Happy New Year - Happy Trails

I've been trying to upload some posts.  Nope, you didn't miss them. They aren't there. I have been experiencing "issues" with Blogger using my iPad. The Blogger app keeps crashing. If I try to access the edit page on the blog from the Internet, as I do with my computer, I can only see part of the page. And then, pictures. Ay yi yi - that's a whole 'nuther layer of frustration! So even though I have some posts from our Hawaii trip and life since Hawaii, they will be put on hold for a while. 

So, today is the first day of a shiny new year. We have a clean page in a new book. We can all write our own stories! 

First, in order to begin the story of this year, I need to back up a bit.

We are on the road, in Florida right now, heading to Red Bay, AL.    One might think we were a yoyo! We stopped in Red Bay on our way to Florida for the holidays. It was the most amazing Red Bay experience as most everybody waiting for service at the Tiffin Service Center had given up and gone on their way to wherever they were going. We came in on the afternoon of the 21st, and were in a service bay at 7 AM the next morning. Seeing as how so few people were there for service (16 motorhomes were there in the evening, 8 there by noon the next day) we had at least 4 tech teams at our beck and call, and a few specialists who helped out when needed. Our list of about a dozen small things was addressed promptly, and we were on our way by 1:30 PM on the 22nd. Unfortunately, one item could not be addressed because of time, and another item came up during our visit that would take more time than they had. So we went on down to Florida to surprise the folks, and now we are heading back up to Alabama (hence the yoyo comment). 

Mr. Dreamy is behind the wheel 99.999999% of the time. I spend my time navigating, calculating mileage, miles per gallon and other things involving numbers. I jot down notes about campgrounds and fuel stops. I stare at the scenery. I wait on Mr. Dreamy, bringing drinks and food. I do puzzles and try to write blog posts. I plug destinations into the GPS. I change radio stations as we move out the f range. Occasionally I knit or do some hand sewing. On our trip to Florida, Kansas was a binding of a quilt. Oklahoma was a hanger pocket on a wall hanging. Arkansas was buttons on snowman pillows and arms and faces were embroidered in Mississippi. The quilt got some hand quilting in Alabama and Florida. 

When I was a working woman one of the most challenging (and hated) tasks I faced was writing long range plans. I guess I am more of a spur-of-the moment, que sera, sera type of gal. So as I look at this blank book for 2017, I am finding it difficult to consider what this year might look like and how I might help shape it. 

Balance will be key. I feel anchored and stretched between my dad and Mr. Dreamy's mother. Picture a gecko with one little sticky foot in Colorado with my dad and another little sticky foot stuck in Florida. Dad is 95. He is bed bound. His needs are taken care of by competent and caring people. His wife is emotionally needy, and she grabs my little gecko leg and is holding on tightly to try to keep me in the area so I can help her. My MIL is 94. She is frail and her memory is like a radio station on the edge. At some moments it connects and comes in quite clearly. Most of the time it is garbled, picking up bits from other broadcasts on the air. She and her second husband are receiving care in an assisted living facility. My husband's sister bears the brunt of helping Mother understand her life. Yes, you are married to that man. No, you are not in a hospital. This is your home. Her life is interrupted by phone calls from Mother seeking clarification. She makes numerous trips to the facility and takes Mother and her husband on occasional jaunts to a restaurant or shopping. When I am around my SIL I sometimes feel that she is drowning. I see the panic in her eyes and she is desperately grabbing onto my little gecko foot. 

My other sticky feet juggle the needs and concerns of my husband, my boys (young men) and myself. It is sometimes difficult to shake those loose. I can't be everything to everybody all of the time and I will need to work toward achieving and maintaining holonomy.  

As I think of this coming year Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken" comes to mind. We are approaching the point where two (Three? Four? More?) roads diverge. Mr. Dreamy can't live in Colorado. He is finding it more and more difficult to breathe due to the progression of COPD and some days a short burst of mild activity requires a rest with oxygen. So we will be doing some exploration. Luckily we have the motorhomes so we can live in other areas of the country for a period of time and "try them on for size". And this will help us fine tune or wish list. My poor little metaphorical gecko will be doing some more stretching. Add to that the challenges of cleaning out a house and barn and doing all of those things that need doing when getting a house ready to go on the market.  This could be an interesting year!