The Seventh Season

The year is now 2017. I am in my seventh season at Parks and Recreation.  I am now vested in the Public Employee Retirement system.  I no longer for the schools as an educational assistant.  Given the deep and long-lasting snows of the winter, I was relieved not to have to worry about answering the phone.

Doug and I now live in an apartment.

Years ago, when this complex was being built, we would drive by, the joke was that when all went south, that's where we would moved to.  And here we are.  It has a nice lawn behind it, that we look over when we view the canal and the landscape out to the north, northwest to Awbrey Butte.  No windows look at our place, except for cars speeding by on the Parkway.  I've tried to look at our place when driving by, and all you can see is that the place exists, so we have privacy.  Inside, there are angles, as there were at the house, which is nice and comforting.  There's a porch for plants and the rocky horse that Lindsey bought long before I entered the family.  We are at the far end of the complex, where we can see our garage, and where few people drive.  The south windows look down on lawn and the parking lot and over to windows and porches of other buildings.  I've used the exercise room, visited with friends in the lounge, and swam in the pool.

The cats went to a friend's place, and she let them live there.  Toby never did go into the house, but hung around like a feral cat, keeping a schedule of showing up in the afternoon to eat, and eventually didn't show up any more.  I had a dream of him, which was so real, I could feel his weight in my arms, and I held him and petted him, and he turned his face to me, and I could see that he was dead.

Bobsworth died a few days after the dream.  Soon after the move there, he worked his way into the house, made himself at home, demanded to be pushed around on the floor while lying on his back. Bossy thing.  I saw him weekly.  When he died, he was found under the dining room table.  I got a cardboard box for his coffin and took him to the Humane Society.


My husband is working.  The company accommodates his physical limitations, and we have health insurance and are working on our savings.  I am very grateful for the Judsons and others who mentored his becoming an electrician.  The construction here in Bend is booming, and there is a shortage of skilled labor such as his, so we are hoping to get through this period of time okay.

My daughters became adults.  One has her master's degree, two are married, and the first grandchild is expected tomorrow.  One lives with her husband in Virginia, the other two live in Utah.  They are healthy and doing well.  Our mothers are still alive, still able to physically take care of themselves with some small assistance from our siblings who are there with them--driving them to appointments and such.

 I still have my medical bills, but they are down now to less than $3,000.  I anticipate having them all paid off by the July 31st paycheck. To celebrate, I will bring doughnuts to work, maybe a fruit tray too, and make sure that the trailer gets a box.

Some lunchtimes, I'm at Pine Nursery North, where there is a fishing pond.  I sit in my rig and watch the water as I eat.  Some days the water ripples a little, some days there's a breeze that makes crests that run across the surface, and some days the water looks flat and grey, reflecting the clouds, and some days it's blue and white, with an occasional splash from a fish.

We are in a good place. What more could I want, but this?  Today I am wealthy.

January 2015

I am packing the house up.  We are doing a deed-in-lieu with the bank, so they take the house, and we take to the road.  We are waiting for a phone call from the property management company that will be responsible for the 90 days lease, so we will be here a few more months, but I will be going back to work at Parks and Rec. in April, if all goes well.  I now have over $7000 of medical bills, thanks to my breast cancer scare, and $5000 of it is still the gall bladder surgery.  But a scare is still cheaper than the real thing, so it's just sand in the shoe, not a foot amputation that I'm whining about.

I'm going through decades of stuff, hindered by my own acts of wasting time on the internet, stress eating, and general procrastination.  I have some shelves done, but nowhere where I wanted to be at this time.  And I still haven't arranged for the cats' shots and microchips, so that if they disappear, there's a chance they'll be identified if someone finds them somewhere else after we move.

While packing framed pictures, I found a snapshot from 1978, of me cooking in my college apartment. I am so thin, so very thin!  My hair is brown and thick and long, and is tied back while I beat something in a bowl.  I have my blue workshirt and my blue jeans.  On the door of the pantry is a Smokey Bear bumper sticker:  "Prevent range fires."   The cupboard doors and drawers are all ajar instead of being neatly shut, and I am reminded of people who have pointed out what I slob I am in the kitchen.

I'm getting my mind wrapped around the idea of leaving here, and finding a new place, where the place is clean and bright, and it's just Doug and me, and the junk is gone.  The cats wander in and out of my imagination--sometimes they're with Rachel, sometimes they're with someone else, sometimes with us.  At the new place, I'll be closer to things in town, and I'll be better able to go to events and maybe bike to work, walk on sidewalks and maybe the place will have a gym, but whom am I kidding?  I have free weights here by the computer I haven't touched in months, and a road that I've walked on for miles outside the door that I only look at now from my kitchen window.

