So, it’s been a while since I posted.  I really try to keep up, but time gets away from me.  So what’s a girl to do?

In March, my stepdad died.  This is the man who raised me after my parents got divorced.  He’s been my stepdad my whole life, since he and mom were married twice, once before I was born (that’s why I have 3 older half brothers that are his) and the second time after I was born.  He and mom had been together for over 50 years.

We knew that he was getting worse.  In the last 6 months of his life, he was in and out of the hospital at least once a month.  On Superbowl Sunday, he had an episode in the hospital where they couldn’t get his oxygen above 90.  He came home in February and hospice came over every day.  Mom bought a hospital bed, because he was too weak to get himself from a bed to his wheelchair.

Since my dad died in 2003, this is the second father I’ve lost.  It makes me sad to think about us getting old.  I hate, hate, hate the thought of losing my mother.  It’s going to happen, though.  Eventually.  Her mom was haying at 82, so we have a while – yes, I come from a farm family.  That’s where I got my interest in nature.  As long as mom keeps her mental faculties, then we’re fine.  Her mother died from complications from Alzheimer’s at 87.

So, this post has turned into a bummer.

There’s been drama with my husband’s side of the family.  I love them, but sometimes I don’t like them a whole lot.  Of course, this is really just certain members of his family.  The rest I like or even love. I just don’t always understand them.

I grew up in a big family.  My mom’s side of the family used every little excuse to get together – at least 4 to 5 times a year when I was growing up.  My husband’s family, half of them don’t talk to the other half, and they’re scattered over 3 states.  I honestly didn’t know what to do with myself the first year with no big Christmas party to go to.  And of course, multiple trips to visit my family can get expensive when I’m in OK, and they’re in FL and NC.

Then, my job.  I know I referred to it obliquely at one time, but there was a big merger of 3 companies in 2010, including the one I worked for.  Well, this last year, the company I worked for was bought out.  A lot of people have lost their jobs.   I don’t know if I’ll have a job past the beginning of next year or not.  I’ve been offered a job, but that doesn’t mean things won’t change once we’re on the same system as everyone else.  Everyone is replaceable.

So, that’s my update in a nutshell.  On the one hand, we’re still in our own (fully paid for) house.  On the other, my personal life is in an uproar.

I’ve finally started losing weight for real this time.  I’m finding more energy than I have had in a long time.  The dog is happy with the daily (or almost daily) walks.  I just need the other part of my life to calm down.

Laterness and g’night.