Outside plans for this year

I know inside the house needs a lot more work but I am going to put some money and time into landscaping and outside stuff this year.  I have a survey planned and money put away for that and I am making calls to concrete contractors for bids on doing the back patio this spring also.
Once the survey is done I will start the fencing work, east/alley line first, then up the south side to the parking area, back to the northeast corner to start that fence.  I want something decorative on the front/southwest side and I am not sure where gates will be or what will be completely fenced but do want that for most of the property so I have a safer dog area.
I will work flower beds and grasses around the patio, plans include a 6 foot high privacy screen on the south side of the patio, above the bike parking patio.  The house gets a small, narrow landing and steps down to the patio and I am looking at grills.  I hope to see the back door replaced and using it most of the time before fall, and I will find time and some funds for more of the drywall up in the attic area, but I need a fence to keep the dog out of the neighbor's pool and out of the streets.
It looks like I will have the current mortgage paid off in less than 18 months, wee, and then I will save up and plan for furnace replacement summer of 2016, then to save a bit and talk to bank for the kitchen to get professional overhaul and solid surface counters and nice cabinets. 
The property in MO is sold and that money will be paying for the patio or most of the costs, have called 5 contractors but have yet to see any one here to look at the job.  Winter is slowing that down but 2 have contacted me back.   My calls had me leaving messages on machines, but I will call back in a week or so.  I am not in a huge hurry but know I do need to get contractors looking at the job and bids so I can make a decision and get on someone's work schedule for this spring or summer. 
I have not heard any more about Cynthia's condition, nor seen anything yet on Facebook, do know it is normal to keep a person sedated for up to 2 weeks after the surgery she had to deal with the brain bleeding.
I have them all in my prayers, something to leave in God's hands and then go about my life, take care of my own responsibilities here.
And part of that is UFDC donation for this coming convention.  I have the doll,shoes, undies and 1 pair of tights, nightgown needs hand work, 2 dresses need hand work and I need everything I am donating done by our April doll club meeting so Donnell can do the photos, paperwork and pack it to take to the convention.
I won't say I am thinning down my doll collection very much but UFDC will probably get at least 1 doll every year as part of our club's donations to help with costs for something.
It has been a very long and cold winter here this year, colder than prior years for me, and more snow and ice.  I am not the only person tired of this weather but there is a home and garden show in Springfield this weekend and I plan to go, Larry will go with me but I don't know if we will go Saturday or Sunday.  We are hearing rumors of work Saturday but schedules are posted Thursdays.
Getting to this place in life, and this place with this old house has not come easy, hard work, making good choices over and over, cleaning up the mess from a poor choice or two, working every day even when I hurt, trying to watch my spending and working on breaking some bad money habits.  No one handed me any of this stuff in my house or the house, the truck or the job.  I have worked for them and I will keep working to keep them and take care of them. 
Wish a few other people would accept that their crappy lives are the result of their crappy choices and accept the fact that unless they work to make their life better, it will just stay crappy and NO, blaming others won't fix a thing.  Figure if I can do it, than others can too, especially if they are in the same genetic line as I am.  Not talking about anyone I gave birth to but a sister that I do love but will not feel sorry for.  Her crappy choices have put her where she is and in the financial situation she is in, I won't help her out, she has to start getting out herself and working on being honest about her situation and why she is in the spot she is in. 
In the meantime, I will plan to play with graph paper and plan out some of the outside stuff, see about getting some plants on a wish list, look and see if I can buy the basin wild rye plants this year or just seed and so forth but right now it is time to shut down and get to sleep.

A day off and life progress

The plant has a big new equipment install going this weekend so kill floor is off today and cut floor off Monday so the work can get done and the $$$ outside contractors that came to install some of their company equipment can get their job done and leave.
So, it is still cold and still windy, doubt if I do the outside clean up I need to do, Shadow and I need to take the cart and clean up after him as soon as we can, again.
Jake and the girlfriend are inJacksonville, decided to stay there, bad winds and her parents didn't want them on the roads after class so Jake gets parked on their sofa.
I need to make the house payment today, will leave me with 24 or less to make, paying extra every month means I might actually be down to 23.  Nice thought, will probably refinance for doing the kitchen, expect to replace the furnace without needing to do that, have it planned for after the house is paid for and before I retire, easier to replace it early while I can easily manage the cost than once I am on a fixed income and it has a problem and the parts are no longer available.
The news on Cynthia, Jake's step mom is not much and not really good at this time, she is under sedation while the medical team watch her brain, normal after the surgery to deal with the bleeding issue.  It can be as long as 2 weeks waiting time, hard hours with a hospital a long drive from their home town.  The extent of damage the stroke has caused cannot be determined at this time but it does seem to be more on the right side than the left. I have asked those I know to add the family to prayer lists, and I know all of this is very hard on Jake and Ben.
We all hold grudges, she put a lot of work into driving the boys away from their dad and into trying to make my life miserable once she married Sam. She was a huge cause of the financial problems which forced the sale of the farm, including what should have been Jake's with our divorce agreement and property settlement.
We do not want to see the burdens that will be placed on Sam with this stroke and the damage that will come from it.  It was a severe stroke, there is no way she will recover completely and she will have a very long and slow recovery, with no idea at this time, and huge medical bills that are not all covered by insurance.  Trips down to Columbia from Milan will be long and cost, James is still in school, their son and they are the caregivers for their grandson AJ, her older son's child.
And we are over here in Illinois, with our not perfect lives, Jake and I live in this old house I am slowly fixing, he works part time, takes college classes and has a girlfriend. Ben lived at the town north of us, working at local restaurant, shares a place with friends and is working on paying off his debts.
I have a labor job at the local meat packing plant, good insurance and benefits, a life I really like, good friends, some outside interests like the doll club I am a member of and that Honda Rebel I love to ride.  I do believe in karma and think the scales of life get balanced in ways we do not understand.

Know I am blessed with my life

I hurt a lot, foot and leg from the accident, hands from work but I usually bounce out of the plant after work and I go in ready to work and glad to be there.  I take some over the counter pain meds but not a lot and like the days I take nothing for pain.

Jake's step mother had a stroke early this morning, life flight down to Columbia MO for surgery to stop/control bleeding in her brain.  No idea at this time what her condition is or what her future will be. 

She abused both Ben and Jake, called me a whore and did all she could to make as much hell in my life as she could when we lived in the same county and I have no liking for her and not much sympathy.

But Jake loves his dad very much, they are close so what hurts Sam, hurts Jake, who despises his step mother but arecently wired money to her for meds she has to have and did not have the funds for.

So, I count myself fortunate and blessed.  I like my life, like my job, live in my own home and am slowly improving it and my health is pretty good, all things considered.

I don't think Jake's life would improve by this woman being dead or seriously disabled, I do think she may have earned such but it would make Sam's life harder and that would make huge waves in my son's little world.

So, I will pray for her healing, for them to get through this very challenging time and I will count my many blessings.

Another winter weekend

Seems like winter plans a long stay this year, plenty of snow, ice and cold to go around.  The side streets herein town have been an icy mess for about 2-3 weeks now, city is out of ice melt and no funds to buy more, and none available to buy.

My house has too many humans here too much of the time, my hands hurt too much of the time and I am so tired of this cold weather.

But I have gained a bit on my list of things I need to get done, would not trade lives with anyone I know and know the weather will improve some day.