, because I was not able to make ends meet, or even wave at each other from a distance, so I got a different job... 75 miles away in a completely different County. The family had already prepared for the eventuality of me leaving because they could not find a replacement for the night shift. Like most things, there's pros and cons for this situation, but I believe it's the best thing for me for now. The pay is decent and the work isn't hard... but it's kinda going Back to the Future because I'm taking care of an old friend and previous client from back in the 90s. I did not want to come work for her again - her home is completely uninviting to the ambulatory. She's in a wheelchair and does not see the need for furniture she will not use because it takes up floor space she needs to get around. And it smells. That's another reason I didn't want to come back here. Her home smells of dog and cat and mustiness and decay; that last is because of the 100 or so houseplants she grows as a hobby, and also due to the compost worms she has in the living room creating the soil she needs for her houseplants. One of these days I'm going to start a GoFundMe page for her to get an extensive greenhouse put up for her, enclosing her front ramp so she can get to the plants and clear up some room in the house.
(continued on 1/1/16)
What was the point of all that I said? Just catching up? Perhaps. My life is so full of things that just "have to get done" that if I don't finish what I'm working on right now, it will be discarded out of neglect. This post is a case in point.
Christmas was good - spent it at Viv's. Same with New Year's. Hope everyone reading this fared well. I was pleased that I was able to buy some small gifts on my five youngest grandchildren. The oldest one is going to be 17 in February and lives with his father. A fine young man, from the posts on Facebook. His father did a good job. Anyway, the small gifts went into stockings, and everyone seemed to enjoy the balloons, punch balls, cute Christmas-themed erasers, pipe cleaners, gimp, beads, books, paddle balls, and crayons and coloring books. The girls liked the fairy wings and wands I got them. The older kids got chocolate wrapped in Christmas foil. (I know better than to give chocolate to toddlers.) They had fun, I hope. The oldest granddaughter is being raised in a completely different culture than mine, so she dumped her stocking on the floor and just played with what amused her, instead of taking the time to look at each item with any kind of appreciation. That bothered me, and I left soon after delivering them. Besides that, please pray for my daughter, y'all... She's... not heading in a good direction.
Last night I got an invitation to go to Oregon, meet some Patriots, get involved with the Hammond situation out there. It's completely and totally an Agenda 21 land grab, and the Hammonds are being jailed on trumped-up charges. Plus, it would get me out of Maryland! But I am financially not prepared to go anywhere. I still need to put money aside for any kind of egress, especially a sudden one, and I realize now that I can't wait on getting the camper legal. I have to get the title transferred and get the thing tagged and ready to go. Which bill shall I set back one pay period to get this done? Hmmm...
Anyway, my sister sent me a really sweet package from her state - two pair of slippers, nice fuzzy p.j.'s, an electric throw! (now that I'm really out of propane, that will be nice) a package of teabags and one of hot chocolate, a new bathmat (they make bathmats with memory foam?) and a wreath for the door and a tiny tree complete with a package of tiny ornaments to hang on it. She even thought of insoles for the one pair of slippers for when the inside gets worn out... Now, who thinks of including insoles with a gift of slippers? My sister does. She's like that - she thinks about the unusual as well as the practical. She's always been like that.
I spent last Sunday evening with my oldest brother and his wife - we had our Christmas dinner together, and I was gifted with a really pretty necklace (sterling silver and some green stone that might be jade) some body wash and lotion, a battery-operated candle, a box of chocolates ("Please get this box of chocolates out of here!") LOL and a plate of leftovers with containers of leftovers, with the turkey carcass which has already been cooked up into vegetable soup and consumed with great pleasure. I shared that with my good friends who are hosting my camper in their back yard, so I was very glad to do that. That friend gifted me with a really pretty shawl, so I will always have a hug from her!
A few days ago, I wore a couple of thin cotton skirts to see how it felt to wear a skirt again. I liked it. I prefer skirts. But I have worn jeans for years now, almost non-stop. I have been sleeping in my clothes for about a year, so I don't even wear sleepwear much. The point is, besides losing two homes in just over a year, and not really having any settled time anywhere enough to call any place "home" (though my camper is my "home") it is extremely cumbersome to cart around nightclothes as well as day clothes. Plus, the thought is in the back of my head, 'what will I do if I have to jump up suddenly in the middle of the night and have to go somewhere?' Trying to find outerwear while coming up from a sound sleep, with an urgent need to be up and out, doesn't lend itself to jammies. Paranoid? Perhaps. But it's my life now.
I live from day to day, I'm not particularly "happy" in the sense that I'm cheerful, but my emotional state is level and determined. I'm clear-headed, but feeling my age sometimes. I'm happiest when I'm warm, dry, and sitting with my knitting. Sounds like a grandmother. Good thing I are one. LOL
If I could choose anything for my readers to be guaranteed of for the new year, I would choose Awareness. Be aware of your surroundings, keep your ear to the ground, and don't let anything take you by surprise because you were 'sleeping' or otherwise not paying attention. Awareness brings Insight, and Insight can lead to Gratitude, and goodness knows, we all can use a little more Gratitude. Makes life so much easier to live.