The girl in the photo would be puzzled at what I've done to myself. I think I'll end this post with an upnote:  I did my yoga this morning! 

Post-season, November 2013

I've completed my third season as a custodian for the local parks district.  I'm still working winters, substituting in the schools, but I've had only two calls but they were while I was still cleaning restrooms.  I've completed my required coursework on identifying and reporting abuse, dealing with blood pathogens, and avoiding the appearance of being a child molester, so I've received my new tag, showing that I'm a official employee with the education service district until October 2014.

My husband is working, and has been working now for months.  When he was hired, he was told to expect just a few weeks.  One daughter now has a full-time, benefits paid job, complete with use of the company's gym and her own parking space, even though she lives close enough to walk to work.  Another daughter is in Boston today, at a conference.  She is getting her masters in public health and has some concerns of what she'll be doing for employment after school.  The third daughter is home, dealing with some issues and is currently unemployed while she figures out her next step.  The house is headed for foreclosure and my husband got his bankruptcy finalized.  The house is a mess and I'm home, dealing with it, although I'm doing a lousy job at it.

Both of our mothers are well and well off, as they have enough money for their needs and most of their wants.  They would both like to see us more, but here we are.  My husband sold two vehicles, bought another one and fixed it up so that it will run for many more miles and years.  His brother has a regular job now, and my siblings are well.  The dog died in December, 2012 and both cats are still alive.  Two houses are built next door to us, and it looks like a third is going in and places that were plotted out for houses five years ago are now having foundations poured, walls raised and "for sale" signs out in front, although no one knows where the buyers are coming from. The general economy of area is still poor, as yet another thrift store has opened.

I am reminded of what was said at one of my daughter's college commencement:  "Prosperity has nothing to do with money."

sunday, 4.9

We sang, "If You Could Hie to Kolob" for the closing song in Relief Society.  I was very grateful for it, as I will not be in RS for another 5.5 months.

3rd day - a gift freely given

I got through my restrooms quickly.  The weather was wet and rainy, so very few people were out and about.  I mopped all the floors, and folded up the bar towels that we use to clean with.

An old transient was at the Drake Park one, with a shopping basket full of stuff and bottles.  He told me that he had had a very successful haul of bottles, and left me two quarters and a hair band on my windshield as a gift, as, he said, he knew that we girls weren't getting equal work for equal pay.

Skyline was shut all winter, with some maintence work.  I gave it a good wipe-down.

2nd day of seasonal employment

I got my uniform tee-shirts, uniform hoodie zip-up sweatshirt, baseball cap and safety glasses.  I watch the rest of the five training videos, and went on the rounds again with my supervisor.

I'm a bit concerned for her.  I sense that there's a sadness. 

Karen will be back on Thursday, so I'll do the routes myself tomorrow.

I went to Freddie's and showed off my uniform. 

Five months and 19 days to go, or 172 days left for the season.

I also got some more bills today.  My husband is preparing the bill for one of his customers, whose remodel was recently finished.  We are hoping he will pay soon.

Tuesday

The company that has the hospital's account called this morning.  I hadn't made my $50 payment for the month, but were willing to take the $30, as I explained that I needed to buy shoes for the job starting in April, and that I would be able to make it up in May. 

Last night, my husband and I did our family home evening project of going over to Jeanette's house, to see if there was any service work we could do, visit her for Home Teaching, and to deliver the RS announcements.  Jeannette was headed over to her friend's Jan's home--her oldest son died.  (Not a surprise, as he'd been ill for years.)  I volunteered to take over a veggie tray in the morning.

We stopped at Albertson's and got sliced ham on sale, and a Redbox movie, "Cowboys and Aliens," and I made hard boiled eggs and peeled carrots and made a celery and carrots tray.  The movie was awful, and I ended up going to bed way past midnight.

This morning  I shelled the eggs, found a large plastic tray, and put out the ham and sliced cheese and the eggs on it, and took them and the carrots and celery and a box of nice crackers to Jan's house, arriving just in time, as she and her other son had just arrived back from the mortuary, as they delivered the clothes for her oldest son, and her grandchildren were expected at any minute.

I felt blessed to know that I had brought what was needed, at the right time.