A New Chapter: September 2015

My next job? Hey, they left the equipment here overnight...

It's been so long since I've written that it's hard to get back to my blog. I don't really know what to say except that life has been crazy. Of course I always say that, don't I?

We started our landscaping project with removal of sidewalks and bushes. It was an incredible process to watch. A few "before" and "demolition" pictures, and hopefully the "after" pictures will come in October.

Front of garage.

Front of house.

Is this cool, or what?!

First time for everything. Concrete truck in front yard!

Finished sidewalk. Dirt sloping away from house. No landscaping.

We had a little family gathering to celebrate my brother-in-law Eric's 50th birthday. Good food, lots of laughter and a cool summer evening. Awesome time!

Family celebration!

Our friend John moved out of his apartment, and Mike and I lent a helping hand. Once again I am firmly convinced that all of us collect too much stuff over our lifetime...

Mike, John and Bill

Mike and I took a day off from chores and went to Illinois to find Mike's old swimming hole. By searching on Google Maps, he was able to locate the place. It had been 50 years since his dad took him swimming here. Although we didn't swim(this time), we enjoyed searching for fossils and shells in the river bed.

Salt Fork of the Vermillion River.

Invitation to sit and relax.

I spent several days with mom last week when she got out of the hospital. While I was there I got to watch nephew Adam's cross-country run. As a sophomore, he finished in 4th place in this city-wide meet!

Adam on right.

Adam took me for a ride in his new Jeep. A bit wind-swept with the top down, but totally worth it!

Soon I'll hit my 4 year anniversary of being retired. And this summer I decided that I'm ready to get involved in some new activities. No! No! Not work! I want to do something fun...

Mike and I signed up for a jewelry class, and we started it a couple of weeks ago. It is a metal smithing class, and so far we've been learning to saw metal so we can start our first project: a pierced pendant. Although Mike is an old hand with these tools (saw, Dremel tool, drill press and metal brake), I am learning how to use most of them for the first time. It's a new challenge that I'm definitely enjoying.

And I decided to become a volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House. We had our orientation session this week, and I can't wait to get started.

Jackets and sweaters going away...

And speaking of work, I finally decided to get rid of those old work clothes. I parted with some work clothes a couple of years ago, but I saved some "just in case".

After deciding they were out of style or the wrong size, I decided to purge. I donated 4 bags of clothing, and it was a wonderful feeling. Amazing that my closet now contains only the clothes I wear today.

I know, this was way too much diverse stuff to catch up on. But that's called my life...

And of course I encountered some beautiful scenes along the way...