2015 UPDATE

The best laid plans, and all that......

In January, Mom got diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer called Colangiocarcinoma - bile duct cancer - which had metastasized to her liver, and other places.  She moved in with my brother and a lot of time was spent traveling between Oregon and Washington to spend time with her and help take care of her.  She passed away on December 7 and we had her funeral on December 12.  It's only been one day since her funeral, but it seems like it's been forever.

In August, a wild land fire burnt over 100,000 acres around our place, including everything of ours except the house.  So, all the projects we had planned went up in smoke - literally.  The bikes and dirt bikes burnt, the Cadillac, all the tractors, all of Jim's tools, the barn, the shop, the bunk house, the work shop, the outhouse, plus all the trees around our place.

So, as of this time, we are in a bit of limbo.  I quit my job in November at the credit union to help take care of Mom and to recover from surgery. Jim's last day of work will be December 31.  Our plan was to move to Washington so Mom could move back into her house and we could take care of her there to give my brother some help.  We are still going to move to Washington to fix the place up so we can sell it.  We aren't sure what we're going to do after that.  We're hoping to get it done within 3-6 months. We may sell our place but we're just going to concentrate on one thing at a time. 

Jim has a couple of job offers.  He wants to work part time so he can work around Mom's house.  I am hoping to find something I can do online so that wherever we end up, I can be mobile and work from home, or from the road. 

We are SO VERY READY for 2015 to be behind us, but don't dare say 2016 will be better because we made that mistake in comparing 2015 to 2014.  So, we'll just pray God gives us strength to take things one day at a time and enjoy those around us.  We have a new perspective on "stuff." We lost 75% of what we owned, yet we are able to carry on without it.  Certain things we miss - tools and sentimental items - but we have found out that "stuff" doesn't contribute to our happiness or well-being.  As a matter of fact, it drags us down. 

We'll start 2016 with a clean slate and jump into whatever adventures we find with both feet and open eyes.