New Year's Eve

was one hell of a year, from start to finish.  It started with the near death of my mother, saw the birth of two grandbabies, the purchase of a new home, the arrival of a new son (and business partner) to the Ridge and the departure of another back to Georgia.  We have been through so many ups and downs this year....had a few scares along the way, and a lot of joy.  No matter how you sum it up, this year has been eventful. 

But now it's time for it to go.  It's time to do a new thing, to ring in a new year full of new events, new blessings, new adventures.  This is the year we will get the shop completed, the year we'll cut a new driveway up to our dream home, the year we start remodeling.  If luck is on our side, it may even be the year we finally get to move out of our tiny camper and into roomier digs, even if they are under construction. 

It will be the year I finally get healthy....and stay that way.  I really want to get back to running in a big way this year, and to start competing in some local races before the year is out.  To meet...and conquer...my nemesis, the Eastman Road Race would truly make my year complete.

Although our plans for spending this week with our oldest grandsons fell through, we are looking forward to spending a great deal more time with them this year, and hopefully with some of the others, as well.  It may see the return of our youngest daughter to the Ridge, and with her, will come our other two grandsons, the youngest whom we haven't yet met. I already miss my precious youngest granddaughter, Dawn, who has moved back south with her mom and dad, and am really hoping to spend some time with her big sister, Harmony this summer, if we can work it out.  And their middle sister, Rose, I haven't had a chance to spend much time with at all...yet.  All in good time, I suppose.

I still have my fingers crossed that our eldest daughter will relocate this way, too....but she's in school now, full time, and still helping my mom a lot, so that may not happen any time soon.

And although I am still blessedly employed making money that is unheard of in this area, it is a tenuous employment, at best, contingent on continued funding.  When the funding dries up, so does my job...which means I'm still looking hard for a job I can be happy in, closer to home, for the long run....or at least, until the business gets established enough that I need to make IT my full-time job.  As much as I'd love to see that happen in the next 12 months, I think it's more likely that we won't see that until the year after.

Will I be able to keep up my blogging this year, as I have in years past? I sure do hope so....it's a very therapeutic outlet for me, and one I enjoy immensely. Somehow, in the past year or so, I've slipped out of the habit, and I really hope to work on that in the new year.

There's a change in the air...I feel it, I see it, I can taste it.  I know it's coming...and I can't wait to see what this new year has in store for us.  So it is with great relish that I say goodbye to this year, with thanks for all the lessons I've learned....good and bad....along with all the blessings we've received, and say hello, and welcome to

Playing Catch-Up, Part Deux

ounding out the rest of 2012 should catch me up again...for how long, I cannot say.  Despite my best efforts, I cannot seem to get back in the habit of blogging regularly, even though I enjoy it as much as I do.  So....one of my resolutions for the coming year is not to create unrealistic expectations on myself that do nothing but put undue stress on me....counter-productive, to say the least.  Instead, I will just try to be more mindful of my blogging, going forward, and we'll see what the future holds.

Back in June, when I last posted, we were still actively working on the actual purchase of the property next door, but at the time of the writing, hadn't actually closed on it.  In July, we finally did just that, closing on the 11th, the same day that we headed to Grandfather Mountain, NC for the annual Highland Games.  This year, we not only attended all four days, but we camped out, too...and brought a good chunk of the family along for good measure.  Although it rained the entire time, we had a blast, and decided to expand our time next year to camp for the entire week, whether anyone else joins us or not.  We have no doubt that the camper will be jam-packed with Clan.

Along with Keith's parents, brother, sister-in-law, niece, nephew and wife, and sister-in-law's mother, Jessica joined us, a family friend of ours, and Jessica's aunt and cousin also came up for the day, and we had a mini-reunion, which was awesome, as we haven't seen each other for years.  We had several OG'ers come to celebrate, as well.  Irene and her friend, Lisa came from Canada and Michigan, Shelley from Maryland, Joelle from Wilmington, NC, and Anita from Sophia, NC.  Only Joelle was an old-timer; all the rest were first-time visitors.  We're hoping for more repeats next year, and would love to see some of our friends from previous years return as well.  We also had a wonderful meet-up with the Ladies of Lallybroch, a sister group of Outlander fans, and some old friendships were renewed and new ones formed.  It was great to see our friends Julie from Kingsport and Angie from Georgia here again.

In October, we were blessed with another adopted child, in the form of Jessica's best friend (and our oldest Grandson Gabe's biological father), Rick (a/k/a Irb...short for Ice Road Biker).  Irb decided to join us on the Ridge, and he and Keith formed a joint partnership in Keith's business, Phoenix Restorations & Recreations. Having Irb join us was one of the best things that happened all year; he's been such a help for me as well as Keith, and our plans took a major leap forward toward our goals being accomplished at his arrival.

