Positives in the dark areas.

 For the third or fourth week in a row, I’m at a laundromat washing my clothes - more importantly my comforter that the cat peed on. While I was still covered up in it. 

My house is a HOT MESS. The major work is complete but I’m still not living in that part of the house. It only has subfloors, so I still have no kitchen or utility room… or anything that goes in those rooms. 

When I took the Clifton’s Strength Finders quiz my number one attribute is adaptability. BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA 

Basically, I had a bit of emergency surgery (full hysterectomy) that kinda went sideways and I ended up with a large slice from bellybutton up 6 inches. Plus the little dots on each side. And then I acquired staff infection. And in between I hired people to replace the joists under my kitchen. But since my crawl space is so low, the floors had to be removed to access the crawl space. Which meant everything had to come out of those rooms if it touched the floor. 

Thankfully, local community folks removed all the appliances and cabinets. It was a group effort to get all the “stuff” out that were in the cabinets and shelves. And now a pod is in my front yard holding about half  this stuff. Which means my tiny house is packed with a narrow pathway to my bedroom. The cats have been displaced from all their favorite sleeping spots because I have boxes stacked on every surface. And I haven’t had a washing machine, stove, microwave… for over a month 

Which brings me back to the landromat. Where my stressed out kitty keeps peeing on my bed to let me know he isn’t happy, and I haven’t no installed washing machine so I end up here. Not that it’s a bad thing - expensive and time consuming - but interesting. Several times I’ve been the only white person. Possibly the only native English speaker. Some people are very skittish of me, others have total indifference. The only ones who show me any attention are the kids. And sometimes their parents aren’t thrilled with it and sometimes there doesn’t seem to be an adult here for the kids. 

I wish I could open a laundromat with additional features. Something to do during this down time. Not sure what it could be, but I like the idea. This one is always clean, the people aren’t rude, just reserved. The machines seem to work and there is always someone on duty should you need something. 

Bless this little boy just brought me a cell phone and asked me to add time to his game ($$$).  Where is his adult?? Heaven help. 

Since New Years is this coming week, I suppose I should spend this time reflecting on 2025 and planning for 2026. 2025 kinda sucked. Of course, there were so many blessings that I should be focused on but at the same time, I want 2026 to be a better year. A calmer, and yet happier and more exciting, year. I want to travel. Budget. Lose weight. Sew. Create. Learn. Improve. Feel secure. Be confident. Focus. Enjoy. Celebrate. Just be better. 

My one word for 2026 - intentional. My emotions. Thoughts. Words. Actions. Focus. Can I do it? I hope so.