Christmas Catch Up...

This is the Family Christmas Letter we included I included in our Christmas cards I sent out this year. Since this is the most information anyone would have had from us this year, I thought I'd include it here too as a record of our 2021.

Our BIG news is a big move! After giving my notice at the Hyundai dealership to focus on my health last December, we thought: “What we were still doing in Pleasant Grove with our kids grown, in more house than we need, & facing cold weather during the winter when we have a permanent option to move south to our home in St. George?” It was a short conversation. We started the move the week of Christmas.

We moved gradually. Genius Golfer did the heavy work. I was still working to regain my energy levels from some long-haul Covid fatigue issues. In mid-March we got serious and packed what we wanted to take, took about 3 trailer loads to donate, and we filled a 20-yard dumpster with junk and food storage that we neither had room for in StG or was too old to want to keep. THAT was a chore! It really was wild to discover how much “stuff” we had held on to that really, we didn’t use or need. I only wish he had become minimalists sooner!

We put the house on the market at the end of March and had it sold in about a week. The rumors of cash-offers for thousands over asking price wasn’t our reality, but we got what we wanted for it and felt it was a fair deal even in this CRAZY housing market.

It was terribly sad to leave our wonderful neighbors and beloved friends in Pleasant Grove, especially after 26 years there. But it was the right move at the right time. We said goodbye to the home where we raised our kids and grew together as a family and learned a lifetime’s worth of lessons. In the end, we had no regrets and have brought many, many fond memories with us to Southern Utah.

Shortly after selling our home in PG, we finally found a piece of commercial property in StG for a business opportunity we have been working ourselves into. One of our goals when we decided to move down here is to invest in ourselves and build a business that I can run and put toward our retirement future. I’ve always enjoyed teenagers and thought a soda shack would be right up my alley. We had watched our friends open a franchise for the company “Quench-it!” and thought it would be the right fit for us too. We had been looking initially for a place to lease for over 6 months—even before our move—but nothing had been available. The sale of the PG house gave us an unmatched opportunity to buy a piece of land and be our own landlords. We found a great location and purchased it in April. There has been a LOT of behind-the-scenes work to get ready to build but we are getting closer. We submitted the application for a building permit this week! We hope to build by the first of the year and have our grand opening just as school lets out for the summer here. Tune in to next year’s Christmas letter to see how it all goes!

I started a job as an office building manager for a 40-suite office building in late April. I am using my PTA skills, mom-skills, and basic common sense (that, come to find out, isn’t so basic…) to solve problems for the tenants there. It isn’t a big career move but a good place holder until our business is ready to open. In June I was called to serve as president of our congregation’s Relief Society—the women’s organization locally, with 185 women to whom I serve and minister. GG continues to work from home for Yahoo/Edgecast as part of the recently purchased Verizon Digital Media group. He’s doing the same stuff, but under a new name this year. He serves as our congregation’s technology specialist. GG made his first HOLE IN ONE this year and was very excited about that!

The other JOY of being here is to be closer to The Boy and Bonus Girl. They celebrate their 2nd wedding anniversary this December. They continue to plug away at their work. The Boy just made the move to the behavioral medicine floor from the Cardio-vascular unit in preparation for (fingers crossed) his Nurse Practitioner grad school program he is hoping to get into next fall. Bonus Girl is working at Southwest Spine & Pain, a local clinic that lets her use her phlebotomy certificate and is training her to be a medical assistant while she is also chipping away at her GE classes for Nursing school at Dixie State here in town. They bring over our “grand-pup” Stella to play and we get to see them regularly for Sunday dinners. Genius Golfer has been teaching Bonus Girl to golf and soon she might beat them all!

The Girl has just moved to Phoenix with the FBI and we are thrilled she is only 6 hours away rather than three days! She recently finished an intense training program at Quantico in October and is making great moves in her career. She loves what she does and loves the “service to country” that comes with work in the bureau. She leaves some wonderful friends in West Virginia but we know she’ll find additional friends in Arizona.