Also in October, our second-oldest grandson went into double-digits, joining his brother, who had reached that milestone in July.  Their birthday request, since they hadn't been able to join us for Grandfather, had been to go to the Stone Mountain Highland Games with us.  So Poppy and I took them to Atlanta for the day to spend the day with Jessica, Katrina, and Irb.  An added blessing was that we were also able to take our granddaughter, Harmony with us. It was truly wonderful to be able to spend the day with three of our angels at once.

In November, we found out that our son, Ian and his family had decided to return to the Atlanta area, so we gained a son, and lost a son, all within a month.  We will miss them terribly, but we know that they...as all our children have...must follow their own path.

So far, December has seen a lot of working, on the part of all three of us.  Our neighbor, Jeri, who we bought our new home from this year, will be completely moved by the end of the month, paving our way to begin our renovations.  We plan on having a quiet Christmas at home this year, with none of the kids (save Irb) joining us.  After Christmas, Keith and I will go down to NC to pick up our two oldest grandsons, who will spend New Year's weekend with us.  It will be very nice to be able to bring in the new year with them.  We don't get to see them nearly enough...a condition we hope will change drastically in 2013.

Once thing is for certain;  January will bring massive changes to the Ridge, some of them long-awaited, indeed...and we are very excited to see them arrive.

Playing catch-up

ack in November, I had great expectations of being able to keep my blog up to date, going forward, at least. But then Life, in its usual way, intervened once again to keep my good intentions at bay.  In our defense, it has been a CRAZY year, so far, and shows no sign of slacking up any time soon.  However, I do acknowledge that that is no excuse for being slack, myself, so I pledge to redouble my efforts going forward....and do my best to fill in the blanks on the backside.

That said, here's a brief rundown on the main parts since November:

In December, Keith and I planned on a very special Christmas, complete with all the kids and grandkids in tow.  In order to accomplish that miracle, we rented a small cottage in the mountains north of us, that would have room for everyone.  It was great, and a good time was had by all.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch....my mom began having some serious problems with her blood platelet count, which had pretty much tanked the week before Christmas and landed her in the hospital on the Big Day.  So...while we were by all intents and purposes, celebrating in the mountains, my sister and the rest of the family were holding a vigil at mom's bedside, praying she would make it through the day with a platelet count of 1,000 to 2,000, when it should have been at least 180,000.

The day after Christmas, we loaded up the car and headed south.  That had been our intent all along, as Keith and I had planned on taking the week between Christmas and New Year's as vacation time to spend in Atlanta with family. Instead, it was spent with me sleeping at the hospital every night while the doctors worked round the clock trying to find out what the hell was wrong.

Over the course of the next month, she was transferred to Emory University, where they tried one treatment and/or experimental drug after another for Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP).  Eventually, they did get her stabilized, but then she had to stay another few weeks in a rehab facility to regain enough strength to be able to live at home.

In the meantime, my oldest daughter, Jessica, who had been in a long-term relationship, returned home to find said relationship in a shambles.  Timing being what it was, she decided to move back in with my mom to help take care of her.

At the end of February, my son, Ian and his fiancee, Elisa decided to tie the knot....which they did, on Leap Day.  Considering that she was due to give birth the following week, we were all very excited at the news.  Elisa makes a wonderful edition to our family, and she and Ian seem to be very happy together.

That pretty much brings us to March.

I have to backtrack slightly here....

Back in August, we found out that Jeri, our next door neighbor (who, incidentally sold us our property) had decided to move to Boone to be closer to work.  This meant that she would be putting her property (3.25 acres and a house) up for sale.  Keith and I struck a bargain with her that we would buy the property if she would give us a year....and in exchange for that, we would make some minor renovations for her that were necessary in order to get any financing approved on the house...which was built by her ex-husband and a lot of the finish work was never actually completed.

In March, we began the actual renovation work in earnest, with a June 1st deadline in mind.  Every weekend, and many weekdays were spent up there, building staircases and railings, replacing siding, installing cabinet doors, switchplates and outlet covers, painting, etc.

While we were doing all that, my mom was prepping to have her spleen removed at the end of May....her best option to stop the platelet merry-go-round once and for all.  During a routine MRI, they came across what looked like a huge mass in her uterus, and immediately shifted gears to combat this new threat, which the doctors agreed looked very, very malignant.  Again, we all prepared for the worst....everyone, but my mom and Keith, neither of whom believed that it was cancer.

