The blog had all but been abandoned this last year due to many circumstances beyond our control. I've not been a fan of John Lennon since he left the Beatles, but he got this one right.
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." John Lennon
Life is slowly creeping toward some sort of normalcy. (Whatever that happens to be). I went back to work last week and got my first real paycheck Friday. WOOHOO!!!!!! (Laid off 09/16/08)
This past year has been a roller coaster since our Texas trip in May of 08.
Remodeling our Kids' 1907 Pasadena home was an endurance test for all concerned but I truly enjoyed and miss working with my son in law. Did I mention that we miss the G Kids? A lot? The last time we were together the baby was turning 1 and we were pleased to enjoy her first forays in vertical mobility.
So Cool !!
May 2008. We went to Fort Worth TX for our niece's graduation from TCU. Much fun with my parents and sibs. BTW, the Prius has turned into quite the road car, I mean it's not a '56 Buick Roadmaster or anything close but does rather well, considering that it gets 45mpg at 80mph. I'm good with that.
More on Texas discoveries in another entry.
Upon our return the whole fam was gearing up to meet at sister sibs on the beach in SoCal for several June birthdays when my younger bro Michael died from a heart attack. Twice tragic for my parents as we lost my older bro in 1966. We got together anyway as we could do nothing about the situation and together was better than apart. Needless to say it was not a festive time. Life goes on though.
We began our excursions to Pasadena in late July 08 to remodel the Kids' home adding an 860 sq.ft. Master Suite in the existing attic. Weekends only until the economy rolled over and coughed us out with me getting laid off in Sept. I have to say that not worrying about my job and using unemployment to travel wasn't so bad, but as I mentioned, it was an endurance test for all. Raising a 3yr old and a newbie in 1 bdrm guest house for 11 months is no picnic.
WARNING: Pasadena building codes are the worst that I have ever built under.
We finished and they moved back into the house in May 2009 only to have their jobs call them to another state. Surprisingly, it didn't bother us, we were happy to see them move to a more rural area.
Goats and all.
About the same time in May 09, my father in law began to experience minor head strokes that caused him blindness and short term memory loss.
Mind you, this was a robust 91 yr old who had only recently given up square dancing. His gradually declining health was an insurance nightmare for months. Medicare and Medicaid are anything but Care and Aid. The SYSTEM caused us to move dad 5 times, always in the middle of the night, before we finally quit the SYSTEM and the sibs paid out of pocket for his care. He was convinced all along that the coverage he had was adequate. Gov't Health Care is a joke.
Dad succumbed to his failing health on Aug. 12, 2009.
There was a service in Las Vegas and then I drove my wife, Mother in Law and two sisters to South Dakota to fulfill dad's request to be buried with his children's mother.
Like I said it's been a rough year and I'm glad to be back to work.
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." John Lennon
Life is slowly creeping toward some sort of normalcy. (Whatever that happens to be). I went back to work last week and got my first real paycheck Friday. WOOHOO!!!!!! (Laid off 09/16/08)
This past year has been a roller coaster since our Texas trip in May of 08.
Remodeling our Kids' 1907 Pasadena home was an endurance test for all concerned but I truly enjoyed and miss working with my son in law. Did I mention that we miss the G Kids? A lot? The last time we were together the baby was turning 1 and we were pleased to enjoy her first forays in vertical mobility.
So Cool !!
May 2008. We went to Fort Worth TX for our niece's graduation from TCU. Much fun with my parents and sibs. BTW, the Prius has turned into quite the road car, I mean it's not a '56 Buick Roadmaster or anything close but does rather well, considering that it gets 45mpg at 80mph. I'm good with that.
More on Texas discoveries in another entry.
Upon our return the whole fam was gearing up to meet at sister sibs on the beach in SoCal for several June birthdays when my younger bro Michael died from a heart attack. Twice tragic for my parents as we lost my older bro in 1966. We got together anyway as we could do nothing about the situation and together was better than apart. Needless to say it was not a festive time. Life goes on though.
We began our excursions to Pasadena in late July 08 to remodel the Kids' home adding an 860 sq.ft. Master Suite in the existing attic. Weekends only until the economy rolled over and coughed us out with me getting laid off in Sept. I have to say that not worrying about my job and using unemployment to travel wasn't so bad, but as I mentioned, it was an endurance test for all. Raising a 3yr old and a newbie in 1 bdrm guest house for 11 months is no picnic.
WARNING: Pasadena building codes are the worst that I have ever built under.
We finished and they moved back into the house in May 2009 only to have their jobs call them to another state. Surprisingly, it didn't bother us, we were happy to see them move to a more rural area.
Goats and all.
About the same time in May 09, my father in law began to experience minor head strokes that caused him blindness and short term memory loss.
Mind you, this was a robust 91 yr old who had only recently given up square dancing. His gradually declining health was an insurance nightmare for months. Medicare and Medicaid are anything but Care and Aid. The SYSTEM caused us to move dad 5 times, always in the middle of the night, before we finally quit the SYSTEM and the sibs paid out of pocket for his care. He was convinced all along that the coverage he had was adequate. Gov't Health Care is a joke.
Dad succumbed to his failing health on Aug. 12, 2009.
There was a service in Las Vegas and then I drove my wife, Mother in Law and two sisters to South Dakota to fulfill dad's request to be buried with his children's mother.
Like I said it's been a rough year and I'm glad to be back to work.
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