We rejoice in this special time of year to “ideally” slow down, reflect on our many blessings and look forward to celebrating the Savior’s birth with the world at Christmas time. We love Him and cannot imagine our lives without His gospel to guide us and His love and grace to sustain us. We wish you and your families the very best this Christmas season and a healthy, happy New Year in 2022.

I'm On the Highway to Hell

I am not at all sure how I get myself into such predicaments. But I always do. It seems that I offend on every turn. this seems to apply equally to my family and those I work with and the sisters I serve in Relief Society. That, and the fact that I have nearly wished the demise of  my former brother in law, have quite rightly insured I will be going to hell. I'm already to book my ticket. It is overdue.

My mom recently wrote of her hurt feelings about getting word that her letters are not appreciated in the way they are intended. I know she uses them as her journal and she records her feelings as they are. This blog has a similar purpose to me. And yet I have offended her in my perceptions and once again, have shown myself ungrateful.

I am upset that I hurt her feelings most of all. And that is what has earned me a seat in the proverbial handbasket that will take me to hell. At least that is the beginning of the end this month.

I have offended some of the ladies at church by speaking my mind without all the niceties and public politeness. While I spoke truth, I also spoke without enough generosity and thoughtfulness. It is something that seems to happen more and more the older I get.

In my current role as relief society president this is a significantly unfortunate since I am supposed to be the one to love and accept each of these ladies as my sisters. This affront will allow me to make my seat selection on the handbasket seating arrangements.

This past week we got word that my former brother in law collapsed from Covid ad was rushed to the hospital locally and is currently in the ICU on a ventilator. My boss walked up behind me reading the obituaries one afternoon at work and I ultimately had to reveal that I was searching for his name and that I has kind of hoped to find it there. While I do love my nephews, and would be sad for their loss if their dad died, I also had a feeling that, finally, karma could have worked her magic in our favor.

If I continue at this rate, I'll have a bench named after me on the highway to hell--handbasket or not. Yet, in the moment the feelings were what I felt, they were not kind and they were not charitable and they weren't thoughtful. And those are the things I SHOULD be seeking to become.

I'd like to promise that I will make things right across the board, but I have learned from past mistakes that words said, or written, or expressed in any way cannot be withdrawn. I have to ask forgiveness and promise to do better. And that promise of doing better is the stickler. I can't seem to curb my tongue or bend my thoughts or even take care of how I am responding to others. Maybe this is why some of my favorite literary characters are those who have the same issues--yet I am not learning to overcome my similar shortcomings by reading of their misadventures.

Practice makes perfect, they say. But imperfect practice just leads to poor performance and bad habits. Let's hope I can get better. It may require divine intervention.

Perpetuating Insecurities?

 My good mom writes a family letter each week--nearly without fail.  She shares the newsy retelling of their every days for the week just to keep in touch. During Covid life, my sister was able to visit them a LOT and weekly, the rest of the family would get these newsy reports of all the stuff Sister did with my parents each time she was there.

Those visits have been able to continue since the vaccine was unveiled and rolled out everywhere. My BIL has some frequent flyer points so Sister can fly whenever she wants, even bringing her little dog with her. That dog has more flight miles than I do!

In talking with The Boy and my Daughter In Law, the recent tales of Sister at the grandparents' place came up in conversation. Discovering my family was not a favorite was not new information for these two. They said they could tell that just by the way the letter reflected on all the details of what Sister did with them. When we have the grandparents with us or with our side, it is usually a short "we were there" mention.

Apparently my personal insecurities have rubbed off on my kids without much effort. While growing up there were only the two of us girls. We quickly grew into our own interested and hobbies. We didn't do much that overlapped. Even when we were both in 4H, we raised different animals, took different classes and had different friends. By high school, the only thing we seemed to share was out last name and the ride 5 miles in the car to get to town from our house. She was sporty. I was the choir/drama girl. I did student government and she did an internship for sports medicine. I worked at the fabric store and she worked at the non-alcoholic nightclub for teens. I was still very active in our church and she gave it all up at 14.

