August - A Look Ahead

August? Are you kidding me? It’s August? The thermometer says “yes”, but my brain says “no, it can’t possibly be here so soon”. Well, all my plans for organizing the master bedroom closet and hanging pictures last month did not pan out too well. Okay. Not one little bit. The month was a fast and sleepy blur. With this temporary job, I have become less acquainted with my pillow and my sweetie!

We still have a few remaining items on our home’s punch list, and those tasks have kept us a bit busy. Hopefully, the punch list will be toast by the end of this month. At least, our fingers are crossed on that score. I finished up with unpacking the remaining boxes in my studio room. Everything was put away, but not necessarily organized. But then I was able to get a good quote from the finish carpenters to change the closet door around in my studio, so it would swing out instead of in. That job got done last week to my gleeful satisfaction. It was the ONE mistake we made on this house, and that is finally rectified. But now my studio is a bona fide mess, with the closet contents stacked up in the room. Hubby has already caulked and filled the nail holes, but the trim and walls still need touch up painting and then the wire shelving needs reassembly. So I dearly hope that my beloved studio room gets presentable and usable before too long.

I am looking forward to much less business travel this month. Last month made me quite weary, with traveling three weeks in a row to a long distance office. This whole working thing has been a rude adjustment to my slovenly retirement ways! I’m now set up for telecommuting and I’ve been desperately trying to get a little zip-and-go energy back.

It’s not easy to explain what I am doing, but let me give it a whirl. My former employer is a big utility (one of the biggest), and it is currently on a new mission to get better organized. A significant environmental event helped it discover that more emphasis was needed on complete, up-to-date procedures, among other things. Quite simply, I am assisting them clean up some of their old procedures and develop some new ones. I have already helped get them on the right path and they are feeling a bit relieved.

We had a very exciting end to our month of July, with the successful sale of hubby’s truck. He bought a new Hyundai Sonata and it is positively gorgeous. Since those selling and buying tasks are now accomplished, we are getting my truck ready for sale. It has very low mileage and is quite a beauty, so I am hoping that it will sell just as quickly as my hubby’s vehicle. I plan to replace it with a Subaru Outback. These sales are part of our overall downsizing and retirement plans. Since we don’t have acreage anymore to tend, we no longer need trucks and now want vehicles more suited for road travels.

Later on this month, we’ll be venturing off on our first vacation for the year: Vancouver and the wilderness of northern British Columbia! We’re getting very anxious now that the date is finally getting closer. I will have a post about our wilderness destination in another week or two.

So that’s it for August: more working; additional sleep; completion of our homebuilding punch list; a little organizing around the cottage; vehicle switcheroos; and a much-needed vacation adventure!