sharleenstuart2017 Reflections
“For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again.”
― Eric Roth, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Screenplay
As I take time out to reflect on 2017, I cannot help but think that the last 3 years have been challenging for me. Spending 3 months of each year post surgery on the bed healing and learning to walk again has been tough. This year was no different, except maybe a little bit more challenging initially. I had surgery on both feet which made it difficult to move about, difficult to find balance and difficult in the sense that I felt extremely frustrated.
Once again Richard stepped up and did what he needed to do to assist me. He was there to make meals, take me to the doctor, check in and see if I needed any help. Sims was also my constant companion. What I did find was the time was lonely and I was grateful for the few friends that stopped by and for my Facebook friends who kept me upbeat when I was feeling down. The upside of this surgery is that the healing seems to have got better quicker.
My view for 3 months
This year settled into a simple pattern of trying to heal in time for the next surgery. Walking was a challenging and I was pretty excited when I was able to walk a mile after 8 months of limping around everywhere. It was good to get out in nature again.
We did very little traveling since I was keeping my vacation for surgery. I did a road trip with the office to Columbus Georgia for a conference. It is a beautiful city and the time with my colleagues is always special.
Pedestrian viewing bridge over the Chattanooga River in Columbus Georgia.
Of course the year was not an easy one for Richard with me flooding the house. I still gasp when I think of the moment when I realized water was going over the stairs like a waterfall. When I went downstairs my heart sank as I saw water pouring through the ceiling. Yikes, what a mess. How did I tell Richard what had happened? What was I going to say? I sent him a Skype message telling him to come home. And I waited. He was so good. I think I would have exploded but he was so calm. He called the insurance and then we started cleaning up the mess. We lived with fans in the house for 5 days. It was like a furnace. Then once the fans were out the renovations started and what a mess. The floors had already been lifted, but the popcorn on the ceiling had to come down. We had agreed on a tile and the old tiles had to come up. Between those two events I don’t ever think I will get rid of the dust. New tiles went down, changes were made and the upside of all of Richards hard is that I love the new look.
Sadly we had to say goodbye to Moonshine this year.
Richard and I also did a short overnight trip to Key West a couple of weeks prior to surgery. We stayed in the beautiful Simonton Court Hotel and took in a sunset cruise. Obviously walking was not easy but we did manage to get some in. I always love the Keys and especially the sunset cruises.
Key West
Key West
Of course during my recovery period we had the Hurricane go through. For a while we thought we were in the cone and then it slowly shifted west. We still got some pretty bad winds and the palm tree ended up smashing a few roof tiles. The islands still suffer today with the damage that this crazy weather caused and we will soon see how the Keys fairs when we travel down next week.
I was out of the office from August until the beginning of November and so there was a lot of catch up to do and start finding my feet again. 2018 will bring some additional changes to the office.
December brought the end of 27 months of Peace Corp for Amy and she had to say goodbye to all the new friends she had made and make her way back home. Coming home with her was Daniel. We have enjoyed getting to meet him and show him a bit of South Florida. Sadly he is halfway through his time here and will be heading back home on the 15th.
Cameron and Kathryn are well and preparing to move to a bigger apartment. It will be all hands on deck the first weekend of the year. They sadly lost Buster this year, but have a new addition to their family in the way of a Golden Doodle called Cody.
Through all that I managed to stay active in 4 blog groups for most of the year, as well as complete 3 P52’s and a P12. I also did 3 photo shoots in the month of December which kept me busy editing. I have really enjoyed the photography year and am looking forward to 2018.
For 2018 we are starting off the year with a trip down to Key West and a sunset cruise so that Daniel can see Key West and we are also planning a trip to Orlando to the theme parks. Time is short for his stay but hopefully he will have enjoyed it.
I have already planned that I will be doing 4 blog groups and committing to the 3 P52’s and a color chase challenge as well. Beyond that who knows what 2018 will bring.
As I think of you, I wish you everything of the best for 2018. May your year be filled with love and laughter, good health, prosperity with humility, the opportunities to reach out and touch someone else’s life. strong family ties, good friendships, communities that make you laugh, and encourage you to be more than you think you can be.
Remember that time waits for now one, so make the most of the time you have now…..
From our Family to yours, Happy New Year!!
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sharleenstuart 
Beautiful photos!
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Thank you.
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