I left home for college about the time she was nearly ready to drive herself, so I spent the last few years driving her wherever she needed to be as part of the "deal" my parents made in order to have a car available to me. It was never MY car, but I always had A car available and usually had assignments to get Sister to and from whatever she had going on too.

Because we didn't do much together and subsequently didn't have much in common, we never really developed much of a friendship. Some days I think we missed out. Other times I think that once my parents are gone, we won't have any reason to see each other unless something for the kids came up. When I think about it for long, I have a lot of guilt and sadness with those thoughts. But mostly, I just don't think of it.

Anyway. I didn't realize that I modeled this feeling that I was not the favorite in my family of origin until heard this from the kids. But I guess that i do feel that and I obviously have said things to give them that same impression. I have no idea how long that has gone on, but I'm sure it has always been there. I must do it without realizing it.

In a perfect world, my kids would have independent relationships with my parents. But I have gypped them out of that subconsciously. 

In MY perfect world, my kids would have learned from my mistakes with my sister and have built their own friendships with each other that will last long past my own life on the earth. I hope I have done better with them than I have with my sister. But that is hard to gauge. 

MY insecurities are the insecurities I hold in my own thinking and I never intended them to be passed on to my kids. Maybe there is still time to correct that. I hope there is time to correct that--for me, for them, for my sister and me, and my parents and all of us.

An "A-Ha" Moment

 Shortly after moving in later December, I struggled with the lingering aspects of Covid related fatigue. But there was more to my melancholy. Today I learned what it was.

I have been listening to podcasts in my car during my lunch break. An hour seems like a long time for lunch when you haven't ever really HAD a lunch break before. Today I listened to an episode of Brene Brown's Unlocking Us podcast. This summer she and her two sisters are talking about the guideposts she introduced to the world in her book The Gifts of Imperfection. There are 6 episodes covering the 10 guideposts.

Today the podcast covered (#3)  Cultivate a Resilient Spirit and Let Go of Numbing and Powerlessness and (#4) Cultivate Gratitude and Joy and Let Go of Scarcity. In that podcast, which is a really easy conversation between three funny, loving, mental health-profession sisters who are articulate about these types of subjects. But together their natural talk unpacks these concepts in a way reading the book--which was AMAZING the first time I read it too--didn't do for me.

As I sat listening to these goals/guideposts, I realized that I spent a couple months grieving--similar to the feelings you have when someone dies--about leaving our home of 26 years. I missed my friends, I missed the old space and all (even the too much) my space I had there. I couldn't find things I know I packed and stored. But mostly I missed the easy way I could pull my friends into my life at the drop of a hat.

In those early months here I felt bereft of friends. Genius Golfer is good, but, come on. We gotta be real here. I missed my girlfriends. All the Marco Polo videos in the world didn't make up for the distance and aloneness I felt.

These three sisters articulated that feeling as GRIEF and in their naming it, I was given permission to call it what it was without feeling overly melodramatic. That made my heart heal a little bit.

Now, much has happened since those earlier months this year. I had prayed for friends and, what with God's funny sense of humor, he certainly gave me some new friends to build relationships with, but at the cost of being called as the Relief Society president in my ward. Now I am responsible for the welfare--temporal and spiritual--of 185 women. I'm in charge of getting sisters the help they need, when they need it. Convenience is no consideration or factor.

Now I am too busy and tired to be grieving. At least, I feel less like I need to. I still miss those very dear friends I left in our northern home. But I know that friendship is an unending circle, if I do it right. these new friends will never replace the long-time friends in my heart, but they will fill in some of the gaps in my heart.

The Drama with Mamacita

Genius Golfer's mom is a stubborn, fierce, little, octogenarian woman with a golden heart that oozes love for her family.  This week that oozing heart stopped twice.

