Life has truly been all over the place and moving non-stop lately. I feel like I’ve mentioned that a couple times before, but that’s because it’s true.
I feel like it started back in late spring when I had to start training for the New Town triathlon. I didn’t get to stop training after that because I had signed up for the Lake St. Louis triathlon just six weeks later (which then got cancelled because of weather). The weekend of the race was such a weird, emotional weekend. I went from being excited/nervous/anxious to upset to heartbreak. The day after the “race”, my mother-in-law passed away. Quite a has changed and happened since that weekend.
We basically put our lives on hold for six weeks after that. There were some prior commitments that we kept, but there were also a lot of cancellations that happened. We worked around the clock for a few weeks getting her house ready to be put on the market. That’s something no one wants to do. Cleaning out a loved one’s house and deciding what to do with every. single. item. Along with dealing with other types of estate decisions and being pulled in 50 different directions by 50 different people for 50 different reasons. The husband has done an incredible job dealing with everything since the end of August. Thankfully, we accepted an offer on the house after being on the market just three days. It officially goes to the new owners in 30 years next week.
Since Labor Day weekend, Tim and I have both done our fair share of traveling (for work and for pleasure). I basically wasn’t home on the weekends in October…. Texas / Nebraska / Nashville / Nebraska. We were just in Nebraska again this last weekend for my brother’s wedding. I’ve been to Nebraska a total of four times since mid-September. I really do love traveling, but I’m thankful to be done with it until spring.
I found out while out of town one of those weekends that a good friend’s husband passed away after a battle with esophageal cancer. I got together with her recently and it’s amazing how well she’s coping. Her outlook and how she’s handling everything is really inspiring.
My best friend also gave birth to the tiniest, sweetest little boy. He’s going to have a lot of fun getting to know his “aunt” Megan while he grows up. Sorry kid, I’m not going anywhere.
Trying to bring some normality back in my life, I’ve been training for a 15K race coming up in December and also doing a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. With all of this fall’s activity, it’s nice to get out and run. I’ve actually almost been hit by a car twice at the same intersect within the last couple of weeks. Yelling curse words at drivers and seeing their reactions is always fun to do. I’ve also worked some late nights lately, along with continuing to help clean out my MIL’s house.
Thanksgiving will be the first holiday without my mother-in-law around, and I’m sure it will be sad. But the holidays are also a great time to reflect on everything you’re thankful for and have accomplished in the past year. Our fall was a bumpy and hectic one, but I’m looking forward to slowing down this winter.
-m.