Catching up

Let's play a little speed round catch up so you have a little inkling of an idea of what I'm rambling about.
My Mom passed in January 2012. We spent many months helping Dad clean out the house. Mom was a borderline hoarder. We had 11 yard sales in 7 months. Yep, you read that right. We were still living 3 hours away, it wasn't easy.

Flash forward a few years. Dad had a few health scares and in August of 2016 we decided to combine households. None of us wanted to move into the others domain, so it was decided to move from Demorest GA and Hendersonville NC to Dunnellon, FL.We had a few adventures along the way, there will be stories, but only whenever I remember them.

Dad passed in July of 2018. It was tough. His heart finally gave out. My brother Kevin was nearby and had spent the few days before with Dad. Nestor, of course, was my rock.
I went on my own solo adventure, visiting Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas in September. Then our entire world was rocked in November of 2018.

November 12, 2018 started off normally. On his way home from work, Nestor suffered a stroke. I got him to the hospital where his blood pressure was so high they thought the cuff was broken. He's recovering, not as fast as he would like, but the progress is astounding.

So, that's the last eight years in a few sentences. I figured I'd get the not so good stuff out of the way, so we could enjoy the rest. I'll leave you with this picture of most our family taken in July of 2012 when Kirk and Anna were married.

💖 Sharon

I think it may be time...

Goodness so many things can change in 8 years. At the behest of my husband and dearest friends I'm writing again. There's so many stories to tell, things to catch you up on, rambling memories and ideas to share that I'm not sure what this will become. Blog, memoir, book, essays, who knows. I thank you for being along for the ride.
I'm not going to even attempt to put out a schedule of frequency. Some things will be hard for me to revisit. Most will be stories of adventure and life changes. There won't be a linear timeline in any way, that would be impossible for me. My brain is like that pinboard site. Ooooooh! That looks interesting and then, 2 hours later, you can't remember what you started out looking for. Squirrel!
Hold on to your hats, this will be a fun ride.
Sharon

Hello, again

Wow. It's been more than a year. I think I should be embarrassed, but I'm not. It has been a year of change, to say the least.

For the few of you that aren't immediate family - those by blood or those chosen - I'll catch you up to date on what has been going on in my life. Family, you can skip ahead, catch up with me towards the end so I can share with you where I am going, and the path I plan to take.

My job with the Bear Park ended in June of 2011. My Mom was diagnosed with cancer in July of 2011. I started back to school, full time, in August of 2011. Mom passed away January 9th 2012. It has been a whirlwind of a time, helping Dad with sorting through a house full of stuff, being in school and just life.

My brother, Kirk, got married in July. It was joyous time with lots of friends and family celebrating with him and his bride Anna.

The family has reconnected with my middle brother, Kevin. He's changed so much and it has been a wonder to get to know him again.

I'm a photography student at a local-ish technical college. Yeah, I know. I've been a photographer of some type for 25+ years, but when you decide at 50 you finally want a degree isn't it best to go with what you know? I'm learning new stuff. I am holding on to a lot of practices that I learned with film, digital is almost too easy - but photoshop is scary!

I think I want to do travel photography and writing, but I love taking pictures of products and food as well. We'll see where I end up, probably taking pictures of babies and puppies!

That's all that's been happening, for now. Dad and I took an epic trip last week, and I will be adding pics and stories in the next few days. At least once I recover from driving 2000 miles in 6 days!

In Sickness and in Health

It's been a yucky week. What I thought was allergies has turned into a full blown chest cold, with allergies. Add in menopausal issues and a soon to be full moon and I am one ugly person. Kinda makes The Bride of Frankenstein look like Shirley Temple if you know what I mean.

I've been sick all by myself this time and I think it's made everything worse. Nestor and I tend to catch colds or the flu within a day or two of each other. We like it that way. We know people that want to be sick alone, to be babied and be cared for by their loved ones. I guess we're strange. No, we don't like to be sick, but if we've got the same thing at about the same time we can play off each other's strengths - like who goes to the store to get the ginger ale and saltines, or who makes the scrambled eggs for supper. We know what the next symptoms are and can be at the ready.

Being sick by myself means there is no commiseration in the moaning and groaning. He's been a prince braving the cold medicine aisle at Wal-Mart, trying to figure out what to make for supper, taking care of all the household stuff while I doze in the rocker. He's spoiling me more than I already am, but it's not right being sick without him. I am so lucky.

A week ago my Mom turned 70. She and Dad came down from NC for a visit and to celebrate.

They made it down in time for lunch, so I made chicken salad with all the fixings, chips and sweet tea. Mom didn't want any fuss, but who am I to listen to my mother? Matching plates, napkins and party hats!!

Ah, she's not gonna be happy about this pic, but oh well!

After lunch Mom and I headed out for some shopping at Publix. There are no Publix stores in NC, so whenever they come to visit, or even if I am headed up there, a stop is a necessity. We did make a detour by the new Babyland General Hospital where I got her a birthday sticker. Yep, I made her walk around wearing it, too! It was quickly peeled off as soon as we got into the car. There was a bit of a minor protest, but I think she had a good time. Publix is exhausting when you are with someone who doesn't get to go often! While we didn't hit every aisle we spent time in a good many of them!

We came home and Paula's mom, Chris, stopped by with our order from the organic foods vendor. Great box of goodies, we ordered again this week! Paula came by for dinner and more festivities. Justin had to work.

See the pretty flowers? They were from Justin and Paula for Mom. They rode home to NC strapped in a seatbelt on the back seat. Last I heard they are still fresh and beautiful.


We had supper, taco salad per Mom's request, then a gluten free cake and lemon and raspberry sorbet. We didn't sing, we are so bad we make dogs in the neighborhood howl, but I did get party blower thingies. Dad and Paula had a great time annoying Mom with them!

We went outside and waited for the super-moon rise. It was overcast, so only a few glimpses were to be had. Oh well, lively conversation and general merriment was better than any moon!

We got up early on Sunday morning for computer lessons. Mom is new to the computer world, and I've been trying to help her learn via the telephone. It was so much easier in person!

It was a great weekend and I hope Mom had a memorable 70th.

How does time fly!

A while back I wrote of my zinnias, and how a cute little guy sat down right in the middle of the flower bed. I can't look at zinnias without thinking of my buddy Andrew. Time has flown!

How did we go from this cute little guy winning the Peanut King crown...

To this?

I'm not old enough for this to have happened! Learner's permit will become a driver's license. Oh my!

He's one smart kid. He was skipped a grade and is now a sophomore at 15. I found out today he was accepted into dual enrollment at a local college. He plays guitar at weddings, and is the most humble polite kid I know. His Mom and Dad did a great job. Congratulations to all of you!

I started this one a week ago!

Whew! Yep, I've been gone 2 weeks - ish. Sorry about that.

Ok, so I've had homework, mid terms and now final exams. I've discovered in one of my classes that my type-A, perfectionist tendencies don't mean a thing. Spelling and the fact that some people use words they can't read, nor do they know the meaning of, gets the same grade. Grrr As for math, I'm finally re-grasping all that stuff we learned in middle and high school. There have been moments where the light bulb has flashed on because I recognized a problem, but just as quickly the light was extinguished as I had no clue what I was doing to solve it. I took half of that final last week and have the 2nd half tomorrow. Whew!