Wednesday, GG's sisters have a standing sewing day with Mamacita.  At some point during the day, she felt unwell enough that the girls called an ambulance. While the paramedics rushed her to the emergency room she got worse.  Once there, but before the ER could admit her she threw up and lost consciousness and somehow, suddenly had no pulse.  One of the crack staff nurses at the ER jumped up on the gurney and began chest compressions. Luckily it didn't take much for her to jumpstart Mamacita's heart.  She was admitted to the hospital to find out what just happened, and why.

After several tests, a couple of IVs, and some creative thinking from the doctor--who, to test his theory, squeezed her carotid artery in her neck and flatlined her again--they discovered she needed a pacemaker.

For a little lady who is a retired RN herself, this was a lot of scare for a pretty mundane fix. And we are so grateful. Mamacita has been adamant about no heroic life saving measures for her.  She is actually a DNR/DNI patient.  But the ER folks did what they did because of their training. We had no idea it was this serious right off the bat.

Yesterday she received a pacemaker to keep her heart beating regularly and we were told it has a 10 year battery life. So, at 82 in a few weeks, that pacemaker could outlive Mamacita. But who can tell? 

Genius Golfer rushed north to be with his mom and his sisters so that together they can make important decisions for and, luckily now, with this wonderful lady. So her stubbornness and fierceness are for her good, as well as the family's. And now, she is bionic Mamacita!  

Summertime, and the Living? Well, It's.....Not Always Easy

 Summer arrived in southwestern Utah last week. I "puppysat" Stella the grand-golden doodle and it was 105* in the afternoon. That poor thing, she didn't want to play fetch after the third throw at the dog park at their apartment complex. I couldn't blame her. It was really warm.

The rest of the heat of summer will only intensify.  Today, it's 102* this afternoon. But I can roll the windows down in the car and drive on the freeway and still enjoy the air moving around me. When I sit out in the sunshine in the backyard it feels great for about 12-15 minutes, and like a piece of meat on the grill, I have to flip over.  Another 12-15 and then I need to jump into the pool for at least a half hour then I can start the process again.

While the weather is not a real problem for me here, work fluctuates between BUSY and so slow I can get three e-books read during the week. That just seems to be the way of things at this new job.  I don't enjoy the slow times, but I have learned to always have a book on my phone to keep my mind busy. I much prefer being actively, productively busy.  But on the days I am, the time flashes past and then it is the next day already.

My post-Covid recovery is still coming along.  I think I am doing better and nearly completely recovered when I have a week like this week and I can't get enough sleep no matter how early I get to bed. Genius Golfer reminds me this is a process and there is no time or speed limit. I haven't felt the brain fog I had right after the two weeks of complete immobilization of the virus. SO that is a plus.  Other times I think maybe this is a menopausal issue and not Covid related at all.  Where I am in my health journey, it can be hard to tell some days. But anything is better the full on Covid on my books.

I am missing my PG friends--especially as Strawberry Days is beginning today. This is the 100th year celebration of that little city event. And we aren't there anymore. It feels weird not to have an assignment to do this week--berry topping, working the concession stands at the Rodeo...etc. My heart is back in Pleasant Grove this week while my body elsewhere.  My mind?  Well, that is the question of the day.

The New Girl

 I started the new job on April 19th. It is under 5 miles form my home and takes about 7 minutes to get there in traffic. Technically they advertised for an administrative receptionist. I'm not even sure that is a REAL title.  But I do much more than answer the phones.

This building of office suites has 38 physical tenants, plus there are 12 virtual tenants who receive and send mail, receive incoming phone calls and use the conference rooms when needed.  I coordinate that for the virtual, as well as the physical tenants. But I also do various errands and mailing chores for the miscellaneous tenants.

