Catch-Up Post...How You Doin?

I can’t believe we are already in the last week of July.  Eeeks!  Summer is passing me by.  How has that happened?  Where did it go and how can I get it back?  Seriously, I’m freaking out about this one.  The weather has been on a “cool” side and not in a “wow that’s awesome” kind of cool.  More like cold, put on socks kinda cold…brrr…

 

This summer has been a summer of “procedures”, with visits to Drs., Dentists and Specialists.   First, I had a filling, then a root canal, then another filling to fix the crown where the hole was made from the root canal.  Then there were miscellaneous Doctor’s appointments, blood tests or as I like to call them “tune-ups”.  Then, I had a biopsy on a spot that I’ve had above my left eyebrow for at least a year and that hasn’t seemed to heal and just last Friday, a follow-up appointment for the results.  Turns out, I have basal-cell carcinoma – a form of skin cancer.  On the upside – it’s not the real nasty kind that will spread to other areas of the body, nor is it life-threatening, but if left untreated it could become “disfiguring”.  WHAT???  So right now, I’m waiting for a call from the specialist to schedule a time for a consultation and then eventually its removal.  

 

Now for the public service announcement portion of this post – the most likely cause of this has been sun damage.  What am I getting at?  PLEASE, PLEASE use sunscreen and wear a hat!   Although I do wear sunscreen, I’m not great at putting it around my eyes and I’ve never been great at wearing a hat.  Needless to say, I will be more diligent in the future.   Too bad I had to learn the lesson this way.

 

The Boy has decided, rather last minute I might add that he’s going back to school in September.  Let’s hope the saying “third time’s a charm” rings true.  In all fairness to him, turns out he’s had somewhat of an excuse for not succeeding thus far.  You see, approximately 6 months ago, he was diagnosed with adult ADHD.   As there weren’t any childhood symptoms and he performed well in both primary and secondary school, we didn’t see there was a problem until he went off to college the first time and even then, we just chalked it up to “laziness” and “lack of ambition”.  We were wrong.  As a parent, I feel horrible that his problems went undiagnosed for so long.  Well on the upside, The Boy’s not holding a grudge for our less-than-stellar parenting.   He’s now seeing an ADHD specialist and is taking medication to help with his “focus” issues.   Now that I know what to look for, I’ve seen a huge improvement.  I won’t lie, I still think he’s a bit lazy and unfocused, but I’m not sure if that’s the ADHD or whether he’s just being a “boy”.   Time will tell…

 

So back to the school thing, now that The Boy has decided to return to school, we need to find him a place to live.  Since he’s waited so long, college residence isn’t an option.  Not that it would have been a great option in any event considering his “focus” issues.  He’s determined he’s better off in an apartment on his own without a lot of distractions and I have to agree, so we are planning on heading north in a couple of weeks to look for accommodation.  It’s an exciting time for him – his first apartment.  Let’s hope it meets his expectations, although I don’t think he really has any.  Okay, so let’s hope it meets mine.

 

This weekend coming up is a long weekend in Canada.  No special name for it – just the August Civic Holiday.  Will I be enjoying it on the beach somewhere?  Nope, we are finally having our first liquidation yard/garage sale.  I must say it’s slightly overwhelming to think about what needs to happen in order to eventually liquidate our entire home’s contents, I’m taking it one step at a time.  This weekend will be the first round of many and mostly consists of stuff that’s been sitting around in the basement, on shelves, in boxes and that hasn’t been used within the last 5 years.  Boy, we have a lot of stuff and boy, did it ever need to be dusted!  The sale will start on Friday and hopefully will wrap up on Sunday mid-day, which will leave me at least Monday to rest.   Let’s hope the weather holds out and it’s doesn’t rain…or snow. 

 

On the upside of things – we’ve got another vacation planned for March, 2014.  I know!  I’m not even through the one to Puerto Rico in November; however there are times when you have to book far in advance and this is one of those times.  J and I and four of our closest friends are heading back to the Galapagos Islands for 10 days of scuba diving and sightseeing.  We had been so fortunate to go on a “once in a lifetime” adventure in 2003, I can’t believe we are off to do it again!  I guess it’s back to eating ramen noodles for the next 7 months…

 

After the March vacation, that’s it – no more “vacations”.  I can’t afford that kind of tomfoolery when we are trying to fast track an early retirement.  The only exception will be “research vacations”.  Those are the ones needed to determine where our retirement location will actually be.  You heard it here first – no more leisure vacations.   Just business…

 

And last but not least, we saw KISS in concert this past Saturday night.  This was the second time we've seen them live and I must say, they do put on a good show.  It's interesting to see the demographics of concert goers - everything from young children to senior citizens and everything single one knew how to rock!  Good time was had by all...

 

That’s it for now, I think you’re up-to-date.  If you made it this far – thanks for your patience.  That was a loooong post…