Things that happened while I was 40-- (since I will be 41 in approximately a month)

This idea is totally stolen from Linda Woods and Karen Dinino’s blog, but why re-invent the wheel, right?? And anyway, I did want to make a list like this; I just got the push to do it after seeing it on their blog. And of course, there’s probably lots of other stuff that happened while I was 40, I just don’t remember it now, because I’m almost 41, and my memory’s not what it used to be. (it never was, though, so I can’t really blame it on my age…) Where the heck did 40 years old come from, anyway?? How did that happen?? (this is rhetorical, sort of-- it seems like just yesterday I was chasing lightning bugs in the backyard with the neighbor kids… when did we all grow up and become adults?)

Anyway, back to things that happened while I was 40:

We bought a house.

We fixed up the new house and moved into it- in July!! (we hired movers, thank goodness)

I lost my job (we all did; they closed our entire facility-okay, technically that was while I was 39, since my last day of work was 2 weeks before my birthday.)

We tried to rent out our first house- no luck.

We tried to work with the bank to modify our loan- no luck.

We went through foreclosure proceedings on the first house- then, the bank said they wanted to try and help us… a bit too late, then, isn’t it?!?

I got a new job after being unemployed for 9 months.

I visited my sister Jackie in Missouri (it was a fun time, although hot and humid… the dry heat thing isn’t just a myth, it really is true- I’m acclimated to the desert, now.)

We spent time in Illinois and Wisconsin to visit my parents and attend Tom's family reunion. (we drove straight through from AZ to IL- approximately 28 hours of driving!)

We spent approximately 3 hours in Santa Fe. (on the way to Illinois; I definitely want to go back there sometime!!)

I visited my other sister Judy in Wisconsin while we were there, which was also a fun time, hanging out and playing croquet. I miss spending time with her—she needs to come to visit me in AZ! (Jude, are you reading this??)

We drove back (straight through again!!) from Wisconsin to Arizona.

We drove to Las Vegas for Labor Day weekend—(drove there on Saturday, came home on Sunday.) A bit of a crazy plan, but after driving to and from WI, it didn’t seem so bad. Las Vegas was a huge sensory overload for me, but I'm glad we went.

I organized a garage sale to get rid of some of the extra knicknacks (including extra art suppies) around our house.

I purchased more art supplies (of course!) and knicknacks throughout the year to replace the ones I sold at the garage sale... how does that always happen?

I attended some very fun art journaling classes taught by Kelly Kilmer (one was last weekend, and I still need to take pics-- it was great: 2 whole days of cutting, pasting, and creative inspiration. But I digress...)

I had lots of fun, as always, attending our group's monthly Mixed Media art group meetings, and even led a couple of them (where I showed some of my favorite painting and stamping techniques, of course!).

I created an art piece (see it here) for the show Women for Women, which raised money for the charitable organization of the same name.

I suffered a stroke while attending the art opening of the show. (!! I did not realize I suffered a stroke till the CT scan days later confirmed it-- was I lucky, or what?!?)

I visited many doctors, specialists, and endured many tests to figure out what caused my stroke- the answer is: we don't have an answer- we don't know what caused my stroke.

I signed on for the 3-Day for the Cure, a 60-mile walk to raise money for breast cancer research.

Whenever I think "nothing ever happens to me," I need to sit down and make a list like this again, I think.