We have tenants who are attorneys, insurance salesmen, financial advisers, counselors, therapists,  a physician and another physician group. I have a adult parole office, young adult addition and behavioral group, a private investigator, a CPA, a gem/jewelry expert appraiser, a window washing company, a drilling & blasting company, a home health care company, and a cleaning company. Then we also have a marketing guy, two automotive image groups, and one office that has so many mailings, etc. that all come under different names I'm not really sure WHO they are or WHAT they do.

 This week I have found I am also a pseudo-therapist to the tenants who have no one to vent to but me. But I also answer questions to folks who walk in, clients wo are looking for the psychiatrist that used to be there, forward faxes to all the former tenants, call for mail and package pickup and answer the phone for some tenants, and some of those have specific greetings they require. Others I silence and the call is pushed to their forwarding number that they answer wherever they actually are.

I also solve technology issues with the printer, phones system, copier, email and Wi-Fi. I chat up the clients who are waiting for their turn with the tenant that isn't yet off the phone, done with the client before them or just wants to pee before the next appointment. I text, email or call other tenants to let them know their appointment, client, patient is here.

After the work and intensity of the work at the dealership, this job feels like a little bit of quick and dirty stressful stuff and a lot more of fill the time and keep my mind in the game.

It is not a career path I would want indefinitely, but I can do this for a year or two until our business venture is ready to start. then there will be a whole new batch of "hurry up stress" and "fall down tired work". So I guess I will enjoy this while I can.

Testing the Waters

 Job interviews are nerve wracking for me.  I think I do pretty well, but I sure overthink them. My resume covers a lot of ground and nothing is an easy fit.  When someone looks at my work experience, they will likely be confused because I have "office" experience but it covers administration, file clerk, financial management, employee supervisor, trainer, and executive assistant. There is no one label that covers everything. That makes job hunting a little scary.

This week I got serious about the job hunt. I updated my resume and applied to a dozen or more positions through a couple of head-hunter organizations online like ZipRecruiter and Indeed. Each of those sites has a learning curve as well because they have you take little tests or assessments to give the hiring managers a sense of what you really know.  And, frankly, the directions on those are not always very clear.

But I put myself out there and have been to a handful of interviews. A couple of second interviews and today I had an hour long working interview and at the end of that was told I was their number one choice--but he had to "run it pass the other owners" and they'd be in touch in the day or two. In that case, I had an advantage with my age as they wanted some one "settled" and "mature".  Wait.  Maybe that was a backhanded compliment. Either way, one point for the non-Barbie, grown woman applicants.

My dilemma is one of choice:  Do I choose a challenging job with better pay that will stress me out and aggravate my post-Covid fatigue or the lesser paying job with better atmosphere and friendly environment where I can learn and make great relationships? That is question that sits on y heart today. 

That possible fatigue inducing element is real. I have never been so sick and even with the completed vaccine regimen I still have to monitor my progress. And this isn't a life long career, as we are building toward our own business that I will be running day to day in about a year or so.

I want to get something I can be happy doing for as long as I do it, And I want to contribute to the business property as we get into the physical location and actual building itself and the business that we will open there. There are always so many factors. 

I'll get something by the end of the week. Fingers crossed it is the right one.

Moving Down The Road

 What a crazy month March has been. We got word that we had out purchasing offer for the business property in t George accepted on Feb., 25th--Genius Golfer's birthday. Having that accepted, we were in a time crunch to get our home in Pleasant Grove packed up cleaned and sold as quickly as we could knowing out closing date on the business property was tentatively April 16th. Time was of the essence.

I headed north to the PG house the very next day.  I have two wonderful friends who hunted boxes for me and boy, did they come trough for me!  I immediately began boxing up the house.  There is SO much you don't think about after living in a house for 26+ years! I began to box things--not thinking that we still had to live in the house--cook, eat, clean, wash, etc.--while we were packing.  I learned right away that the most used pan in the house should NOT be in the first box I packed. GG was semi-polite about that but he was right in being frustrated that I didn't think it all the way though.

