The blogging has been a bit slow (actually, pretty non-existent) on here lately.
I'm not sure why that is.
I guess I haven't had any near--or even remotely--philosophical thoughts lately, or I just haven't been in. the. mood.
I did go to Arizona, for 10 days, by myself a couple of weeks ago. I haven't been anywhere for that long by myself since before ever. Yep, thinking back, I think that's a true statement.
I was only going to be gone for 5 days to transition new renters into our "extra" house. But a couple of weeks before I was scheduled to leave, Kam found out that the couple she nannies for were going to be out of town for 10 days (they're in the process of filming their TV show right now), and they offered to pay to change my ticket so I could go and help her. So that's what we did.
So the first 5 days I got to practice being a Grandma. And even though the mom ended up not being out of town as many days as she originally planned, it was awesome to get to practice my Grandma skills. I got to change diapers, cook meals, wipe faces, help with math homework, help with 15-minutes-per-day-of-reading homework, swing on swings, and other Grandma-like stuff.
I loved it!
I've heard that being a Grandma is the absolute best because you only have to worry about Grandma stuff, not all the other Mom stuff. And even though I've only practiced my Grandma skills, I can already see how this is so true!
I also got to help Kam get settled into her new place. She's renting a room in a house with 3 other girls. That was pretty fun too.
While we were out shopping for her stuff one day, we stopped by the Mesa Temple and walked around for a bit. Kam was feeling a bit stressed and overwhelmed by her entrance into "real" adulthood (rent, food, car payment, renters insurance, car insurance, new place, new roomates, etc.), and it seemed to be just what she needed.
I also went running a couple of mornings while I was staying with Kam and her kids. It was pretty awesome to run with No Hills. And bike lanes (oh, how I've missed those bike lanes!). I cut between 15-30 seconds off my per-minute-mile pace. Sweet.
And I think Arizona is pretty darn beautiful. And I love how you can see pretty much forever.
See those mountains way in the distance? We used to live close to those mountains, which are a little over an hour away. And you can see them. That is so not possible here in Georgia. But in Georgia's defense, the rolling hills and all the green trees are pretty beautiful too.
One very sad and quite traumatic thing happened the day we were shopping. I was driving on a very busy street--one with three lanes of traffic going both ways--and as I got close to a major intersection, a small brown chihuahua ran out in front of me. There was no way I could stop. And I hit the little dog. If I'd tried to stop I would've caused a major traffic accident, so that was not an option.
I felt absolutely horrible and like I was going to throw up, because, you know, our little chihuahua girls are kind of like my kids.
I. Felt. Horrible. I called John, pretty much sobbing close to hysterically. He reassured me that there was nothing I could have done. That helped a tiny bit, but still... For a couple of nights I'd wake up in the morning and not be able to go back to sleep because I could hear the thump and see the little dog rolling across the street in my rear view mirror (why, oh why did I look in my rear view mirror?!?). And while I still have thoughts about the little dog in my head, it is getting a bit easier. I've been praying pretty hard for the family of the little dog to be comforted, and I hope they have found some measure of comfort and that they realize there was nothing I could've done. This experience also reminds me of the importance of keeping our girls on a leash. At all times.
The second 5 days I spent in Surprise, and stayed with my dear friend Laurie and her family. I loved spending time with them! Laurie is an amazing woman who is absolutely loving and just as hilarious! We walked a couple of times, and I also went running a couple of mornings by myself on my old running route. Such fond memories accompanied me on my runs.
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| Me and Laurie |
And I got our old renters checked out and Melynda and her family checked in to our "extra" house.
I'm still not thrilled about being a landlord, and the stress it causes, but I really cannot complain. In the 3 years and almost 4 months we've been landlords, there have only been 3 weeks our "extra" house was empty. That's a tender mercy, for sure!!!
Oh, how I miss that house and that pool! Unfortunately, I never took very many pictures of our old house, so I took this one the morning I went over to make sure everything was ready for Melynda to move in.
This is the view we saw (except there wasn't any carpet or re-painted walls or window treatments or laminate flooring or french doors) the first time we walked into this house. And we knew it was going to be ours. We looked at others houses the next day, but none could compare to this one. We just knew it was ours. And we spent almost 8 years in this home, watching our kids learn and grow, and making life-long friends who we think of as family.
And while it was a great trip, I was pretty happy to get home. After 10 days.
To quote Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, "There's no place like home."
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