Turns out they were right.  The biopsy showed no cancer at all!  My mom's just got a weirdly positioned uterus.  So, the plans shifted again, and on May 30th, her spleen was successfully removed.  The resulting immediate leap in her platelet levels told us that had been the right call, and I am happy to report that she is now back home and doing very well.

Jessica is still living with her, still helping take care of her, and has also gone back to school to pursue a degree in Psychology.  At present, she holds a 4.0 gpa, which I believe she has the determination to keep, and I am bursting with pride at her drive and ambition.  She might be a late bloomer, but boy...when she does bloom, she really does it beautifully!

 March also saw the birth of not one, but two new grandchildren:  Aliana Dawn Celeste Higginbotham, daughter of Ian and Elisa, on March 15th....

And Malikigh Alan Henriques, son of our youngest daughter Shanna Malii, and her boyfriend, Anthony made his grand entrance a mere four days later, on March 19th.  To say that we're proud grandparents goes without saying.  Counting the addition of Elisa's daughter Rose from a previous relationship, this  brings our grandchild count to 7:  Jessica's two boys, Dakota and Gabriel; Ian's daughter, Harmony, Elisa's daughter, Rose, and the new baby, Dawn; and Shanna's two boys, Keith and Malikigh...all extremely healthy.  We are very, very blessed.

Skipping forward now, to June...the time came, and at long last, after all our hard work, we applied for our home loan.

WE were approved....but we had to jump through massive hoops to get the HOUSE approved.  Seems nobody wants to approve a one bedroom, one bath house....even though the upstairs loft could be considered a second bedroom (and actually was by one appraiser)....AND even though we told them our plans to expand the house once it was ours ANYWAY.  Fortunately for us, the bank that already had the loan for Jeri agreed to underwrite it again for us, and so at long last, we are moving toward a closing date!

I would post some 'before' pics of the house....the original pics from the first appraisal, but I can't copy them off the PDF document.  Bummer....maybe I can figure it out somehow later.  But I will take many pics as we go through the remodel, beginning with these, which I took last night for the insurance company:

This is the front of the house, which at present faces away from the driveway.  It will not stay that way, nor will it continue to look like this.  We're tearing out this wall to make room for an expanded kitchen, and adding a new master bedroom and bath.

 The long, narrow window you can see is actually the window over the sink in the kitchen.  There is a large, long deck that covers the length of this side and leads down to where she parks her car.  I'd love to get a cleaner shot, but there's no way, with all the trees around it....one of the best features, in my opinion!

 Although the style is incredibly eclectic in architecture, by far the best part of this house is the roofline.  I do admit to loving all the windows, though....we'll most likely keep them in some form, because I love all the dappled light that filters through them.  Really makes you feel like you're outdoors, even when you're standing in the center of the house!

This is the back of the house, and the first thing you see when you drive up the existing horror of a driveway (more on that in a sec).  It's pretty plain right  now, but we'll eventually expand that too, to include a covered parking area for Keith's outdoor equipment, (lawn tractor, Bobcat or backhoe, etc.), with a deck over the top.  The windows upstairs are actually salvaged doors, and though they don't open now, they could probably be made to, like french doors.

 Another shot of the back of the house, which Keith calls the front, simply because it faces the road....although I don't know what difference that makes.  The actual road is at least a quarter mile away...probably closer to a half, and there's no way it can be seen from the house!  Which brings us to the driveway...



My nightmare.  My nemesis.  I hate this bloody driveway with a passion that is unrivaled in the annals of history.  There has never, ever been a worse one.  Believe me when I tell you that this pic does NOT do it justice.  It goes straight UP the mountain.  You have to have a 4WD...or at least an AWD...vehicle.  No way to get up it without.  None.

Usually, we take Keith's Blazer.  But last week, we traded cars with my son, Ian and his wife, Elisa, so that they would have some reliable transportation with the baby, and all....(another post for another day) so at least for the moment, we're down to my little Honda CR-V AWD.  I know that it's made that haul before, but lately, it wouldn't because my tires were shot.  Yesterday, Keith had brand new ones installed, so when the insurance company said they needed pics of the house, I volunteered (hurriedly) to take some and email them.  Why hurriedly, you ask?

If you were an insurance company, would YOU insure a house the fire department couldn't access?

I rest my case.

Regardless, the first....VERY first....order of business will be to recut this driveway....which is why Keith bought a backhoe/front end loader.  We can't wait.  Especially since, despite my brand new tires, we blew the top straight off my radiator last night, attempting to get those pics you see above.

*sigh*  It never ends.  But at least you're caught up, now. :)