It’s been quite a hiatus, between the holidays, traveling and eating myself into an early grave. I swear I don’t do it on purpose but Running Boy is right: writing when I’m happy is a lot harder than writing when I’m sad.
Work has kept me busy, as well as the myriad of commitments and fun things that happen every December. My kids had a great Christmas, and Arden lost both of her two front teeth just late enough where I couldn’t sing “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth”. She has an adorable lisp now and a huge gap to accommodate her incoming fangs. I spent most of their winter break trying to live in the moment and not think too much about the various uncertainties of my near-future. I did well at that for a time, but am now back into planning mode. It’s my nature to examine situations from all angles and attempt to have a game plan for any outcome. Perhaps I should have been a lawyer, since that’s what most of them do for a living – figure out worst-case scenarios and ways to avoid them.
I still love my job, but I occasionally mourn the loss of my mom-life where I could set my hours and spend time in the afternoons with the girls. I don’t miss not having money and the times work would happen inevitably right after the girls got home, and I’d end up telling them to quiet down so I could get some stuff done or take a phone call. My life is much more compartmentalized now than it was, and that’s been good for me. I thrive on routine and I love being able to come home from work and for the most part, shelve any feelings or ideas about it until the next morning at 8 am.
Running Boy got me an iPad for Christmas, which was really unexpected and over the top but I am in love with that thing like whoa. I think my recent bout of insomnia and sleep deprivation is directly related to the amount of time I spend glued to it, and Netflix is probably going to go bankrupt because of how many movies I have already downloaded. I’ll get my $7.99/month worth, dammit.
For our one year anniversary, we headed to Grottoes, VA for New Year’s weekend. Two of our close friends joined us. We stayed at a placed called the High Laurel Inn and it was amazing. Perched on the side of a mountain overlooking the Shenandoah Valley, we had our own side of a converted barn complete with fireplace and private balcony. Our friends had the other side of the barn. Their big selling point to us was an outdoor 6 person hot tub sharing the same view with the rest of the property. Much champagne and wine was consumed from that perch. I slept a lot – more than I probably should have. It had been awhile since I’d been able to unwind enough where I felt lazy and slothlike. After a day of that, we spent New Year’s Day hiking. Prior to that hike, I had run once and worked out on an elliptical machine once since being released back to normal life activity after a month off post-surgery. Feeling cocky, lazy and slothlike, we chose a “strenuous” 10 mile hike because our inn host offered to drop us at the trailhead. Another selling point of the inn was the proximity to trails in the Shenandoah National Park. We could hike the trail, then hop off when we passed by the inn.
Although I’d looked at the trail map before we attempted the hike, I hadn’t really grasped the fact that the first 5 ½ miles were uphill. And I mean straight uphill. Additionally, the idea was to hike the first half and run the trail the second half. Anytime the ground began to “flatten out”, we started running. By the time we got to the actual flattish part of the terrain, my quads were shot from going downhill and my calves were screaming up the uphill bits. Run that trail once or twice a week and you’d be in great shape.
The scenery was gorgeous, and would have made an excellent natural headstone for my dead body. However, Running Boy kept pushing me onward and cheerfully pestering me with comments and questions. Then he figured out the key to getting me through the hike: promising me dinner and another soak in the hot tub.
After the immediate feeling of death passed, we talked about doing another hike soon since we did have a good time and it’s a pretty inexpensive (and healthy) way to spend a day. I don’t want to make the same mistake I made while living in Northern Michigan. Growing up around the beauty we had at our doorstep made me nearly immune to it. As much as I gripe about Virginia, there are some amazing places to visit and things to do. So as we save our money this winter and spring, we’ll probably be doing quite a bit of mountainous exploring and trail running.
My lease is up in May – big decisions about what to do and how. The only thing I know for certain is that I want to stay in the same school district. I finally feel 100% happy with where they go, and I don’t want to rock that particular boat quite yet. It makes my living options very limited as it’s a small area that feeds into their school. Half of it is $500k and up homes; the other half is tiny brick ranchers that are still overpriced because of the school district. I’m not really into either option. That’s one of those areas I’m avoiding thinking about.
In the meantime, I am still waiting for some finality in other areas of my life. One of my big Christmas gifts came early when Running Boy got some closure. The second half of that is right around the corner, and I will be so very happy when one less thing is hanging over both of our heads.
