Good bye 2011 Hello 2012

As 2011 comes to a close, I find myself today not exactly where I wanted to be.  We started the year with great expectations and ideas, we were going to get Number 3 finished and registered, and we were going to be living in it, and have taken it out for a few week end trips around Tasmania by now.  Well, unfortunately, that hasn't happened.  Looking back at the photos of where we were when we started, we realise we have accomplished a lot really, but unfortunately there were times when we just had to come to a stand still.  Terry being injured and having to take 2 months off work really made things difficult for us.  You see, Terry is a casual, and if he doesn't work, he doesn't get paid, so for 2 months we were living on just my wage. That really put a strain on our finances, we still had a mortgage to pay, as well as all the usual living expenses, and on top of that, it was winter, so we had to have the heaters on in the house to keep the children that I look after warm.  So the electricity bill went from about $300 for the quarter to about $700, but we made it through that patch and once Terry was well enough he went back to work and we were able to continue with our dream.

This is what Number 3 looked like in January 2011

2011 had many ups and downs.  One of Terry's brothers spent most of the year in hospital, every time we thought he would go home, another infection hit, and would send him right back to square one. It was difficult for us, because he lives in Brisbane and we just couldn't afford to go up there and spend time with him, so we called him daily, and that became difficult, there is only so much a person who is confined to bed can talk about.  We ended up talking about the weather and the hospital food, so then we decided to make them weekly phone calls.  That was better, but still hard to find things to talk about.  You know how you usually ask, so what have you been up to, well "lying in bed" doesn't exactly make for stimulating conversation.  He did manage to go home a couple of time through out the year, and I think at one stage he was even home for 3 weeks before he had a fall and broke his leg and ended up back there.  I must point out that Terry's brother has diabetes, and gets some very nasty infections.  He was also fitted with a pacemaker earlier this year, and managed to get a really bad infection from that and in the end they had to remove the pacemaker.   We are happy to report that he is home now, and hopefully, will stay there for a long time.   My mother also had a few health scares this year and was in hospital twice.  She lives near us, so we were able to visit her often while she was in hospital and make sure she was alright when she came home.  She is still not 100% but is getting there.  Other family members have had minor health issues, but nothing really serious.
To be quite honest, I can't wait for 2011 to be over.  It has been a tough year for me, and one I will not look back on and say wow, what a great year, but for the life of me I can't pinpoint exactly what it was that made it like this.  Sure we have had money issues, but on the whole things haven't been that bad.  I haven't lost anyone, we still have our house, our bus is coming along nicely and my family is healthy and settled.  I have made some fantastic friends this year, both on Facebook and in person, and have had some great times with them.  I have caught up with old school friends whom I haven't spoken to in 30 years, and look forward to catching up with them when we start travelling.

We were planning on spending the week between Christmas and New Year doing the plumbing on the bus, but unfortunately we didn't put the order in on time, and we missed the Christmas deadline.  That means we have to wait till the middle of January before the company opens again, and we get our order, so instead, we decided to clean out the garage.  Boy what a job that turned out to be.  I wish I had thought to take some before photos, because the transformation is amazing.  We can actually walk around in there now, and there is plenty of room.  We absolutely filled the ute up and took a heap of rubbish to the tip.  Most of it went to the recycle shop really, because it was all stuff we were keeping in case we needed it later.  I bet they were happy to see Terry pull up and empty the ute out.  

The shed,  I haven't seen it this tidy for a long time.

 There was a lot of good stuff in there and a lot of it was new, but there comes a time when you just have to say, get rid of it, and that's exactly what we did.

My next project is emptying out and sorting through all the stuff that is in what I loosely describe as "My Office"  The whole time we have been living here, I was going to use that room as an office/craft room.  I did put my desk and a couple of bookshelves with books and craft stuff in there, but then we kept putting more things in there, because we had no where to store them.  We moved from a bigger house with heaps of storage, to this place which is much smaller and there is virtually no where to put anything, which explains why the shed, which used to be a carport until we closed it off, and my office became our dumping ground.  I sold the book cases a few weeks ago, and so everything that was in them ended up on the floor, on my desk and anywhere else I could put it.  We also had a garage sale a few weeks ago and my sisters and niece brought some of their things over to sell.  What didn't sell ended up in there as well.  I have spent the last some time in there during the week sorting through stuff, and I have made a big dent in it, but there is still so much to do.  It has got to the stage where I just want to back the ute up to the gate and throw everything into it and say "to the tip".

My office after a week of sorting out.

Yes I am getting brutal, I have been throwing out a lot of things that only a few weeks ago I would have kept, I really think that's the only way to do it.  When we come back here, are we really going to want mouldy old bits of paper, I think not.  I really wanted this room empty by now, so my sister could start moving her things in and storing them here, but well, things never go to plan do they.  So  you see, this is why I am not too happy with the way my life is at the moment.  I feel very unsettled.  I really wanted to be at the next stage by now, instead I seem to be stuck in this state of confusion and clutter.  I am looking forward to the moment where we can say good bye to this life and start our new life in our bus.  As that moment gets closer, I am finding it easier to throw away things I thought I would never part with, because I realise my memories are inside me, not in or on something.  I am looking forward to moving into the bus, and only taking what we really need and leaving the rest behind.  I have come to realise that yes the bus might be 40 foot long, and there are only 2 of us, but there really is only limited room in there, and I just cannot take everything I thought I treasured. The person I really do treasure will be with me, and that is my husband Terry.  Apart from that I will be taking memories of my family and friends and know that I can still keep in contact with everyone through the wonders of technology.

This is the bus on 31/12/11

So as I sit here saying good bye to 2011 and hello to 2012,  I hope that the new year starts off better than the old one.  I don't make new years resolutions, but I am going to make a promise to myself and that is to laugh more, try not to worry so much and relax and enjoy life.  We are here for such a short time, and I am going to try to make the most of the time I have left.  So with less than an hour and a half left to 2011, I will sign off with a  HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY.  Take care and stay safe.