I quickly filled boxes and piled those boxes into the 3rd car garage--our staging area for the move. I packed all week. About March 3rd we had enough stuff out of the house that GG scheduled the online realtor to come take the photos they needed. Photos were taken.  the phones were approved the next morning and the house was on the market within 1 week of us deciding to sell.

The market is SO crazy right now that we had people assure us that the house would sell for thousands--even tens of thousands--more than we list it at and that we should expect a bidding war for our place.  I was a little embarrassed that we could list the home for so much money, especially knowing what we paid for it when we bought it. I couldn't wrap my brain around that kind of value in this house. I knew it was a wonderful place to raise our family--back yard,  cul-de-sac, drive thru driveway, 3rd car garage, etc. But in my head I still was thinking the value of what we bought it as, not this crazy inflated real estate bubble. It sounded so greedy to list it at $439,000.  But that is was we decided. We hit the publish button and held our breath.

The house was publicly listed on the MLS on Friday.  We had 3 or 4 people immediately want to see the house that day!  Another 6-7 the next day and several more for Sunday.  So we rented a UHall and loaded that and my car and took the first loads to St George with us. Whew!  What a stress! We had friends that were coming to StG that weekend and had planned to stay with us anyway, now they were conscripted into unloaders with The Boy and his Sweetheart too.  We had unloaded the UHall in 20 minutes.

By the time we were ready to head back to PG on March 10th, we had offers.  One was exactly the asking price ($439K) then $444K, $454K, and $470K. We looked at the details in each offer.  The lowest and the highest wanted closing dates into April and we weren't sure that would cut it time wise with our business property closing.  The $444K one wanted 2.5x the realtor allowance for the buyers realtor.  We opted to accept the $454K offer.  We went thru the dance to accept their offer on Thursday the 11th. 

We were contacted the next day by our realtor that the buyer changed their mind and didn't want the house after all.  GG found out that the buyer declined because they found out the city wouldn't let them build a 4th car garage to the already built half of the house.  GG could have told them that!  We tried for that too, once upon a time. DOH!  That set us back a week now.  Time was speeding up it seems. And the pressure was building!

So, back on the market the house went. Another load of stuff in cars that weekend while more showings were scheduled.  One day we had 11 showings. Since GG worked from home, it was easier for him to be in St George when we were constantly being interrupted to show the house. It was very unnerving for me, but he was only annoyed because it interfered with his work.  

So I left him in StG and I came back north on the 16th. That day we decided to take one of the new offers.  The $470K family had been contacted after the first offer fell through, but they didn't want it by then. This new offer was for $449: and was from one of the families that initially offered too.  They raised their offer another $5K but they still had a detail about their realtor's fee at 2.5% what we had agreed on when we started this process.  So GG and I decided to counter with the acceptable purchase price, but we wouldn't pay more for the realtor. They accepted our counter offer and I let our a deep breath.

Our closing for the PG house was now scheduled for April 8th, barring any issue with the home inspection and appraisal. Great, I held my breath again.

Meanwhile I continued to box up and clean the house. What a chore!  I had already filled a 20 yard dumpster mostly with expired food storage that I knew I didn't have room for in StG. I had taken two trailer loads of stuff with a friend to DI as donations.  We made one pick up truck--thank to a friendly neighbor--to the dump. There was still The Girl's closet. I wasn't about to sort her stuff she left with us when she moved back east. She had booked a flight out to see us March 20-27 and now that visit would include a purge of her closet and pile of stuff I had already boxed up.

Following the week with The Girl here, I took her to he airport and returned home in where we packed up both cars again and left that afternoon to head to StG again. By now we had sold or given away all of our furniture except the 2 barstools and a folding chair.

GG left me in StG on Sunday t head back and get his stuff in the PG house wrapped up. His chores included selling our little CNG Honda and his large wood working tools too. All his items were sold quickly online.

I have been here this week alone trying to rest and unpack where I can.  I believe I might have to collect items for a donation run yet again because I over estimated the storage area I have here.  I am anxious to have GG under the same roof again with me, but things will be righted soon enough.  At least things look to be going forward to close on the house on the 8th of April.

