I wish I had a really awesome story to tell you about why I haven't blogged in a long time. I don't, really. It's not to say that some challenging events have not happened.... they have... but I won't blame life for my lack of blogworthiness.

I think we can all agree that it is sometimes easy to get "squirreled" while going about the daily business of life. I find it happening more as I get older. For those of you who have no idea what this is, think of a dog walking on a leash and then notices a squirrel. You know what happens next. Everything else that was... no longer is... and the dog is on a new mission and may never return to the old mission of going for a walk.

It's why I sometimes go into the kitchen and find open cabinet doors....

I got sidetracked from the life I was living the previous year. And you know what? I think that I am okay with that. I ended up spending a few hours outside each day working on our land, cutting brush, hauling cut up trees, moving rocks, planting stuff, making plans, socializing and watching a little TV, and reading romance novels (a lot). We now have TV in our tiny travel trailer (which doesn't travel) because we broke down and bought a small one so we could stream some programs at night. 

My computer spent the summer tucked away in a bag, and it always seemed like such a large effort to get it out, boot it up, reboot it (because it won't find the WiFi until the second reboot) and then try to find a comfortable place or position in our tiny camper to write something worth reading.  I only got my computer out when I felt I really had something to really say, or some task to perform that required me to log in somewhere.  After a few weeks of guilt, I just accepted that I felt like a technology-free summer and moved on, knowing I would get back to this blog at some point. 

I want to tell you I stuck to my diet, weighed and measured my food this summer, didn't eat things I wasn't supposed to and worked out every week. All those things didn't happen. Did I gain a few pounds? Absolutely. But the world didn't end, and I didn't put on the 70 pounds I lost.  My thought was to get back on track when we got back to Texas where our gym is, where we have a larger refrigerator, more counter space for food preparation and an easier grocery shopping experience. You know what they say about plans.... 

We made a lot of plans this summer for our land and campsite.  One plan my hubby had was to clear land of small saplings and bushes down to the rock wall 100 yards or so down the hill from our travel trailer. That got accomplished and we hope that we can keep it cleared of brush to remain 'lawn.' Another plan was to engage the services of a logger who will cut down some trees to expand our mountain view. We managed this as well, but the cutting was delayed until this winter due to how wet it had been all summer, too wet to put logging equipment down in our wooded area.  Another plan that none of us liked (meaning me, my sister and her husband) had to do with this run down old shed on our property. This is an old two-story building that had been cobbled together fifteen plus years ago by a hoarder using whatever scraps of wood and roofing metal he could find. It really needs to be demolished but we hesitated as it is serviceable for storing things for the time being. Unfortunately, the roof leaks, which lead to the plan my husband had to put a giant blue plastic tarp over the roof to keep it from leaking more than it already has. 

This plan involved putting a tarp over a two-story building (see photo) with an extension ladder and a few helpers. The roof was part metal and part shingles (I told you it was cobbled together). My husband contrived a plan to tie ropes with weights to the gromet holes in the tarp, fling the weighted rope over the roof and then pull the tarp over from the other side. This actually worked and he actually got the tarp over the roof. for the most part. Before he could get it secured the wind caught it (I actually have video of this...) and blew the tarp back over the roof. Ugh. So back to square one for another try. He tried very hard to secure the tarp to the shed as he worked his way around.  

We hadn't spent much time clearing vegetation around the shed because there was no need, until we needed to go behind it. There was a lot of brush around it. I'm afraid of critters and bugs but sucked it up and I went back there and started chopping saplings, pulling weeds and creating space for us to maneuver with a ladder and work.  I decided to continue clearing vegetation around the side of the building as well as it had a garage door that we used to drive our UTV and lawnmowers into the shed, and less brush meant more space to maneuver machinery. 

I was working on the back corner of the shed, clearing out weeds and tiny spruce saplings. My husband was up on the ladder at the back of the shed, about five feet from where I was lopping brush. I heard the sound of ladder clanging and as I glanced up, I see my husband coming down, feet first, through the air from about ten feet up. He landed somewhat awkwardly next to a felled spruce tree, or half on it (we are still debating that).....

