I hear that life changes are stressful. I guess they are, but I also find them invigorating, even those that are tinged with melancholy. In the past 18 months, I’ve been through the following changes:
1) Retired at just a few weeks past my 60th birthday after 32 years in corporate America. My retirement party in early December was epic.
2) Celebrated our last Christmas on the farm, which was sad and sweet.
3) Left for our first winter at the Tucson place right after Christmas.
4) Tried hard to get into the swing at the park, but had a tough time finding a groove. Which I actually never did. Friends came to visit, but then...
5) EFFING COVID. We left early for home, afraid states might close borders. It was a tense trip.
6) As soon as we got back, a family member went into a serious manic episode, requiring three hospitalizations. And was incredibly angry with me, for some reason, and shut me out.
7) Packing began in earnest for the move off of the farm and into town. 30+ years of accumulation and (borderline) hoarding made it hard.
8) Our oldest son and wife (who were moving TO the farm) announced they were pregnant!! Yay!
9) We stayed away from everyone and everything. I’m a social creature. It was incredibly hard for me. Not so hard for The Husband.
10) We built a big new garage/shop at the house in town.
11) I made a hundred decisions and purchased thousands and thousands of $$ worth of new stuff for the remodel that was scheduled to happen while we were in Tucson. It was nerve wracking. And turned out fabulously.
12) In one crazy, giant, mixed up day with lots of help, we swapped houses with Danny and Carly.
13) We lived barely in the house for 3 days, then took off for AZ. And drove 113 miles in pure ice in the dark. The Husband managed brilliantly. I wanted to stop.
14) Spent another isolated winter in nice weather.
15) Got our 2nd Moderna vaccine on April 15 at a drive through site - so efficient! Gave ourselves a few days to make sure we didn’t have any side effects (none!), left on the 20th and were home on the 21st.
To a home we’d never lived in, with a garage full of boxes to unpack and furniture to move in. Now, that was a little overwhelming. But we took a bite at a time and it’s coming along.
And Margaret Anne was born on May 10th. Now we’re grandparents. No visitors allowed at the hospital so we haven’t met her yet. I’m so, so anxious to hold her!
No matter how you look at it, that’s a lot. A LOT lot. So I decided I needed a new blog to document this new chapter in my life. Welcome.
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