2018 - Juggling Life Club

[Carolina]

Bucky, of course 'thinking about projects' is part of juggling projects.

Today my big project is hosting my bridge club.   I've fretted over managing it all before they get here.  But I'm ready with some time to spare.

HOWEVER, it exhausts me to do this.   I've had to sit down to rest twice.   Moving things around while using a walker is very tricky!  Not juggling but a cousin of 'juggling', I think.


Carebear I hope your husband and your granddaughter are recovering.  I'm impressed by your project with the playroom.  And know the joy of growing things in pots.  Cherry tomatoes are so rewarding!

Our bathroom remodel is done, except for some baseboards and paint touchups.  I 'see' everything that needs to be done, but since I don't 'do it' I have to bite my tongue so I don't 'remind' my husband about the little things that aren't finished.  He doesn't like my reminders.   I have to let go, but that's so hard when I keep SEEING the unfinished things.

That is harder than juggling, I think!

I once took an online test, one of those 'find the things that are different' or 'match the things that belong together'.  I scored so high the test indicated that I might be OCD.  Now I always admired OCD People that organized their closets by color, etc.  But never counted myself among them.  I guess I'm borderline.

I have been known to get up in the middle of a Board Meeting to straighten the pictures on the wall across from me.  Yeah, OCD I guess.

So having most everything managed by someone else (my husband) is very stressful for me.  He loves: lots of furniture in one place (small tables, useless chairs, etc), piles of papers and books.  He doesn't see: dirt (the areas around all the door handles are almost black!), crumbs, sticky stuff, coffee stains running down the counters....eeek, the list is endless.   He doesn't mind: cooking odors, a full cat box, etc.   I often think I'd be happier in a retirement apartment, cleaned weekly, with only my own stuff to manage, meals cooked in a kitchen far away from me.  BUT, that isn't the answer.  So I 'juggle' my feelings, the things I notice and 'struggle' not to harp on what I see that needs 'fixing'. 

The project that I'm contemplating AGAIN is transferring all the VHS tapes to DVD.   We have about 50 VHS cassettes.  I did transfer about 5 of them, making fancy labels and everything, but they went missing and I think my ex DIL either has them or had them and threw them away.  So I have to start over.  I have weddings, and proms, tree trimming parties, birthdays, and vacations to Spain and France.  I only made VHS recordings from 1989 to 1999, and then I just stopped making recordings and taking pictures.  Just lost interest.   Now I rely on my children to record history.

This is a perfect task for me, and I have the VSH/DVD machine for making the transfers.  OR I could take the VHS tapes to one of the large chain drug stores that will put all the VHS tapes on a website for me to edit!  That sounds really great, and then they put the edited version on a DVD.  Of course, they should really be on a flash drive and in the Cloud.  But I think they do that too.

I just have to GET OUT the VHS tapes, which are upstairs in a box.  I also have a box of blank DVD-RWs.  As a perfectionist (who knew?) I want the tapes edited very carefully, since there are even long places where I forgot to turn off the camera and recorded the seat back.  You know.

The key is to get started.

And I love reading about the things that other people are doing.

Regards, Elaine

[Bucky]

Some of the best things in life - weddings and babies.  This past weekend we enjoyed both!  One niece got married, and another niece had a baby!

Life can have so many ups and downs . . . I hope you have more UP days than down and look for something good in each day!

Bucky

[Bucky]

I'm happy to report that I got one of my "projects" 95% completed.  A couple of years ago I had asked our son to put some weed barrier material down in the flower beds and then we put pea gravel on top of it.  I'm not sure what he did, but we had all kinds of weeds in that flower bed . . it was awful!  Sooooo, I took all the pea gravel out, took up the old weed barrier, pulled a lot of vines that were under the weed barrier, laid down a layer of newspaper, new weed barrier material (with 20 yr. guarantee), and put the pea gravel back in.  Whew, what a job!!  I still need to get a few more bags of pea gravel to fill in the sparse areas and put the flower bed border back in to complete the job. 

I have moderate degeneration in my spine, so doing all that shoveling, bending, etc., probably wasn't the smartest thing to do - but, I wanted it done, so I did it.  Hopefully, there were be NO weeds there this year (and hopefully, for years to come).

This week, I hope to take a strand of Christmas lights off the front porch (need a ladder for this) and put the extension cord away that's running the length of the front porch.  (I'm leaving the Christmas lights up on the front of the house so they will be ready for next winter.    )  Again, the lights was a project I wanted done, and hubby doesn't do ladders, so I did it myself (in 40 mph winds!).

Anybody have any news to share of what they are currently "juggling" in their life?

