Say What?

I'll often use my breaks at work to write in my blog but I'm finding little time for that lately. Between the increase in traffic traversing our airspace due to the Oshkosh airshow and the smallest staffing numbers I've ever worked with, I've had much less laptop time. I'm not complaining but the thought of retirement has never been more tempting. I think back to all of the false starts I've had with my plans for retirement and how I've been reluctant to call it quits because I just wasn't feeling like I was ready to be done. I always felt I'd know when the time was right and the feeling I'm getting now is that this time it's for real. I'm still focused on my January 2nd date and barring some medical issue, I think I'll make it. 161 dtg and no more. Tammy and I had a mini date last week when Tammy's good friend Brenda offered to watch Elaine for 4 hours so we could go out and spend some time together. That was so nice of her. Br

Keith, Tracee, Jerry, Jackie, Stephanie, and Ryan met at Mom's townhome Sunday morning to sort through her belongings and take to Goodwill anything they couldn't find a home for. It was a huge undertaking. There's still a considerable amount of stuff to go through but they made a lot of progress. Keith intends to replace some light fixtures and possibly the countertops before having her home listed. All of this hasn't been without some family strife. My youngest brother who has lived with our mom for the past six years is insisting that it's just a matter of time before she will be returning home and that we're all jumping the gun. He's also of the belief that there was never a need for her to have left her home in the first place. I can't disagree more and every other one of my siblings feels the same way. It's been very frustrating as we try to do this in a way that is free of drama and free of stress for Mom. Tim continuing to encourage her that

Tammy and I have summer traditions that we look forward to each year: the Taste of Minnesota; the Uptown Art Fair; the Dakota County Fair, and the Minnesota State Fair to name a few. We'll be taking a pass on each of those this year as we care for Elaine. We'll make it back to all of them again someday and I think we'll enjoy them all more than ever when we do. My mom is slowly slipping away from us. I went to see her Wednesday night and she was so confused and making very little sense. I wondered as I sat with her in her room if she would even remember the next day that I was there at all. I brought my camera along hoping to get a nice photo of her but I never took it out. She was too stressed to smile and I didn't feel right about taking a photo of her in the condition she was in. I tried to make small-talk but I failed to piece together a conversation from what little sense she was making. I drove home in silence, feeling sad for her situation and wondering (as

I had the 2nd of 2 PDT (Photodynamic Therapy) sessions done on my face Monday morning. The recovery this time is going much better than the initial treatment I had 3 weeks ago. I think that's because most of the damaged skin was removed during the first session leaving not as much for the Levulan and blue light to react with this most recent time. Yes, that's a selfie to the left. I'm using my leg to take it. Don't believe me? I thought I'd get more done around the house during my stay-cation but I'm okay with just having taken it easy for the most part. I'm back to work now as I write this and while I'm not excited about that, I'm feeling good about getting ever closer to my retirement date. This time away from work has me looking forward to retirement more than ever. It's taken me much longer than I thought it would to get to this point but I'm mentally ready to be done. My end goal is still January 2nd, 2016. We'll see. Speaking