End-of-Year Thoughts...And What's Next for 2018

     I would have written a substantially different post on this subject last week. But since then:

 A much-loved niece, who's spent the last two months on hospital bedrest in an effort to protect her developing baby, lost him in utero a few days ago. After Macklin John was born, the family was able to hold him...and grieve.

This made all my moaning about being tired, sick of dealing with piles of STUFF, and having a busted-up knee very unimportant. So here we go --

Did the Bricks make progress in 2017?  

Well, yes...and no. 

I didn't lose as much weight as I'd hoped...but I did some.
I generally kept up with appraising and the blog, and did some guest posts. But I didn't write as much as I hoped. (This will change in 2018.)
The blog didn't make it to 7000 visits a month, but it did break the 6500 line several times. Thank you, Faithful Readers!

Most of all:

We are still living in the Castle Rock house in Colorado...though the trailer is parked behind the fence in front of the garage. Periodically we take things in or out. Its freezer still has onions and peaches that we're slowly using up.

Our new home.

With the exception of one month (where we had to cash out some savings bonds), we've lived on the Brick's pension, my income and whatever extra we could scrape up, in terms of jobs (bus driving, dogsitting, Tuesday Morning, etc.) and saving on purchases. How did we live on this extremely modest income, yet manage to pay for updating the bathrooms and keep paying on the loan for said renovations (and trailer), as well?

God's grace. Honestly, I'm not sure how we did it.

Lots of bloggers are putting their goals out there for 2018, including this one. I don't have many goals -- and no resolutions this time around.

*I want to make our food budget stretch even more...probably back to this speed. Other than milk, freebies and a few sale items, I don't intend to spend much in this department for the next few months. That will help clean out our freezer(s) and pantry, and make it easier to move.

Making lemonade out of lemons, so to speak.

*I'll be teaching a lot more this year. Working appraisal days, too. It's going to be busy. I've got everything on the docket, from being the tour guide in Paducah for a large group of Australian quilters, to teaching again at the John R. Campbell School of Folk Art in North Carolina. Plus work in Creede, Cheyenne and that garden spot: Kalamazoo, MI.
      I also have some consulting opportunities that look promising, as well as appraising a more estate collections -- everything from Navajo rugs, antique spice tins and quilts (yes, still textiles) to silver teapots and gold teeth. Fascinating, but a lot of research.

*The house needs to go on the market.  Which means that our efforts to clean up and cart away STUFF have to really ramp up. Target date: March. Or maybe April.

*I have a book to write -- on Colorado's haunted history.  I've been collecting research and photos, and starting to lay out the chapters. Photos are due the end of February; manuscript, March. Fortunately, the teaching/appraising gigs don't start until mid-April.

*We need to check on The Mama more. Living in the trailer will give us the freedom to head to Michigan whenever her health demands it -- or she needs us.

     There are other family issues, too, that may demand we become more mobile. Living in the trailer will help with that immensely. I hope that it will also let the Brick, Charley and Abs go with me to gigs more often.

You bet, Mommmm!

     The Brick and I both feel this is what we're supposed to do next. Something is on the horizon -- and we'll need the freedom to take our home with us when it happens.

So here's to the new year. I have a feeling wonderful things will be developing -- maybe several. We'll see!