Bucky

[irish]

I am still juggling emptying the junk out of my house and trying to unpack the odds and ends in my coop. It is getting better but is greatly hampered by my carpal/ulnar nerve compression in both wrists and recent surgery on one wrist. However, since I came up to the son by the cities the son and DIL down home have spray painted the basement and basement stairway walls and painted the upstairs bathroom. She also put my dining room set on line someplace and sold it some days ago and also got rid of my newer loveseat and older bed frame. I told her she could sell furniture on the curb. I gave her a commission.

I managed to paint 8 registers in the house and i took me 2 different days. Got that much done before surgery cause I knew it needed to be done. I love to paint and I enoyed doing it but could hardly get off the floor and wrists were killing me. I have done a ton of painting and staining over the years and would get a big glass of ice with Pepsi and turn on talk radio and just paint away and enjoyed the moment.

I had a really big bedroom in my old house in the country and hubby went fishing in Canada in late 90's and it took me 3 days of painting to get that room done. DIL living next door was due with 1st baby and cleaning like crazy....buy she waited till my hubby came home to have the first grandchild.

Then hubby fishing Canada again about 2011 and it took me 3 days to paint the living room and hall. Then 8 months after he passed away it almost did me into paint 3 bedrooms and scrape the carpet off one floor.

This is the slow decrease in energy and strength of an old Sjoggie as the years go by. We do what we can and then some until we have to watch others work, My gosh, if I could go back I would never complain again about too much work. That is a word of foolishness folks!!!!!!Take care all and pardon my reliving the past. Irish

[Carebear]

A new hobby we have taken up is to volunteer at our local animal shelter.  It was very difficult for me at first, and I was so conflicted.  Our dear sweet little guy passed away a year ago, and I was still pretty raw when we began.  But now we can't wait to drive there after supper, or on the weekend.  Sometimes we stay for four hours!

Now with the beautiful weather we can take the dogs out for long walks too.  This is good for the pups and for our us as well.  Especially after our rough year.  And my granddaughters love to talk about the dogs and visit the shelter with us from time to time.  It's the one thing we all happen to have it common - our love of dogs.

So my basement project is moving very slowly, but it is moving.  The planters will be ready for planting in four weeks or so.  I can't wait!

Everyone continues to heal from their spine surgery and concussion and Sjogren's!  Life is good.

[Bucky]

"Juggling Life" . . . what a roller coaster ride that can be!! 

I'm still at a standstill with projects I'm working on.  Sigh! 

Today, I'm juggling being a parent with a son that is 900+ miles away in another state transitioning from college life to starting a full-time job and his career.  He's our only child and it's hard for us as his parents not being there to help him move into his new apartment today and tomorrow.  He ran into a snafu this morning with the move and now it's throwing off his plans for the day by several hours.  He's going to have to come up with a Plan B in order to finish everything up by noon tomorrow when he needs to vacate his current college apartment.  We're hoping the apartment complex will work with him to allow a few more hours before he is totally vacated from the current apt. tomorrow as he has a 2-1/2 hr. drive one-way to his new apartment in another town.  He's making several trips back-and-forth to make the move.

I sit here in another state, keeping up with the progress by text wishing I could be there in person to help, and I can't.  Oh, I could have very easily been there to help - but . . . our son wanted to do it on his own . . . and so he does.  A part of me so wants to say, "if you had listened to my advice a month ago, you wouldn't be in this position right now" . . . but, he didn't.  So, now he learns first hand that maybe mom & dad DO know what they are talking about.     Live and learn!

I'm still adjusting to this "empty nest" chapter of parenthood.  It's hard to sit on the sidelines and just "watch" instead of jumping in and being in the middle of this journey for a young adult.  It will all work out - we'll go out to visit him in late September once he's gotten all settled in.

In the meantime . . . I'm just practicing breathing today!     Breathe in . . . breathe out.

Bucky

[Carebear]

Oh, Bucky.  I feel your heart aching.  It is the hardest thing to be a good parent, and let the wee ones make their own way.  That was what all your hard work was for, all those many years, but the adjustment for everyone can be hard.

It's okay to not be okay right now, Bucky.  As you said, it will all work out.

Hey!  I have some great Life Juggling stuff happening!

Two years ago my little dog Andy suddenly became very ill, we made that terrible decision that pet lovers dread.  Our hearts were broken for a long, long time.  I think mine was in itty bitty slivers.  When we held him for the last time, I told myself "Never again."

Fast forward to this Janaury when we began volunteering at the local animal shelter.  We walked the dogs, loved them up, brushed them, and gave them treats.  There were some who we grew very close to, and when they were adopted out we had mixed feelings.  But we knew they would each thrive in their new homes.

Then six weeks ago we met Josephine.  Everyone loved her - volunteers and staff alike.  She was the sweetest, dearest little girl.  We would again walk her like we did all the other dogs, when one day we gave her what she really needed.  We held her for hours while she slept in our arms.  The poor thing was exhausted.  She was a sentitive soul and with all the noise and confussion in the shelter, I doubt that she was sleeping. 