I'm signing off here. It's time to work on breakfast and get some things done here at Viv's. Her worm bin needs to be taken outside so they can be fed, and the fruit flies need to be vacuumed off the ceiling. Can't take a breath without worrying about a fly getting sucked in. This is what happens when you have a compost worm bin in your living room because you don't have a greenhouse to keep it in. Not my lifestyle - she likes having her houseplants and it's about all she has to keep her busy. She's in a wheelchair, but there's nothing wrong with her mind. She needs a hobby - and houseplants it is. Two rolling shelving units and four stationary shelving units - all 5-tier - not to mention the hanging plants and the plants on the floor... Literally, the woman has converted her living room into a nursery. She has one narrow path from one door to the other for her wheelchair to get through. The rest is plants or bird cages (a blue-headed Pionus and a Congo African Grey). Anyway... Time for coffee and breakfast.
Wishing you all well. I know my FB posts get under people's skins, but Paul Revere rode through the streets in the middle of the night to warn the folks of impending danger. I'm just a watchman on the wall.
*sigh*
Well, hello to all my friends out in LJ land! It's been a while. It certainly has.
Lessee.... what happened after losing the job and the apartment and just about everything a year ago? Hmmm... Well... Of course, I was technically homeless, but that was - and continues to be - less of a problem than the word itself connotes. I was helping to care for a nonagenarian in her home, overnights, so for a few nights I had a bed to sleep in. On the off nights, I had been offered - of all places - the spare bed back in my ex's house! smh You never know who you will need to help you out of tough situations... It was nice to be able to be around the cats again (my life continues to be such that it would be plain unfair to the cats if I were to take them out of their current house) and having the amenities of shower and laundry was good... but once you get asked to leave somewhere, it just never feels the same, ya know? *shiver*
So, I don't really remember everything that happened later on that Fall and into Winter... The 95-year-old I cared for grew into something of a friend. As I found out consciously just this morning, I lean very heavily into seeing caregiving as more of a relationship than a job, so I read to her, sat and knitted with her, fixed her evening tea, and sang silly songs with and to her before putting her to bed. She had an outdoor cat that I became fond of, and after putting her to bed, I would let the cat in to sleep with me on the recliner. When his feet hit the floor, I was awake and would put him outside. It killed me to see him outside on the really cold days, but she was adamant about not letting him in.
I got a really nice - I mean, NICE - tax return this year. I bought a camper and the truck to pull it with from a friend who also gave me a place to hang out during the day while I had no place else to go. It got moved to another friend's property 25 miles from where I bought it, to stay while I worked out the finances to get the truck fixed enough to pass inspection (I'm STILL paying down THAT bill!) and get tagged. The truck is legal. The camper has been more of an issue. Everything took so long that the money ran out. PLUS.... there was so much water damage from a couple of small leaks that were ignored over the years that one friend's husband darn near had to rebuild the thing just to take out the damaged wood framing and put up new stuff. It took weeks, and he only worked on it on weekends because of his job. But, it's done now, and it's wonderful. I only have electricity hooked up, (when you're in someone's back yard and there's no zoning allowance for fully functional RVs, you roll with the punches) so it's more like a bedroom/workroom than an actual home. So I go into "the big house" (my term, I thought it was funny) for any water-related needs. They love me - they are some of the best of friends - so I pretty much come and go as I please. But I still want to get the money together to get the camper tagged so I can get on the road and get out of Maryland.
My client was put in a nursing home back in early November. I was the catalyst for that, because I was not able to make ends meet, or even wave at each other from a distance, so I got a different job... 75 miles away in a completely different County. The family had already prepared for the eventuality of me leaving because they could not find a replacement for the night shift. Like most things, there's pros and cons for this situation, but I believe it's the best thing for me for now. The pay is decent and the work isn't hard... but it's kinda going Back to the Future because I'm taking care of an old friend and previous client from back in the 90s. I did not want to come work for her again - her home is completely uninviting to the ambulatory. She's in a wheelchair and does not see the need for furniture she will not use because it takes up floor space she needs to get around. And it smells. That's another reason I didn't want to come back here. Her home smells of dog and cat and mustiness and decay; that last is because of the 100 or so houseplants she grows as a hobby, and also due to the compost worms she has in the living room creating the soil she needs for her houseplants. One of these days I'm going to start a GoFundMe page for her to get an extensive greenhouse put up for her, enclosing her front ramp so she can get to the plants and clear up some room in the house.
(continued on 1/1/16)
What was the point of all that I said? Just catching up? Perhaps. My life is so full of things that just "have to get done" that if I don't finish what I'm working on right now, it will be discarded out of neglect. This post is a case in point.