I do know form this experience that I NEVER want to move again.  Especially after living in a home for 26 years and two children and all that comes with that. I see the advantage of living a minimalistic life.  But I enjoy my creature comforts too much to be that minimal, really.

Here Goes Nothing

 Genius Golfer and I made an offer on some commercial property.  The seller has a week to respond.  We asked for a part of the lot they are selling, instead of the whole thing. We didn't know that was an option when we started.  The only reference we have was in the world of residential real estate...and commercial is a very different animal, as we are learning.

So we wait.

In the meantime, I have been woken up a few different days with thoughts of how much stuff is still left in our northern house. I woke up with ideas about how to liquidate the stuff and what the house will needs in terms of TLC and projects completed to get tit ready for whatever comes next--sale or rent, we don't quite know yet.  Either way, the more my middle of the night thoughts got going the more awake I felt and the longer I was actually awake in the middle of the night. And that creates a very tired morning after I eventually do fall back asleep.

So my progress to reign in the fatigue is upended. At least for a little while.

But the next day I still get up and do my regular half hour or yoga and then swim for another half an hour and try to push myself the rest of the day so I can be tired enough to go to bed and stay asleep. The cycle sometimes repeats but not always.

My chores to get healthy and feel better and get rested and back to "normal" are in constant flux, but that is life. Each day gives me a chance to try again.  And each night my brain gets a chance to rest or wake with surges of to-do lists that are not even in my wheelhouse at this moment. But I still try.

I am excited about our proposed location.  We met with the franchiser, and will again this afternoon to show and tell our proposed location as well as the other 2nd, 3rd, and 4th picks. But happily, I might add, I haven't had any sick to my stomach feelings of nerves or doubts since we made the offer. I count that as a win.

More details to cone, as they are revealed to us. But I am feeling good, and physically gaining ground on my way back to feeling GOOD.

Here Comes the Sun

 Yesterday I was unable to get into the pool because I had a back injection the day before and to heal properly I cannot submerge it in water.  I was initially really bummed about that, but the relief from the injection is so great that I'll follow the protocol. So I opted for a couple of brisk walks for my exercise yesterday.  Best idea of the week.

The sunshine was in full view, the temperature wasn't really warm but the sunshine FELT so good, I walked for 45 minutes the first half and then came in and did some things and then walked about for another 40 minutes, all in the sunshine, Then I sat outside in the sun to eat some lunch and dry my hair.

The first sunburn of the year is my favorite.

It is just a  good pinking of my face and arms and neck, but it feels so good.  And what a difference is makes in my attitude.  It was still a bummer that I wasn't in the pool, but this was an excellent trade. Today is supposed to be even warmer, temp wise, so I will likely be out in it again.  That gives me things to look forward to, indeed.

Adjustment Issues

 While my new location is primarily for my own health and rehabilitation from long-haul post-Covid fatigue, It has also brought a lot of unintended and un expected issues too.

I have always considered myself a "people person" but I can usually keep myself entertained and out of trouble. However, I have discovered just how much I miss my friends.  Sure, Genius Golfer is great, but if you know him, you know he is a capitol I Introvert. He is mostly at work and when he isn't he'd rather be golfing, right?  Sure, we have a weekly date night and our idea of a fun family home evening is grocery shopping together, I have learned to spend a lot of time by myself.

Since this shift in location as well as my work status, we have also scaled WAY back our monthly budget. I know have 18% of what I once had control of, while acknowledging I am not in charge of grocery or household shopping by myself any more, I still have been cut to 18% to what I was used to having freedom to control. I'm not complaining, it is just another adjustment. That being said, shopping--or browsing as I usually have preferred--is no longer a real good option to spend my day.

