Happy New Year

It’s the last day of 2018. I’m not one to wax poetic about the end of the year and new beginnings. I’ve never kept a New Year’s resolution and I don’t think I will be starting now. Not that I don’t believe in them, I just know myself and my limitations. So other than to say I’m going to try to stay out of political debates on Facebook, I don’t have any resolutions.

I’m pretty sure the biggest change for me for 2019 is the same change I’ve made every New Year – remembering to change the date on checks. And since I don’t even own a check book any longer, it’s not much of a concern.

My older sister Donna would have turned 70 on January 1. I miss her. But her absence is one I’ve adjusted to. That may seem harsh, but it’s my reality. When I think of Donna I think of the good times we had. I remember the trips she and I took together. I remember her temper. I remember her generosity. I think of the things that made Donna the person she was. But my first thought when I realized she would have been 70 in 2019 was, “Wow, I have (or would have had) two sisters in their 70s.” That’s a sobering thought. Wasn’t it just yesterday my younger sister and I were anticipating their return home from college?  And wasn’t it the day before yesterday we were celebrating her birthday with friends from Chicago and sledding down Veldhoff’s hill?

Today King and I are spending the last day of 2018 in our “new” home. He is watching football and I am writing, messaging our daughter, knitting and just generally chilling. It’s rather relaxing.

Santa gave King a wall mount bracket for our TV for Christmas. We were going to install it last night, but King left the charger for the drill at our daughter’s house. So we drove to her house today to get the charger and returned to the campground to get the wall bracket installed. The most I can say about the installation is we are still married. Projects, King and I are not a good combination.

I may have mentioned before that our travel trailer is tiny. I don’t think that fully expresses how small it truly is. Before we got the TV mounted on the wall we had it set up on a small rolling cart between the refrigerator and the bathroom door. It had to be moved any time we wanted to open either door.  Now it is hanging above the bed and I am sitting at the table – about eight feet away. It really has not taken much to become accustomed to living in a small space. We have a place for everything and when it is not in the proper place it is VERY apparent.

I have had people tell me they would love to live in a small space, but can’t imagine parting with their possessions. The reality is, once you start looking at possessions/treasures as simply “things” it becomes easier to do. I will admit, there are nine boxes stored at our son’s home. But in those boxes are things that I might need should there ever come a time when King and I can no longer live in a 16-foot travel trailer – a crock pot, food dehydrator, a juicer and a few other items of that nature.  Sentimental items are either gone or have been given away.

So King and I are content. It’s not a matter of learning to go without. It’s a matter of enjoying what we have.

Later today we will be heading back to our daughter and son-in-law’s home to babysit while they go out to ring in the new year with friends. It’s been a long time since King has made it to midnight and I doubt he will tonight. Whether or not I make it is questionable as well.

I wish everyone a happy and peaceful New Year.