So what began as a casual vist, here and there, turned into a daily event.  We would race to see her if only for 45 minutes.  When she had her major surgery, we were there first thing in the morning and at her dinner time to make sure she told her medication.  And we held her so she could get some sleep.

Josephine, the little 12 pound, 8 year old sweetie...put my heart back together again.

We brought her home three weeks ago.  She wakes me up each morning by wrapping herself around my neck and giving me kisses.  She grunts and squeaks as if she is talking to us.  And she is teaching me to really live in the moment.

[Bucky]

Awe, Carebear - I loved reading your story about volunteering at the local animal shelter and falling in love with Josephine.  I'm happy that your new fur baby is a part of your family and fits in so well.  A win/win situation for all of you!   

Since my last post, our son is all settled into his new town/new apartment/new job.  Thankfully, his college apartment complex extended the noon deadline to accommodate his trips back & forth between the apartments.  He even got the okay if it lasted later than the office hours that the apartment management office was open to just drop the key off in the box (which is exactly what he ended up doing). Yay, it all worked out!

From the phone calls and texts, it sounds like our son is doing well.  That helps this mama's heart - although, I still miss him and wished he had moved closer to "home".

As far as my projects I'm working on - I finished up one of the flowerbeds and still have mulch to put down in the front flowerbed, but just haven't done it yet.  We've bought the mulch, we haven't spread it yet.  There are a bunch of day lilies there and they need to be thinned out.  They are blooming right now and I don't think you're suppose to dig them when they are blooming.  Does anybody know anything about that?  I wish I could ask my dad - he was a landscaper - he passed away in 2013, so I can't ask him.   

Today, I finished up washing and ironing the remaining curtains in the house that I didn't get to in my spring cleaning.  Yay, that's done!

I continue to sort through papers and keep my shredder busy.

Since our son is living out-of-state, I have claimed his closet!     Last weekend my husband put up some shelves in there so I can stack folded jeans, capri's, etc. on them.  Just curious, what items in your closet do you fold and which do you hang up?

For some reason, and I don't remember why, my husband never did put closet doors up on our sons closet.  We have them in a box out in the garage, but they were never put up.  Now, my husband wouldn't be able to do the project and we'd have to hire someone to do it.  Soooooo, I was thinking of just using a tension rod in there and hanging curtains there to cover the closet.  What do you think?  Any input? 

Have a good day in whatever it is you are "juggling in life".

"Never regret a day in your life:  good days give happiness, bad days give experience, worst days give lessons, and best days give memories."      (Lessons Learned In Life Inc.)

Bucky

[Bucky]

Hi - my, my, the months just roll by, don't they?    "Juggling Life" just keeps on changing as the hours, days, weeks and months roll by.

I'm happy that I finally DID complete several of my projects for the year.  It always seems to take me much longer to finish them than I think they will take.

In the last few days of October I finally got to spread the mulch in the flower beds - the idea was to do that this summer, well . . . it didn't happen!!  Better late than never.   

We went out to visit our son in CO in September.  It was nice to see the area where he lived and do some sightseeing in the area.

Here we are in the last few days of November . . wow, where did the year go to??  For me, it went by super fast!!  I just hope our winter months go by just as fast!

Along the "juggling life" lines . . . there has been a change in plans since the last time I wrote in June.  As of three weeks ago, our son moved back home.  His new job was stressing him out and literally making him sick, the cost of living in CO is expensive, etc., and it wasn't worth it.  HE decided to come back home closer to family and find a job here in the area.  We never told him "why don't you come home" . . . but have always let him know that he COULD always come home. 

As in all the different "seasons of life" a parent goes through with their child/children, it's a struggle for the child too as their lives change as they get older.  Now, in this new season of having our son back home, it's "different" than when he left.  We have to give him his space and not lecture him about every little thing, to give him privacy, etc.  We have reminded him through the years that as parents, we DO have life experience that he doesn't have yet - that it's okay to listen to our advice/suggestions.

Since he moved back into his old bedroom, I have lost my extra room to put my stuff in.     Shoot . . . we had just put in extra shelving in the closet in that room and it was working out so well for my needs.  I had to push and shove stuff back into my closet in my room.  I have downsized and donated items, so I did make some progress in that area this past year. 

Anyhow, as is the case, "juggling life" is something that is constant, and ever evolving.  Every time you think you have it all figured out, something comes along and changes everything.

I am planning on continuing this "Juggling Life Club" in 2019 and hope that more members will join in.  The journey is a little sweeter with others joining in and supporting each other along the way.

Enjoy the month of December as 2018 is quickly coming to an end.  Share what you can with others if you are able and pass along kindness to those you come in contact with.

Bucky