The Long 30 Days

Twenty two days late, Marc took off this morning, headed for Bend, OR and the first leg of moving more of our stuff. Moving takes a trailer and his flatbed resides on my mother’s property, albeit with bad tires. So Marc stripped the Dodge of its nearly new rubber and wheels and hopes they fit temporarily to haul everything back here. The family has decided to hold Christmas dinner until Friday since he doesn’t expect to get in until very late Christmas night. You can see the care package I sent off for everyone for their get-together! For the next thirty days and nights, it’s just me and the four cats….

We managed to wrap up the main floor insulation chores and empty the house of everything so it’s a clean slate for the drywall contractor who is due to start this week. I will hope to check on the house occasionally so I can take pictures but our weather will be worsening and I try and not drive when it gets too bad out. It’s just not fun and I have nowhere to be that badly, that it’s worth the stress. However, if Christmas is not stormy, I do plan to work at the shelter so I can help shorten the shift of the paid employee who has to come in to feed the animals and clean the cages.

On the domestic front I continue to vacillate on paint color although I was decisive in picking bathroom color, flooring and countertops. I had tended towards a greige for the main area walls when Marc’s comments about living “in a prison” sent me scurrying back to the store for more bland neutrals. Now I am leaning more towards the beige/taupe side with just the slightest hint of gray. Guess he’s not much of a gray fan. I’ve also been madly perusing pictures of window furnishings hoping to find just the right idea I can probably make myself. The large living room window is the primary problem as its span is 108 inches, featuring two vertically opening 36” windows and a center fixed glass. I hadn’t really wanted drapery but I can’t find any roller shades of that width without going to some outrageously priced custom piece. Plus, given that our view is so nice out that direction, I want nothing that is going to block that, yet we will need the privacy at night when the lights are on.

I’ve got lots of projects in front of me, a stack of paperbacks and puzzles, and one very lively little kitten for entertainment. I’ll be OK; just lonely. It’s Marc who continues on with no breaks, no rest, and just a bunch of tasks and work in front of him as he empties out our Yuma place and gets it up for sale and then hauls all the stuff back here, over 2200 winter-driving miles. Good luck, Baby! Don’t get sunburned! (Spirit has really taken to Jerry, adopted this fall from the shelter and surprisingly, for a male cat not related, he to her. When they're ready for a nap, this is often the way I find them.)

Housebound

Construction progress has remained at a standstill during Marc’s absence. He is under the time gun trying to get the electrical rough inspection done so he can insulate the walls before leaving for the west. He hopes to make Bend in time for Christmas with my mother and son and daughter in law. The best bid on the drywall was from a contractor who has problems showing up or responding, but Marc is hopeful the guy can get that accomplished while he is gone. I am of a different opinion—if the guy isn’t responding now, I don’t hold out hopes that he isn’t going to further drag his feet and substantially delay us at a crucial point. I would hire another contractor but the other bid we got was essentially double at over eight grand!

With Marc gone so much, it gives me plenty of time to volunteer at the shelter. Adoptions have been slow on the cat side so there are still many to take care of and love up. And of course, I am still fostering little Spirit who is growing like a weed and changing day by day in what she can accomplish and where she can go. She plays rough house with Munchkin, seems to like to snuggle up to Jerry, and steers clear of Rocket since he doesn’t tolerate her in the least. In between all that, I am still shopping for the house, rethinking paint colors, and also working on some jewelry stuff which I donate to the shelter for them to sell at their fund-raising events.

Our weather has moderated some although we still have about six to eight inches of snow on the ground. A warming trend this weekend may end up melting off much of it which wouldn’t break our hearts. I find I am tolerating the cold much better this winter than I was able to last year being acclimated to the desert. It’s amazing for me to think about the fact that I have been in this area for 15 months and haven’t been farther than 80 miles from home but I haven’t really minded. Travel has become very stressful for me and I’m perfectly content being a homebody. I guess I spent so many years and decades being unsettled going hither and yon, that there is something now attractive about being in one place and building a life around that. Plus, it’s easy to be here because I like it and truly feel at home. 

I am however dreading gearing up for the long month of being by myself while Marc is gone and spending Christmas alone. With Spirit getting older she now can occupy and feed herself a little better so my constant oversight is not as necessary, which at least allows me some time to peruse my crafts and projects. There is no reason to return her to the shelter at this point just to endure life in a cage so until she becomes old enough to be spayed, she can’t be adopted out. We are still hopeful to find a good home for her but I’d be lying if I said it isn’t going to break our hearts to give her up.