2014: Brought to you by the letter “H” Health, Home & Happiness

                It’s that time of the year again when people make lists of things they want to change in the coming year.  Sometimes they actually cross things off but more often than not the list is forgotten by mid-March and things stay the same.  Don’t get me wrong I’m just like those people I’m talking about; only most of the time I don’t even make it to March!

                So what makes 2014 any different?  A few weeks before Dad died we got into one of our “discussions” about him signing up for Medicare & going into a nursing home.  Out of nowhere he yells “What’s the point then?” That caught me completely off guard because I had no idea what in the world he was talking about.  He couldn’t understand why he bothered to keep the rental & get the reverse mortgage (he didn’t think he’d ever pay off the house & knew I couldn’t afford it) if he was just going to be forced to give everything away just because he was dying.  ...and if that wasn’t a kick in the teeth the other day I was talking to someone about the “mountain” of things he needed to figure out & (He’s always telling me if you don’t like the way things are find a way to change them.) I asked him how he was going to manage to get it all done.  He laughed and said “The same way I tacked that steak the other day – one bite at a time.”

                Ironically the first bite is my health.  This past year I’ve put on somewhere between 12-18 extra pounds, my hair has been falling out by the fistfuls & I’ve made 2 “extra” doctor appointments due to diabetic complications.  In my head I know the majority of it has been the stress of the last couple of years, not being able to afford my meds,  & getting off all the “better” eating habits I’d worked so hard on but frankly I just like the way I feel (let alone look).  I’ve already started working on saving the hair (that sounds funny coming from me doesn’t it J ) so it’s time for the overall health.  I’ve made up my mind that I want the weight loss surgery, now I need to start making the calls, going to the seminars & doing the work to make it happen.  I’ve dusted off the Wii & started playing it again and have had a couple of sessions with Shawn T (fun but Hip Hop Abs was not made for people with all this extra body!).  I know I have to work on “everything in moderation” & a few other things but …one bite at a time right?

                It’s time I stop thinking of NC as a stepping stone to where I want to be.  I’ve been here since ’96; this is home now.  That means it’s time to stop renting and find a place of my own.  I’d love to get out of my present situation asap but I know that’s not going to happen.  I need to find my “forever” home & I need to do it right.  That means finally figuring out what my financial situation is, fix it & go from there.  I’m in the process of working through the paperwork for a program a co-worker told me about.  If anyone has any suggestions, tips, inside information – don’t be shy; I need all the help I can get!

                I’m also not putting things off anymore.  That train trip to DC – it’s time to start planning it.  I’ve always wanted to go to Nashville, Savannah, the NFL Hall of Fame (how is it all the trips to C’town & I never made it??) hell even Amish Country…. the list is almost endless!  The point is there are still things I want to cross off my bucket list & I just bought a new pen!  Let’s see DC in 2014, Nashville or Alaska 2015?  Time to stop working just to live but to have something to live for.    

                …to paraphrase a line from RENT: 2014 it’s gonna be a good year.