My house is, ah, disheveled? We have a locust tree in the backyard that, because locust aren’t indigenous to Colorado, gets it’s leaves late spring/early summer and loses those leaves after every other tree has been nude for weeks. Therefore, those Adorable little leaves gather all over the backyard And in the house. Last week I almost brought the leaf blower in to at least blow them into a little pile in the living room for Trudie to jump into. I’m only slightly kidding. After tag team vacuuming, we got rid of almost all of the little buggers and my husband figures one more small leaf blowing session in the back yard and we’ll be good until next fall. So, I’m grateful for vacuums and leaf blowers.
This summer we cleaned for our home appraisals, two, that are required by HUD when you do a reverse mortgage. Basically they want decluttering, so that when the appraiser goes through the house they can take pictures to show all the usable square footage, how the house has been maintained and what improvements you’ve made. As anyone who’s sold a house and had an appraisal to assess value can tell you, appraisals are based on comparable sales in the area. The housing market here is obscene. Good for sellers, unfair to buyers, especially first time buyers. However to be fair, building costs (materials/labor-thank you pandemic) are through the roof. It costs much more for a new build so existing properties piggy back on that. I digressed, so our house was cleaned and pressed, buffed and shined. First appraisal went like butter. Second seemed to as well. Then HUD insisted that our lovely guest room in the basement couldn’t be a bedroom. To that end we had to remove the bed so one of the appraisers could come back to the house to take a picture with the bed out of the room. That’s all. Now the bed is apart and scattered around the basement. It will take a couple of days to reassemble it and eventually the rest of the room. Out of sight, out of mind. Unfortunately, the basement is a bit messy, again. But, I’m grateful for the appraisals because it forced some decluttering that has been needed for awhile. (P.S. Our house isn’t worth what it appraised for but I’m grateful it did!)
At the very, very beginning of the pandemic, when everyone was trying to figure out how things were going to work, we needed to get our puppy in for her annual physical. We called the vet office and were told, sort of unceremoniously, one of our vets had died a few months earlier. Not of COVID. He had retired and then died of something else. He was young-ish and we figured he must have had some underlying health problems. The issue is no one called to tell us. It was upsetting. Then because of pandemic protocols, we could only bring our puppy to the office; they would come get her, take her in, examine her and bring her back out. We couldn’t be with her. When we got home, the vet who owns the practice called with the results. The next annual exam, we got to go to the office but our dog was examined on the sidewalk outside the office (that is in a strip mall on a busy street next to a liquor store). A new vet came out, did a cursory exam, and hustled back inside. So one exam with a vet we never met and another exam with a vet who couldn’t really be bothered. We chose our vet initially (almost 20 years ago) because she had a small practice. We have been with her first with our Libby and now Trudie. We recently found out she sold the practice to a huge conglomerate that favors volume over quality. So when Trudie developed an ear infection, we had to either take her to yet another bad situation or find a new vet. Long story short, not only did we find a new, great veterinary clinic close to our house but a really sweet new vet. They swabbed her ears and found yeast and the vet did a “quick” exam and checked more than had been checked in two years. He explained everything, answered our questions and though he was running behind because of an emergency earlier, we never felt rushed. So, I’m grateful we found a great new vet who we know will take great care of our little boo.
As cliched as it is, I’m grateful for my wonderful husband who cooks most nights because of my back and lately, my foot. Who puts up with my sad days. Who listens when I vent and will even watch Hallmark movies with me. He’s shared his children and grandchildren with me. He works hard, even when his own health issues are overwhelming. Right now he is smoking a boneless turkey breast for Thanksgiving because we have been without an oven for over a year. Later, he will help me make creamed onions. So, I’m grateful for the love of my life and not just today either.
Today’s dinner won’t be perfect. We’re sort of making things work because we don’t have an oven. I’m making a green bean casserole in a sauce pan. We’re having microwave sweet potato casserole and frozen cheesecake for dessert. It doesn’t have to be perfect. I’ll be with my husband and my puppy. It would be nice to see the kids and grandkids but between no vaccinations and reticence to eat in restaurants or long distance travel, maybe next year? Mostly I hope we all become more aware of the needs of others. When we gather together take a moment to remember the thousands and thousands of people who won’t have a perfect or imperfect meal for Thanksgiving or the other 364 days in the year. “There but for the grace of God go I.” Homelessness can happen to any of us at any time. I think the last year has proven that to be true. We all need help sometimes so when you can, help. In a world where you can be anything, be kind.
Soosey’s Ruminations 