Shit Happens

Four and half months ago, Scott and I made a plan.  A big plan.  We found our dream home!  Actually, our dream property.  The dream home part is a work in a progress.  The challenge was that I was still in Oklahoma for work.  

With a portion of our home goods and necessities in tow, Scott drove from Oklahoma to Vermont to close on our new house.  Making the decision to live separately for a period wasn’t made lightly, but it was made with a longer-term goal in mind.  We’ve “visited” each other since his drive North, but with COVID, we didn’t want to be recklessly traveling either.  So, we each hunkered down and did our jobs that would bring us together soon enough; Scott single-handedly demolishing the entire first floor of our home (he’s now in construction phase) and me taking on a new, bigger role at work.  I’ll post more about the demolition/construction later.

I felt confident going into this temporary arrangement that we would each be so busy that any loneliness would be tempered by the thrill of moving towards our goal.  And I was mostly right.  We've had great stretches and we’ve had challenging stretches.  FaceTime has been a godsend.

Early on, I felt like the universe was plotting against our new arrangement.  Within the same one-week period back in October, Oklahoma had a historic ice storm that left trees in a shamble (they’re still cleaning up in February!), Bella got sprayed for the first time by a skunk, and the garbage disposal backed up.

TRAGIC.  ALL OF IT.   Or so it felt.

I initially became pretty overwhelmed by it.  I cried at the universe, “How is all of this happening right now when Scott’s not here?!”  Full out pity party of one.  One challenge at a time, I peeled away the overwhelm and the frustration I was feeling and addressed each challenge. 

Ice storm?  Scott had most of our tools, so I drove to the local hardware store and bought a small hand saw before everyone else snatched them up.  The next day provided a perfect weather day to get outside and cut up the branches in the front yard. 

Skunk-gate?  Faced with a frozen spicket, I couldn't bathe Bella outside.  I brought her inside and whisked her over to our amazing boarding place for a professional de-skunking.  Best $25 I've ever spent.

Backed-up garbage disposal?  After cursing my landlord who basically said this was a “me” problem (she was right), I ran out to the store for some Drano.   Best $7 I’ve spent since Skunk-gate.  Worked like a charm.

Today, I’m faced with shoveling 8” of snow with more coming, hoping the negative 27 degree wind chills don’t freeze the pipes or force a power outage, strongly encouraging pushing Bella to go outside to do her business, starting vehicles periodically to prevent battery drain, and just now wrestling with a garage door that decided to stay in the “open” position. 

I GOT THIS.

None of what I’ve shared here has been tragic.  None of this has been as dramatic as it felt in the initial moment.  As of now, I still have power and heat and working pipes.  And I won the garage door fight.  Go me!

Somewhere over the last four months, I’ve added a new, thicker layer of skin.  I feel like I’ve always been gutsy/adventurous, but admittedly have grown soft when I knew Scott would just take care of the problem. 

We have partners for a reason, and I can’t wait to be back with mine.  But I’m grateful for this reminder of how important it is to be able to take care of myself and to not panic or get overwhelmed when shit happens.  Because shit will happen.  A lot.  Except when I want Bella to go outside.  That shit ain’t happening anytime soon!

Five States in Five Years

The last five years have seen our little family call home in five very different states.  As we prepare to make our next move to our final state number six, I found myself reflecting on the last five years/moves/states….

We lived in Massachusetts all our lives.  Until we didn’t!  Snowy backyard, countless fun running memories, big 50 mile and 100 mile race accomplishments, family and friends.  Too many pictures to represent all the decades.

We lived in North Carolina next.  Then we blinked and moved on!  While there, we ran some races, did some sightseeing/touring, took a trip in a hot air balloon, and hiked some mountains.

We lived in the Monadnock Region of New Hampshire next.  Made some life-long new friends, shared hot cocoa at the top of Mt. Monadnock during a super moon, discovered Scores Running Club family, reconnected with our families, and ran lots of races, notably Vermont 100 (Scott). 

After decades of complaining about the cold, it was time to explore life in Southwest Florida.  Made instant great friends (who express themselves via birthday cake), learned how to avoid new critters (heyyyy gator!), survived a brutally humid 50K with our northern friends, and experienced and captured some of the most amazing sunsets!

Although planned as a temporary stay (for work), our stay in Oklahoma has lasted almost two years!  And, it’s fallen partially during the pandemic.  Fortunately, we did get some explorations in before lock-down.  The weather nerd in me got to visit National Weather Center, experience a distant-enough tornado from the safety of our storm shelter, experience the coldest weather in 116 years, visit the Oklahoma State Fair, run several races, and make an instant friend at those races!

Next Stop:  Home Sweet Home, VT USA…We are now preparing for our trek home to Vermont!!! 

What this five year adventure has taught is this:  We need to be closer to our families.  We need to be closer to the mountains.  We need space and land and peacefulness.  We need our four seasons.  We are farmers at heart (even Scott who grew up in the city!).  This is what is important to us.  

None of these five states were necessarily "wrong".  We consider ourselves so incredibly lucky to have been able to experience this adventure.  It reminded us of what we need, what/who we missed, and what we don't need as part of our future.  We wouldn’t trade the friends and the memories we made for anything and are excited to build new memories.

Vermont, we're coming for you!