The Road Less Traveled

It's been a while since my last post.  I guess it's been hard to really grasp all the tiny twists and turns that seem to permeate our lives.  It seems that the long, winding, bumpy road is the path we've been given.  Financial woes.  Everyone is plagued with them, and we're no exception. 

It's been hard to work at a retail store in the mall; watching all the people carefully selecting gifts for their loved ones, the excitement in their eyes, and the anticipation of the little ones who were there to see Santa.  Like looking in through a window from the outside, it seemed sort of surreal.  We exchanged no gifts this year, with anyone.  Cameron and I have always not exchanged gifts, preferring to go do something rather than add another item, the meaning later forgotten, to our household.  Memories are far superior.  What was hard was not being able to give gifts or memories to my family.  Being so far away and out of touch with their lives is very hard for me.  I've never been away for so long.

I love Santa Fe.  The town has tremendous character and it promises a good future for us.  The air and water are wonderful, allowing our lungs to start healing from the poisons we breathed in for 20+ years.  What I have seen of the seasons, so far, raises my spirits when I feel alone. I'm like a kid when it snows and bubble over with excitement when I peak out the blinds in the morning and see the white flakes falling and drifting to the ground. 

I've been working on a project that keeps me pretty busy.  Parts of it are very difficult for me so I've purchased some computer software to help through them.  I've found a lot of local people with experience in this sort of thing and they have been a tremendous help.

Today, I'm a little afraid.  We finally got health insurance and I saw my new doctor on Monday.  Actually, she's a nurse practitioner and a very good one, too.  She was far more thorough than any of the doctors I've seen in the last 15 years.  I've had thyroid issues for quite a few years, hypothyroidism.   Well, Monday she found some nodules on my thyroid.  She sent me for lab work and an ultrasound yesterday to determine how many and what ever else they can from that test.  She's supposed to get the results today or tomorrow, so I guess I'll be hearing from her sometime soon.  She said some nodules wind up being benign and some are malignant.  We won't have much of a grasp of what mine are until the ultrasound results are in and most likely a biopsy is done.  If any family members read this and know of any other relatives that have had something like this, I would like to hear about it.  This kind of stuff often runs in families and maybe finding out what others' results were will put my mind more at ease.

Cameron is, of course, worried sick about me.  I try to stay calm and reassuring to help him stay focused on his work and other tasks he's working on.  Work has been pretty up and down for him.  I guess it's just too cold for anyone to want to go motorcycling up here.  It tends to go in flurries, depending on the weather.  A couple of weekends ago, he and the other mechanic were up to their necks in work.  We were having a few warm days (around 40-43 degrees) and local riders wanted to take advantage of it.  Then after that brief warm spell, it went back to barely anything coming in.  I've heard that January and February are the coldest months with the most snow, so it's probably not going to get a whole lot better soon.  For extra work, he's applying at the community college to teach music part-time.  It would be a great outlet for him.

Despite all the crazy things that are happening, I'm also very excited because Madeline is coming for a visit this weekend.  We'll get to hang out together for a week, then she'll need to get back to her life in Bakersfield.  I talk about her all the time at work so we will have to stop by so I can show her off-I'm really proud of her.  I'm still trying to decide what, of the many things to see here, I'll show her.  I keep checking the weather forecasts, but it doesn't look like it will snow while she's here, but that can always change.  It'll be good to have her close, even if it's just for a week.

I need to get some more housework done.  Since I'm off today, I need to take advantage of the opportunity to catch up on all the domestic stuff.  I'll keep you posted as I get results, etc.