Over four months of silence???

I would love to be able to catch up with myself......but I'm not gonna hold my breath! Here it is nearly Thanksgiving and this is the first time I've posted to my blog since late June......doesn't say much for my communication skills, does it??

Let me do a quick catch up: Ed and his sibs gave his dad a surprise 75th birthday party the weekend of July 13....a huge success, as Dad was very surprised and there were TONS of people there (in the pavilion at the park in his hometown). Unfortunately, he's not doing well now.....his cancer is not responding to treatment and his health has deteriorated dramatically. I won't get into it here on this blog, but Ed's having a really hard time with it, as we're so far away and cannot be there to help.

About a week after that party, we went to a niece's wedding reception. A few days after that event, we had a memorial to attend for one of my cousins who passed away earlier this year.

Now for the big news.....on August 3, Ed went to work and as he and one of his two co-workers were getting things together for their day's work, the boss came out and said "Well, boys....empty your vans. You're all done today - I've sold the burner business."

Well. Thanks for the notice! To be honest, he HAD asked Ed to buy him out last spring, but the 'conditions' he attached to the sale were unacceptable, so Ed refused. So, a month after that bombshell, after checking out the only two employers that were hiring in his field in this area (and discovering they'd not pay the going rate for his licenses, experience, etc)....and after having nearly everyone we saw tell him he could do fine on his own......he decided to become self-employed. That was September 3rd.....what a whirlwind of activity followed that decision!!! Since he wanted to get started right away, within a week we had...(deep breath)....found and purchased a used work van, got it insured and registered, got general liability insurance for Ed, contacted the state for proper licensing procedures, set up business accounts with the bank, arranged for credit with a couple of his main wholesale materials/parts suppliers, got the van stocked, set up an office, made up business cards and put fliers up on area bulletin boards......(deep breath).......PHEW!

We set the official date at September 9....and on September 6 got a call from someone who desperately needed a new oil tank set up before the weekend....so we did our first job on Friday September 7!! (yes, "we" and "our"....when necessary, I'm a decent "gofer", and he needed one on this job). Since that day, it has not slowed down.....he has had work scheduled for nearly every day, and people are being really great so far. I handle nearly all the bookkeeping, scheduling the work and manning the phones, as well as doing my usual housekeeping (not that I do any more of that than I have to!). I'm totally exhausted all the time, but at least the bills are paid! At this moment, we have work booked right through the first week of December. As long as we get enough now to carry us through the slow time in this profession (late spring, early summer), we'll be fine!

On the crochet front, I've not done much....a couple of dishcloths is about all......I sit to crochet and end up nodding off to sleep, no matter what the time of day.

Oh, and.....we had another wedding to attend in mid August.....and after that, another trip to VT to see Ed's dad. It was quiet for a couple of weeks, then Ed's nephew from VT (and a friend of his) came to spend the weekend...the same weekend we were dogsitting for one of my nieces. The dog stayed longer...hee hee! We went back to VT for the weekend in mid-September.

This weekend we have company coming again for a few days....an old school buddy of Ed's (and his son) are coming up to do some hunting.

Let me see.....what else.....oh...my thyroid has gone out of whack again.....ugh. Long ago (probably 25 years ago), I was on medication for several years for Grave's Disease (overactive) and then went into remission about 15 years ago. Now it's gone the other way and my thyroid is underactive, so my Dr. started me on Synthroid last month.....it never rains but it pours???

I think that finally catches me up. Maybe I'll manage to keep current now......?