Inconsistent blogger

Well, I posted in 2012, and now it is 2016. A lot has happened. We moved to Spokane, I worked like a slave in primary care at the VA primary care clinic. By slave, I mean I routinely worked at least 60 hours a week. No overtime, no comp time. I hated it. I liked most of my veterans, but the work sucked. No other way to put it. Michael retired in 2013 and I retired in 2015. Now, life is good!

I retired May 15th 2015, and on May 21 we went to Portland in our RV to await the birth of our grandchild. The baby wasn't due until June 7 but Erin's BP was high and she was induced on May 22. Sally Barbara was born on May 24th, just before midnight! Mother and baby did well. Being there at her birth was incredible, and little Miss Sally B is a joy in our lives.

That joy was tempered with sorrow when my younger brother Mark died on June 8th. He was supposed to graduate that Friday with his master's degree from University of Washington (Environmental Horticulture). It was completely unexpected and rocked our family to the core. That's all I'll say about that. It's a year later and while I still miss him, it's getting easier to accept.

Almost gone.

I'm almost ready to head out. Well, no I'm not at all ready but ready or not, we hit the road on Sunday.  I hope this is the right move. It is strange to be leaving after being here for 27 years. I've lived here longer than anywhere else, but I don't think of myself as an Alaskan. I don't even think of myself as an Oregonian anymore, and that's where I was born. I'm just Nancy, about to be released from exile. It's been a nice exile for the most part, but it has been exile nevertheless.

I haven't been on a road trip in a long time, so it will be nice to be with my best baby, heading down the highway. I always said I'd never drive the Al-can until I was driving out, leaving Alaska forever. Three more days and I will be.