When you witness the man you have been with for over 40 years fall from a height, it's very traumatic. I'm still traumatized by it. My first thought was that he probably broke his back or his neck.  If he had been knocked out, I would have thought he was dead. Thank goodness he didn't stop moving. 

To my horror and surprise, HE GOT UP... and hopped on one foot over to me as I was trying to get to him through the bushes. I was so worried that he'd hurt himself more by doing this.

Then I asked the stupid question "Are you alright?" To which he replied "I just need some ice. I think it's probably sprained."  Yes he's nuts... Of course, we were going to the hospital emergency room (A&E). 

I have to say that we are lucky there is a small hospital in the town we camp in. Also, when we walked in, we were the only ones there, in the middle of the day no less, so he was seen immediately. They didn't have an orthopedic department but were still able to diagnose him after an x-ray and CT Scan. Broken heel.... the jigsaw puzzle he made of it was going to need surgery at some point to cobble it back together. And the doctor said it was highly unusual to see a patient with just this injury alone because usually there are other injuries along with it. He kept checking his back and neck to be sure nothing else was wrong.  Other than some scratches from the tree he half landed on, and the broken heel, he was okay.... and very, very lucky.

Oh, and he had zero pain from this injury after the first day or so but had to be 100 percent non-weight bearing on that foot until he recovered from surgery. Also, he needed to keep it elevated to help the swelling go down in preparation for surgery. So, he was out of commission until further notice. 

Did I mention we were leaving in a week? And that he couldn't do much driving because his foot needed to be elevated? 

While I'm relieved that it wasn't much worse, I'm annoyed because he wouldn't listen to any of us when we had alternative suggestions about that shed. And now, he can't help with any of the tasks that have to be done to close down our camp for the season. For the first time, I did it all, while he provided guidance. It was tough and some of it was hard (dismantling and storing our pallet outdoor shower) and I was pissy throughout it all. I did a little each day, very sure I would forget the stuff I usually take care of because I was doing both his tasks and mine. 

Finally, after working for days to get everything stored and the camper buttoned up for winter, we started the long drive home. We planned an alternate route because we normally drive down through eastern Tennessee and didn't want to take gas or a hotel room from anyone who was homeless or trying to provide assistance related to the hurricane that devasted North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.  It was a bit longer but we ended up planning our nightly stops so we could visit some friends in Arkansas.  We caught up with them over dinner, which was very enjoyable. 

We've been home now about two weeks, and my husband is two days out of surgery. He's doing well but I think the surgery was harder than he expected, and he now has pain where the break itself wasn't painful after the first day or so.  He will not be weight-bearing until a week before Christmas. 

All this over a shed we are planning to tear down next year....

I'm still not doing well getting back on track with the diet. To be honest, I'm just plain stressed and I think I'm shy about going to the gym by myself, which is completely silly because I'm an independent woman. I don't know what that's about but don't feel like unpacking it today. I'm trying to eat healthy but still feel the need to crunch salty stuff to deal with stress. I did stick to my diet up until the night before his surgery. I need to get back on it. 

I was reminded of several things throughout this whole experience. The first one is that some things we do just aren't worth the price we may pay. Yes, at 60 plus years old, we are still learning this lesson.  My husband does far more work than I gave him credit for.  You don't realize how much your partner does until you have to do their work and yours. I have a new respect for women who run households without any help at all. You ladies ROCK!

I probably took my husband for granted a little bit and now I'm far more appreciative of him. Lastly, if I had any doubt about my feelings for him? Seeing him jump off the ladder from that height was enough to make me realize what a blessing he is to my life and how lucky I am to have such a great, steadfast, honorable guy who still loves me since that very first date in the summer of 1984 where he took me out for a pizza and to see "Conan the Destroyer." 

I'm waiting to have a good cry over all of this, but it hasn't happened yet. You know that cry, the one where you can't cry until the scary part is over with and then it's okay to let it out.  Not quite there yet. 

This was an experience that really made me think about a lot of things. Don't ignore those experiences. They happen for a reason. 

PS.  Technically, he jumped off the ladder. It was that or get tangled with the falling ladder or get disemboweled by the sheet metal roof edge that was ragged. Those were his choices and in that split second, he chose to jump.