Still stuck; something happy, something sad

A month after moving to my new place finds me pretty much the same: still kind of stuck.

I am grateful for all the comments left after my last post. It is comforting to know I’m not the only one who feels affected and displaced with a move from one house to another, from one town to another. I’m sure with a little more time I will eventually settle in and life will begin to seem normal again.

One of the reasons why it has been difficult to settle in yet has to do with my sweet Jamie., and has involved weeks of house hunting for her and hubby Carlos. The apartment they had been renting was sold, and they were obliged to move out last week. And it has been a challenge to find something affordable for them to rent or buy in the city. As we have found out, living in the capital city has become very expensive the last few years. Quite fortunately, we did finally find the “perfect” home for them: a sweet little townhouse in a suburb way out north. It is still being built, so they are crashing with her oldest brother for the time being, until they can move in the end of January. This will mean a commute for Jamie, but what makes me extra happy about this is that they will now be only 20 minutes away from where I am currently living. I will get to see my sweet daughter often! 🙂

In the midst of all this running around, our eleven year-old Labrador Retriever (Alyssa) started to deteriorate very quickly. Throughout her whole life we have had to deal with several health issues (canine epilepsy and hip displasia), and she always was a sweet but rather nervous dog. Although she belonged to Jamie, when I moved we decided she should come with me because we didn’t want to separate her from my Golden Retriever, Josie. So for the past two years she has been under my care. During this time it was clear to us she was aging and our time with her would soon be coming to an end. We had to reach the sad decision to put her down on the very same day we settled on a new home for Jamie and Carlos. As any of you who have loved a pet know, this is a terribly hard decision to make, and losing this dog definitely has left a void.

In practical terms, all this upheaval has not helped with my lack of motivation to continue to unpack and settle in. I’m still set to the “one-day-at-a-time” mode. Yesterday Pedrito helped me set up my large table, with the hope that this would encourage me to start setting up my sewing space. This is as far as we got, but maybe tomorrow I’ll unpack some boxes…

For now, I’ll share my most favorite photo of the two dogs who have brightened Jamie’s and my life for over a decade. I always loved to see how they acted coordinately as a pair. I am thankful for the years we were able to enjoy our sweet Alyssa, and am making it a point to enjoy the time left to me with my crazy, dopey Josie. 🙂