Preparations

 No matter how stressed I am about ... well, anything.... getting ready for our cabin camping trip always makes me feel happy.

Even that year when I was told I needed a breast biopsy.

This past week, I brought home two empty printer paper boxes from the office, as usual, for our non perishables, games, candles, etc.

Yesterday, those boxes were brought into the dining room, and I started dropping stuff into them!  The foil, the potatoes, the mac and cheese (our one guilty pleasure), etc.

We have been doing our prep inside the house, too.  

I always like to make sure there's nothing that our house sitters will see that makes them think "Gosh, this house is filthy!"

HAHA!

Dave is doing his share, too.... AND I got him to do it BEFORE the last minute this year!  We have found that he responds well to marking things off of a check list.

It helps to overcome his usual tendency to procrastinate, and then be stressed because he has to rush to get everything done all at once.

The usual tendency also makes me stressed, and naggy.  It's not good. 

In other news, he had his second session with his new talk therapist this past week.  It went well, and I think that may be part of why he is "doing stuff," as opposed to the opposite.

He also had a blood pressure spike that caused a nose bleed, so a call to his cardiologist's office resulted in one of his medications being increased.

Hopefully, that will be sufficient. 

Also, this past week, he met with his retirement planner again. 

The news is good.... 

His monthly retirement income WILL be enough to replace my full time income entirely, so it looks like I will be able to retire early!!

We will meet with his planner together, after the first of the year, to go over all of the details (setting up direct deposit, taxes being put aside, and stuff like that).  Then, I will start the ball rolling for my own process.

Talked with my sister and brother in law yesterday, and let them know.  

They are happy for me.  

When I talked to my brother last weekend, things had gotten worse regarding his getting started (at LONG last) on cardiac rehab.

Apparently, his doctor did NOT authorize him to go to rehab, which is absolutely ridiculous.  After months of waiting (which may partially have been due to him procrastinating on getting enrolled), now he can't go.

He's 72 years old, and went through bypass surgery.  He's weak, and undernourished, and miserable...and he NEEDS to be going to rehab!

SO, without authorization, he would have to pay for rehab himself, so he had to withdraw from the program. 

This is completely unconscionable... I do NOT understand it in the least.  I also am not sure if his son has power of attorney for health care or not.

I need to ask about that.

In other news, I ordered our ham for Christmas Eve yesterday!  I am just getting the little, boneless, pre- cooked one this year, since we now only have 2 people coming to celebrate with us.

The friends who have come in the past both have stated that they no longer want to be invited.  Okay, then!

The last thing I want is for someone who doesn't want to be with us to... be with us!

So, it will just be us, and our friends from Switzerland, who have come every year since we moved into the house in 2011.

He lost his job recently, though, so there's also a chance that they won't come.... so there was NO WAY I was going to order a full sized, bone in pig leg!

Anyway, we are back to finishing our pre-trip cleaning today, and I will be making a pot of chicken soup for our dinner.

Have a lovely week, a wonderful Thanksgiving (if you celebrate), and see you next weekend.