Starting again

Today is March 2nd and I feel guilty that I haven't been posting. I have posts in my head all the time and I compose great ones while I'm out running. Since I've retired, I thought that I could start up my blog and get lots written with all my extra time.

Well, that is a big laugh. Extra time? I saw someone post a photo on their facebook page of a young man sitting in his back yard on a lawn chair holding a beer with the caption, "time to relax." It struck me that this was an imagine I had of myself after I retired. Maybe not of me sitting in a lawn chair drinking beer (but that doesn't mean I would not like doing this), I did think that I would be sitting in my easy chair sipping hot tea and catching up on my reading.

Why am I so busy? I don't have time to sip tea and read.

Flash back to June 2013.

Mark lost his job with Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He really enjoyed working his dream job, but that didn't come without major stress and office politics. He did a bang up job of putting together the best 100th Anniversary Celebration at the speedway. But after that, things went down hill. We knew it was a matter of time that he wouldn't be working there. Good and bad news. Good because it would mean moving back home, bad because Mark really wanted to make a difference for the speedway. Plus, we were both enjoying our apartment on the canal.

From November to May, Mark would use this time to finish up his research for his book. He would leave in the mornings and walk the half mile to the downtown library and come home in time for dinner. I was using this time to get our big move arranged. We settled on staying until the end of May so that we could take advantage of the activities going on in Indy and give Tamara and Brian time to find a house to buy and move into.

I made several trips home to Cary during this time. We drove home in November for Thanksgiving and stayed for 10 days. We drove back to Cary in December and stayed for 2 weeks to spend the holidays with family and friends. My trip back to Cary in February was short, only 1 week so I could drive to the Myrtle Beach Marathon with friends. I was running the half marathon with NCRC and my running partner, Alex. February was a good visit with good weather, a nice reprieve from the cold winter in Indy. Mark and I drove in some iffy weather when we came home in March. It started to snow, first just a bit, then a steady snowfall for another 3 hours. I was glad to be back home with decent weather. We only stayed for 6 days this time. We were home so that Tamara and I could run the Tobacco Road Half Marathon. We had a good time, but because it was cold and damp, we didn't stay long. Because Mark and I were driving to the Boston Marathon in April, we did not make a trip home to Cary for Tamara's birthday, nor mine. Our road trip to Boston was great. We broke up our trip by staying at a nice B&B in Harrisburg, PA. May is always a busy month for our family, but this year Sherri was graduating from UNCW and we made a quick trip for this.

We drove home on Thursday, May 9th. Sherri graduated on Friday, May 10th. We stayed in Wilmington for a few nights and helped her celebrate. We drove back to Indy on May 13th.

The next drive to Cary will be when we move back! Since this would probably be the last chance for the entire Dill family to get together in our Indy home, we had the girls and Brian come visit us during the Indy 500 weekend. In addition to our family coming to stay, Mark's brother and his son also stayed with us. It was a tight squeeze, but we managed. We all had a blast. I will never forget this weekend and despite our impending move, this didn't hamper the fun.

After the family left, we only had 5 days left before the movers would pack us up. Mark and I spent the last days with friends and sigh-seeing around downtown. We even got in one more Indians Baseball game. I got in several more runs in around my favorite routes along the canal and river. That winter was harsh for me but when spring came around it made my heart hurt thinking about leaving it all behind.

So back to my thought of me sitting in an easy chair sipping tea and reading, well, yeah, that isn't happening.

Brian and Tamara bought a nice older home only 4 miles away, but once we moved back home, Tamara hadn't completely moved out. She had a relapse a few months earlier and the stress with her school, work and marriage all played a role. She was still figuring out what she wanted to do with her marriage. We could only encourage her to work on her marriage, and it was off and on, up and down for the months ahead.

Moving back to our home meant that I had lots to do to get it in shape. I did an initial clean up before the movers brought our furniture back. That was a huge job. Then while our furniture and boxes were piled up in the bonus room, I began to move my office to Sherri's old bedroom.

That was project #1. My new office, or my "woman cave."

So little-by-little, things were being fixed up. I had a big garage sale, took many trips to the second hand store to donate, and lots of trips to the city dump. I was on a roll, but in the meantime, I am still training for marathons and this takes lots of time when my race gets nearer. Mark was really getting impatient and then gets on me about this.

Project #2 was the dining room. Since we were having all the hardwood floors cleaned, we had to move out all the furniture. And since all the furniture was removed, it seemed like a perfect time to get those rooms redecorated. When I moved back home, I saw my house differently. I guess it had something to do with the fact that I had lived away for so long and lived in a fairly modern apartment. So when I saw my Cary house, I saw an old lady's house. So outdated with way too many knick knacks and doilies! So I de-cluttered as much as I could and gave it a clean look with neutral colors.

I even painted the ceiling dark brown.

Project #3 was the formal living room and foyer. Took down the wallpaper border and also painted in neutral colors with an accent wall for effect. I love the new look, and will eventually reupholster the sofa and chairs.

Porject #4 & #5 are my latest and I'm almost finished is the bonus room (aka Mark's man cave) and my little laundry room.

The bonus room is a large space and I really didn't know what to do here. I removed lots of the small stuff and had it painted. Also made an accent wall around the built-in shelves. I had lots of shelves that held my craft stuff under each of the dormer windows, but since this is Mark's room, I removed them. I painted all the built-in shelves which meant that I had to take out all of Mark's books. After this, I just could put them back because it looked sloppy. They are now stored in the attic. I hung new wooden blinds and some nice valances up on the four windows. My laundry room got new shelves and a paint job. Everything in it's place now. New washer and dryer too!

Project #6 is the old guest room and the smallest room. It leads to the attic through the closet doors. I want to use this room as a sewing/craft room, and possible extra guest room. So another big job ahead. For now it is on hold because I need to pay attention to the outdoors.

Project # 7: the back yard. I have hired a crew to come clean this up. It is so overgrown. And once spring gets here, it will be a short period when I can get some plantings done and weeds pulled. (Wish I could still get a hot tub and deck installed for my birthday. But this was a short-lived dream.)

Project after project, when will I catch my breath and relax. I like keeping busy, so don't misunderstand me, it's just that I don't see an end to this. Perhaps this is good. Retirement has offered me more opportunities to finally take charge of what's important. I feel rewarded with every progress in my little projects.

Next post, I'll blog about my journey to the Boston Marathon, which is only 49 days away!

Marathon Mommy, Esther