a mild winter in North Idaho

Hello friends and familly,

It feels like spring is right around the corner and I am not sure if it is true or if my mind is tricking me into believing it is so: new growth on the trees and in the yard, birds singing, seed catalogues coming in the mail, gardening tools at the stores, etc.

We’ve had a very mild winter this year, with very little snow and mild temperatures (i think it rarely got down in the teens). I am aware that winter is not really over though but I just like to think it is! After all, we are in North Idaho, and last year we had no spring and went straight from winter to summer! Everything is possible around here I guess.

Now, we’ve had few cold spells with icy roads and several inches of snow over night, but nothing major. I am not very fond of this weather, especially when I have to be on the road early in the morning, before they de-ice or plow the roads. I’ve always wondered about black ice and I hear people talk about it all the time. I guess it is something you can’t really see and when you realize you’ve hit black ice, well, it is too late to do anything… Derek and I were on our way to Portland a few weeks ago and the road seemed normal, no snow, no ice. I was driving and was going about 55 mph on the Freeway when I started sliding on the freeway. I tried to keep the car going straight but I over corrected every time, and when I finally lost control of the vehicle, all i could hear was Derek telling me to keep my foot off the gas. Everything happened very fast but it was going in slow motion at the same time. I really had no idea what to do or if I could even do something at this point because I never experienced anything like it. We started making a 180 degrees on the freeway and we could see cars passing us from every side. Scary. It was around 7 am and the traffic was kind of heavy (I am so happy it did not happen on the 405!). Anyway, we ended up on the side of the freeway, one foot away from a telephone pole, in a couple feet of snow. I was all shaky (Dz too!), still not believing how lucky we were. No damage what so ever. I still can’t believe we did not hit anybody! I bet we scared a couple people when we did that 180 turn on the freeway… It was one of the scariest things that ever happened to me. I still can’t believe it… I am very careful when driving now, even when the roads look normal, because you never know what you are going to find out there. I think we had little angels watching over us that day. 

As far as work goes, I’ve been busy the last couple months, juggling between my two jobs, training to be a cook at the hospital, and trying to find time to spend with Dz and have some fun. I am finally back to a normal schedule and it feels great. I am hoping to find some CC time soon so I can do things I’ve been wanting to do this winter but had no time to do…Working at the assisted living is going okay and I do enjoy working with the elderly. Honestly, I don’t enjoy all the parts of my job but I guess the good times I have with residents make me forget about all the other not so good time…Working with the elderly is rewarding in many ways but it forces me to think about getting old and seeing the not so pretty part of aging. Although I am not afraid of getting white hair, having wrinkles and such, I am afraid of some part of aging such as Dementia, Parkinson or some other mental disease. I see scary things on a regular basis working in the memory care unit and it breaks my heart to see how one can go backward in time and forget all that one learned. Everyday I am so grateful to be alive, to have health and love in my life. I do not take any of it for granted and I want to enjoy life now and not later. Life is too short for any BS and one never knows what the future holds. Nursing assistant is a hard job, mentally and physically and even though I enjoy most of it, I will not want to do that forever.  I have something to say regarding old women and bras: if anyone forces me to wear a bra when i am old, i will come back after i die to mentally torture any one who made me wear a bra. No one should be forced to wear a bra when you are in your 90’s. I said it, be warned! I understand the concept of maintaining dignity but for me, the bra has nothing to do with that. None of the women who still have their marbles want to wear bras. So my advice is that you should talk to your daughters or sisters or whoever and let them know how you feel about wearing a bra or not when you are old. It may sound stupid or funny, but it is the real life in nursing homes, i guess.  I know I don’t want to wear a bra if I end up in a nursing home; at this point, who cares? Nobody remembers anything anyway so I don’t think saggy boobs are a big deal : ) 

Working at the hospital is going well. I enjoy working the cafetaria and being the tray person (which consists in getting trays ready for the patients according to their diets) but cooking there is a bit different than what I am used too and it is not always in my comfort zone. But that’s how life goes sometimes and I am still learning a lot anyway. 

Our lease is up on June 1^stand so we need to decide what to do next. We are thinking that we may stay in Hope, or not, so when we know, we let you know. Our heat is not great: we have propane heat and it is very expensive to be keeping the house at a comfortable temperature. We had many mornings were the temperature was under 50 and it is cold. Our house was never quiet warm enough for me this winter and  I was glad to go work at the assisted living because it is always 85 degrees there…yeah!  

Derek has been devoting some time to think about the future and what he wants to do in life. I think having some time off the last few months have been beneficial for him and I am happy that he is getting back in touch with himself. He has been enjoying hiking the last few days and he took wonderful pictures that I would like to share with you. We do live in a beautiful area and I feel so fortunate to be here. Enjoy the pictures! 

I can’t wait for spring: to plant my garden, grow delicious veggies and ditch my wool pants and undershirt. Looking through the seed catalogues is very exciting and I have a long list of seeds I would like to get this year. So we shall see!  

Until the next, 

CC