I have read several books since I have been in R&R mode. Luckily I like reading, and did really miss that when I was working all the time. But in order to get a local library card, I have to have a new drivers license with my new address on it.  And come to find out getting a new license to have the new address on it is a bit of a chore. I could get credit cards easier than a new local library card!  HAHAHA But that will be my next challenge. And that will open up new avenues of learning and imagination.

Luckily, I do have a darling DIL who pops over about once a week to swim with me after she has classes. She is also rehabbing a soft tissue injury in her back so swimming has been good for her.  It is good for me because it gives me someone else to talk to during the day. But it is not her job to babysit me or entertain me.  I am grateful she doesn't seem to mind spending time with me though.  I have thoroughly enjoyed having some one on one time with her to get to know her on a new level and I love her even more as I do.

But I have seen just how much I miss my girlfriends. Another friend from our previous area recently made a quick decision to move. (This after talking with her husband for a long time and he finally agreed with her.) Our other tribal friends are swirling about helping gather boxes and pack up her place to prep it to stage it for the market.  I feel bad that I am not helping with that project. I miss texting someone and asking if they want to go get a treat, or grab a drink, or just hang out for a  bit. Someday I will have people here too but I miss those that I left in our old place. Somedays that missing is stronger and harder than other days.

Today was one of those days.

New Year, New Location, New Progress

 We moved to St. George over Christmas break. Well, I think we moved. We're here in our house in St. George, but we still own a house in Pleasant Grove, and we already have plans to go back there for a few weeks in March. So, maybe we are "snow birding" this winter. I'm not sure about all of this, really.

But the move has already seen some drastic changes for the good for me. Without having to live by an alarm clock, I have slept and slept and slept. Slowly, my body is recovering. It is slow, mind you.  But I am feeling better already just with the opportunity to sleep as long as my body needs to sleep. That could not happen when I was working and was needing to work just after 6AM each day.

With no employment responsibilities, I have used the time to exercise to build strength in my lungs and muscles. I have found a new online yoga class that has helped me focus on my breathing as a way to strengthen from the inside out. It is fostering a renewed flexibility in my body and reminding my body of old ways of toning up and feeling strong again. 

Having a pool at my daily disposal, I have begun to swim each day and with that daily ritual, I was gathering strength to my breathing as well as my muscles. I am saving my joints from the pounding that running would cause and I find emotional and mental health as I see the blue skies each day--even if the air is still a little brisk. On days when I have a little extra energy, I have also taken myself walking, using the several trails that follow the rivers edge here and have found myself enjoying seeing the wild animals along the quiet trail and the serene, natural habitat of creatures great and small.  I have also enjoyed sharing a "good morning" with fellow trail users on both their bikes and their sneakers.

The winter was always hard to cope with in the north.  There could be weeks at a time that were socked into an inversion that trapped cold, gross, gunky air in the valleys. The air was unhealthy, and the mood turned sour quickly when that occurred.  Here, there is no inversion issue.  The winter is here, but regularly we are 10+ degrees warmer than friends in the old cul-de-sac. Seeing the blue skies each day is a blessing I didn't appreciate like I should have before, but I sure do now.

There is still much to do with my personal health improvement campaign.  But I feel I am well on my way. None of this would have happened without Genius Golfer's agreement to let me quit my job and move south. That would not have been an option had we not bit the bullet 4 years ago and begin this "retirement" house project and the subsequent pool project. Maybe he knew I would need to flee here for my mental health some day, but I do nothing either one of us had any idea my physical health would need it too. So, I'm all the more grateful for him leading those decisions.

With all that said, my business plans for our Quench-It down here are at a stand still, for now.  Finding a good location is much more difficult than I had imagined. But I feel like that right thing will show up and when it does we will be ready. But like all my gut feelings, I have no time schedule given to me ahead of time. So we wait, prepared.

Progress on too many arenas might be too much to accomplish, perhaps.  So I have taken my sense of accomplishment from my health progression and will focus on that for the time being. Regardless, I am grateful to be here and to be on the upward swing, however slow that movement.