Patience? Luck?

So now that we have done our fair share of celebrating around here regarding my husbands newly acquired A.C.A.S. status, of course I have set to thinking about what that could mean for us.  And of course  I am thinking that anyone in their right mind looking for an actuary should be beating down our door just now.

"Opened Door With Bright Light" by ponsulak found at: freedigitalphotos.net

Never mind that it doesn't work that way.  I won't be convinced.

But seriously, something has clicked inside me and I can feel what everyone said about how things would certainly change for us once my husband was able to meet this first of his two main goals.  (The second being to become a fellow in the Society of Actuaries.  Give it another couple of years for that one.) 

I feel doors opening and opportunities knocking.  I actually can't remember feeling this 'open' to new possibilities. 

And yes, it absolutely feels downright weird and wrong to be feeling so hopeful while witnessing so many people that we are close to still struggling mightily just to get by.  That is absolutely not lost on me.

"Breaking Rope" by scottchan found at freedigitalphotos.net

Over the weekend, my husband and I sat down and went over our budget and future plans because that's what we always do when anything is changed up in our lives and because that's just how we roll.  I think being raised in poverty either makes you never able to deal with finances or makes you super careful.  We are certainly the latter.

My plans to start flight lessons will happen soon.  Not just yet, as we never count chickens before they hatch and Fall weather in Seattle is not a great time to start that sort of thing.  However, I can actually envision being able to tuck my two small dogs into the back seat of an airplane rather than the car and get down to sunny Palm Springs in half the time it takes to drive...

With that said, I will admit that I am hoping that my feelings of something else big coming are about us moving to a warmer weather place.  No, I don't have any solid evidence for my feelings.  I'm just really hoping.  It is hard to be patient sometimes.

"Business Art" by digitalart found at: freedigitalphotos.net

The other day I mentioned to a checker that I believed in the old adage that 'the harder you work, the luckier you get' and I couldn't believe that he was so quick to say that he didn't think he could agree.  I didn't know whether he was saying that because he felt that lots of people work hard and don't get anywhere or because he felt that people who are fortunate don't work hard to get where they are.  I didn't ask because I was afraid of the answer and how it might make me feel. 

Being bold usually pays off and I should have been willing to chance what that moment might have lead to.....

Have you had moments in life when you knew that things were changing in a nearly tangible way?  How do you feel about hard work and what it leads to?   How much control does anyone really have over life direction?

The Palm Springs Condo

Back in November, my husband and I purchased a condo in Palm Springs, CA.  It was an exciting time of realizing a big dream for us and we worked really hard to make it our own.

The place was overall pretty awesome and the complex itself was the big draw for us to purchase this particular property.

After all, who could resist this?!

Now the inside of the condo.... well, that was a whole 'nother story.  It was overall in really good shape.  But part of the reason for the great condition of the place was that it was hardly ever used over the past 27 years.  So we called it our 80's time capsule.  And it was indeed a doozy...

First, there was the VERY pink carpet, which the pictures just do not do justice to- yes, I said PINK, the heavy drapes, the lovely pink and blue furniture, the over use of ugly fake plants and the overall 'brass and glass' feel to the place...

Then, of course, who could forget the floral bedspreads and raspberry pink towels to match- all folded like fans and everything?!

It was truly a sight to behold!   And a mess to be dealt with immediately!

First things first, we completely emptied out the place and had the carpets dyed brown.  Yes, you can do that!  And with carpet that had hardly any wear and tear, it was the perfect choice.

Next we moved on to finding all different living/ dining area furniture.  This consisted of finding some used, some IKEA and some stuff at the local furniture dealers.  Remember that we were working with this being Thanksgiving week and had only two weeks to get what we could get done before we wanted to be able to use the place and have friends be able to use it for the season!  It was a crazy time!  The local thrift stores were amazed at how many times we showed up to donate and we did manage to sell some stuff on Craigslist as well.  I also installed new kitchen flooring as I just could not live with the pinkish stuff that was there. 

We did keep the bedroom furniture as we ran out of cash to do anything about that and with new linens and such it was not so bad after all.  I also figured out that even though the place was hardly ever used, it sure would have been nice if the people had bothered to clean it up once in a while.  Let's just say that all the hard water build up, dust and crud gave me 2 weeks worth of full body workouts that would rival any gym.

Now our place is still a work in progress, but it is so much nicer!

Today, it looks like this:

And right now some friends of ours are there using our Palm Springs condo.  We are thrilled to be able to share it with them.  The email they sent was so full of their obvious enjoyment and it made us so happy and proud and I have to admit- just a wee bit jealous!  Sometime we will join them there when we can all go together at the same time and maybe try to learn to golf!  We just can't wait until we go back to Palm Springs at the end of March!

Thanks... And Still Working Hard

Many thanks to those of you who felt compelled to comment on my last post about coming out of the political closet, so to speak.  I really appreciate your honesty and willingness to 'put it out there'.  It does my heart good to know that I am not alone, even out here on the left coast...

Common sense must reign, I say!

I also wanted to give a bit of an update about my husband, concerning his abdominal rebuild that he had back in May. 

Never fear.  I am excited to say that there is no bad news at all!   

You may recall having seen these amazing pictures!  We still can't believe how much more 'normal' he looks!

As the months have gone by everything has gone as it should.  However, that doesn't mean that everything is easy for him.  This has been a long and strenuous road with still more to go.  He's about 90 days out and is now having to really stretch and learn to use the muscles with the way they have been changed and re-purposed because basically some of his oblique muscles were completely moved and integrated into his abdominals. 

Up to this point he has been in a binding garment almost 24/7 to protect the work that was done and allow for healing.  Now my husband has to start the process of letting his muscles relearn how to be strong for his core.  It is a tough and painful process leaving him feeling sore on most days.

But this is all just one more step in the process and we are grateful to be doing this work.  It will be worth it.  I see those commercials with the vets coming back from war severely injured and I can't help but think that this is really nothing compared to all that.  And yet, it is hard for me to watch my husband struggle through this process.

It all goes to show again that anything worth having takes a lot of hard work to get to.  It seems these days this poor guy is always working hard towards something- whether it's all those hours of study and testing to become an actuary or working super hard to just have a normally functioning body, this guy sure could use a break!  I am so looking forward to watching my husband transition from hard work to more wonderful results and I know it's going to happen for him!