Suanne's Back

I got back last night from my road trip to Quartzsite, AZ.  I had a great time with some fellow travelers, as well as loved just being on the road.  For more details on that trip, visit my travel blog.  Although it's nice to travel; it's also nice to be with John and our animals.
  Today I took it easy as I'm getting over a cold.  John continues to take care of his chickens and spend time with friends and family. 

Our '59 Chevy Apache Truck

With the nice weather, John took our '59 Chevy Apache Pickup out for a spin.  Next week he has his first follow-up CT scan after his kidney removal.

And She's Off

Unless I get snowed in, I'm heading south tomorrow to Quartzsite, AZ.  I hope to take the coast down, avoiding the snowy I-5 passes.  It should be a beautiful drive.  I'm looking forward to seeing some of my traveling friends in Quartzsite, a snow-birders haven.

Car packed and ready

John's Facebook post says, "Well it's Sunday and we have no snow here.  Suanne is getting the urge again.  She is going to leave on a trip to meet up with a group of friends.  So, leaving tomorrow and will be back next month.  We are going to have to nail her shoes to the ground.   So, it's going to be me and the girls. PARTY!"

Given that the "girls" include a dog, parrot, and a flock of laying hens ... I say "Go For It John!"  Actually, someday I hope he'll want to go traveling with me.

This past week I had a physical and my eyes checked.  My vision prescription is just a tad bit stronger for book reading.  My cholesterol and blood pressure were both high, but not high enough to require medication.  I don't like taking meds, so I was glad for that.  But, it's a wake up call; so, I am cleaning up my eating to get those numbers down, as well as my weight. 

The Prius got her regular maintenance yesterday and she's mostly packed.  So, now for a good night's sleep.

Happy 2011

Here's a newsy post to say all is well as we begin this new year. 

We had a quiet New Year's Eve.  Cameron and Jasper stayed home sick; and I was getting a cold as well.  So, we didn't set any fireworks off, but watched the celebrations on TV instead.  On Facebook, John's post said, "You know you're getting old when: you can't make it to midnight, its too cold out side, everybody goes to party except you, and you have to explain why you didn't set the fireworks off on new years. So happy new years to all the friends that can make it. You go guys. Do it for me."

John is all but healed from the kidney surgery.  Hopefully he will continue to be careful for a couple more weeks so his incisions can heal completely.  To make sure he remains cancer free, John's next full-body scan is on February 8th.

John and helpful friends continue to clear out the storage units he got on auction.  In the past John has found some unexpected treasures in these abandoned units, but this time that was not the case.  Bummer.

Our next big activity is to sell our current home, then purchase and move to a new place.  We need to get into a single-story house without stairs; and we want to move closer to John's parents home in Yelm.  John and I started listing exactly what we need in a new place.  For starters, we'd like to be in a private location with mostly level acreage, but within a half hour of a major medical facility.   We don't want to be on land that floods, in a manufactured home, or working on a fixer-upper.  We also don't want to incur any additional debt from the sale, move or purchase.  And the list goes on .... eek, I can feel my stress level rise as we talk about these things.  We've lived here, in our first home, for almost 20 years.

In preparation to putting our house on the market, we will do another round of getting rid of stuff that we don't want to move.  We scaled down a lot last winter, but now it's time for round 2.  

In another week, I'm heading down to Quartzsite, AZ to visit some of my traveling friends.  Just call me retired, a regular snowbird.  This week I'll be packing up and doing some car maintenance.  I'll also be getting some personal maintenance (physical, eye exam, etc.) to make sure I'm running well, too. :-)

2011 is shaping up to be a busy year.