Christmas was good - spent it at Viv's. Same with New Year's. Hope everyone reading this fared well. I was pleased that I was able to buy some small gifts on my five youngest grandchildren. The oldest one is going to be 17 in February and lives with his father. A fine young man, from the posts on Facebook. His father did a good job. Anyway, the small gifts went into stockings, and everyone seemed to enjoy the balloons, punch balls, cute Christmas-themed erasers, pipe cleaners, gimp, beads, books, paddle balls, and crayons and coloring books. The girls liked the fairy wings and wands I got them. The older kids got chocolate wrapped in Christmas foil. (I know better than to give chocolate to toddlers.) They had fun, I hope. The oldest granddaughter is being raised in a completely different culture than mine, so she dumped her stocking on the floor and just played with what amused her, instead of taking the time to look at each item with any kind of appreciation. That bothered me, and I left soon after delivering them. Besides that, please pray for my daughter, y'all... She's... not heading in a good direction.
Last night I got an invitation to go to Oregon, meet some Patriots, get involved with the Hammond situation out there. It's completely and totally an Agenda 21 land grab, and the Hammonds are being jailed on trumped-up charges. Plus, it would get me out of Maryland! But I am financially not prepared to go anywhere. I still need to put money aside for any kind of egress, especially a sudden one, and I realize now that I can't wait on getting the camper legal. I have to get the title transferred and get the thing tagged and ready to go. Which bill shall I set back one pay period to get this done? Hmmm...
Anyway, my sister sent me a really sweet package from her state - two pair of slippers, nice fuzzy p.j.'s, an electric throw! (now that I'm really out of propane, that will be nice) a package of teabags and one of hot chocolate, a new bathmat (they make bathmats with memory foam?) and a wreath for the door and a tiny tree complete with a package of tiny ornaments to hang on it. She even thought of insoles for the one pair of slippers for when the inside gets worn out... Now, who thinks of including insoles with a gift of slippers? My sister does. She's like that - she thinks about the unusual as well as the practical. She's always been like that.
I spent last Sunday evening with my oldest brother and his wife - we had our Christmas dinner together, and I was gifted with a really pretty necklace (sterling silver and some green stone that might be jade) some body wash and lotion, a battery-operated candle, a box of chocolates ("Please get this box of chocolates out of here!") LOL and a plate of leftovers with containers of leftovers, with the turkey carcass which has already been cooked up into vegetable soup and consumed with great pleasure. I shared that with my good friends who are hosting my camper in their back yard, so I was very glad to do that. That friend gifted me with a really pretty shawl, so I will always have a hug from her!
A few days ago, I wore a couple of thin cotton skirts to see how it felt to wear a skirt again. I liked it. I prefer skirts. But I have worn jeans for years now, almost non-stop. I have been sleeping in my clothes for about a year, so I don't even wear sleepwear much. The point is, besides losing two homes in just over a year, and not really having any settled time anywhere enough to call any place "home" (though my camper is my "home") it is extremely cumbersome to cart around nightclothes as well as day clothes. Plus, the thought is in the back of my head, 'what will I do if I have to jump up suddenly in the middle of the night and have to go somewhere?' Trying to find outerwear while coming up from a sound sleep, with an urgent need to be up and out, doesn't lend itself to jammies. Paranoid? Perhaps. But it's my life now.
I live from day to day, I'm not particularly "happy" in the sense that I'm cheerful, but my emotional state is level and determined. I'm clear-headed, but feeling my age sometimes. I'm happiest when I'm warm, dry, and sitting with my knitting. Sounds like a grandmother. Good thing I are one. LOL
If I could choose anything for my readers to be guaranteed of for the new year, I would choose Awareness. Be aware of your surroundings, keep your ear to the ground, and don't let anything take you by surprise because you were 'sleeping' or otherwise not paying attention. Awareness brings Insight, and Insight can lead to Gratitude, and goodness knows, we all can use a little more Gratitude. Makes life so much easier to live.
I'm signing off here. It's time to work on breakfast and get some things done here at Viv's. Her worm bin needs to be taken outside so they can be fed, and the fruit flies need to be vacuumed off the ceiling. Can't take a breath without worrying about a fly getting sucked in. This is what happens when you have a compost worm bin in your living room because you don't have a greenhouse to keep it in. Not my lifestyle - she likes having her houseplants and it's about all she has to keep her busy. She's in a wheelchair, but there's nothing wrong with her mind. She needs a hobby - and houseplants it is. Two rolling shelving units and four stationary shelving units - all 5-tier - not to mention the hanging plants and the plants on the floor... Literally, the woman has converted her living room into a nursery. She has one narrow path from one door to the other for her wheelchair to get through. The rest is plants or bird cages (a blue-headed Pionus and a Congo African Grey). Anyway... Time for coffee and breakfast.
Wishing you all well. I know my FB posts get under people's skins, but Paul Revere rode through the streets in the middle of the night to warn the folks of impending danger. I'm just a watchman on the wall.
*sigh*