Tag Archives | perseverance

Small Victories

By on September 4, 2010 in Celebrations, Deployment

Today is a day filled with both large and small victories for me. I don’t get up until 7:30, which is late for me, but still respectable.  I have an ambitious schedule, but it is supposed to rain this weekend so I figure it is a great opportunity to get some home maintenance chores done inside. I also know from experience that September is one of the busiest months of my year with school open houses, parent club meetings, fall sports and lessons starting up again. I have trouble getting my computer to back up and am behind schedule already.

Kids pitching in

Somehow, I get lucky and the sun peaks out while we have a break from the rain. I see my window of opportunity and I take it. I have a 5K coming up in a month and I am not even close to being ready. I am trying to run a little bit further each week without stopping.  At about 2K I am not sure I will make it, but the wind dies down a bit and the sun feels nice.  After what seems an eternity I hear the voice on my iPod announce the 3K mark (I am convinced that my Nike Plus must have stopped for like a mile in between, because that kilometer felt like forever.) I know I can make it now. As I reach the hill towards home, I pass the 4K mark and I decide I am going for it now. What the hell! I charge up two small hills and I am gasping a bit, but I have just far surpassed anything I have ever done and I am determined. I head down the trail as my lovely iPod voice counts down the meters and it’s done. Victory is mine! This is a small thing, but for me it is a huge milestone that I wondered if I would ever reach. My total run 5.01K. My time is only 45 seconds faster than my last run/walk time, but it doesn’t matter even one little bit. I pat myself on the back and vow to buy myself a bottle of wine to celebrate. I miss Anthony terribly. He would be so thrilled for me and would have insisted on celebrating in some way, but he’s not here so I will settle for telling him via email and drinking a glass of wine by myself.

I clean the house and then move into Mrs. Fixit mode. I can’t find the ladder. It’s probably down in the shed and I am not going down to get it, so I climb up on the VW and somehow hoist myself up to kneel on the roof to fix the garage ceiling light. It’s a bit precarious, but as long as I don’t lean too far, I’ll be fine. It takes Elijah three trips down to the basement to find the correct light bulb, but finally he returns with a compact fluorescent that will do and I am done with project number one. It’s off to groceries and Lowe’s (with a stop at the Liquor store on the way.) I purchase my supplies and find that it is cheaper to buy a new screen door than to replace the screen so I grab that too. I have neglected to measure the sliding door so I eyeball it and pray, because I do not want to have to return it. It is very windy today due to fall-out from a hurricane moving through somewhere south of us. You just had to be there to believe it. I am trying to carry the screen door wrapped in plastic in high winds out to my car. It is sort of like a wind sail and I end up being blown two rows over before I manage to wrestle it to the ground. I have a guardian angel though because a Lowes worker and a fellow shopper take pity on me and help me fight the wind to get to my car. I have conveniently forgotten that I don’t have the SUV anymore and though it fits, I have to duck as I drive home because it’s over my head. I am so proud of myself as I show my new door to Elijah. That is until I put it next to the old door and realize that it is white. Ooops. Our whole door assembly is almond. Crap. I seriously toy with the thought of using it anyway, but I know it will drive me nuts. I can’t believe I am going to have to take the monstrosity back! Annoyed now, I gobble down some dinner and move on to the next project. At least I did get the correct doorknob. I am ashamed to say that it takes me nearly an hour and three tries to get the new handle on. The first time it wouldn’t lock and the second the little part that goes in and out would not retract by itself, but I persevere. After that cleaning my car and sweeping the workout room are a piece of cake. It’s 10PM and I am still doing chores, but I just need to finish. I want to take tomorrow and Monday off (I mean really off as in not do any chores whatsoever.) I don’t know if I can do it, but I will give it my best shot…

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Vacation Adventures

By on August 11, 2010 in Deployment

It was not a good night. I had difficulty going to sleep. I had to close the window to block the sound of the neighbors, but then my room was like a sauna. I finally dozed off, only to be awakened at 2AM because the dogs were snoring so loudly. I took a good 10 minutes of fumbling around to locate my earplugs and by then I was so annoyed that sleep was troublesome. I so wanted to be rested for this day, but I will have to make the best of it.
I get up before my alarm and make a double cup of instant coffee. It is going to be a beautiful day, we are going to visit Montreal and I am determined to enjoy it. I tell the kids that I am going for a shot run which will delay our departure, but I need to shake my bad night off and soak up the happy sun. I have always wanted to see Montreal, though I had hoped that it would be a trip that Anthony and I would take together.  Unfortunately that is not the case, but we have the opportunity and we are going.
We leave mid-morning and on the way I call and add the international data plan to my phone because I am pretty sure I will need directions or information at some point. We have brief moment of pause when the border guard seems to grill us a bit more than expected. Perhaps he thinks I am abducting my daughter because her last name is different from mine? I cannot be the only remarried parent to cross the border with her children. I am surprised when he asks me point blank where their dad is and why he is not with me. I don’t think he is expecting the answer that my husband is military serving in Afghanistan, but it shuts him up and we move on. We manage to get safely to our destination though it is no small feat since my husband tells me I am a terrible navigator and I am trying to drive and navigate at the same time. The kids are not much help.
We walk through downtown and visit the planetarium; Elijah’s choice of course. I think I enjoy the show about Saturn more than either of the kids do. Then we head down to Old Montreal on the water. We wander the cobblestone streets, eat Rolo candy ice cream cones, take lots of pictures, gape at yachts in the harbor and delightedly watch the street performers. Elijah could watch the man juggling and doing tricks all day. He is so like his father!

We are happy and exhausted; we grab a quick dinner and head back to our temporary home. For some reason, the border guard coming back into the country seems to ask lots of questions also. What specifically did we do while in Montreal? I list our itinerary and he seems satisfied, but I wonder if I look suspiciously like a terrorist and I just don’t know it.
I am so glad we decided to go and I am so proud of what we were able to do. We navigated with no map and signs in a foreign language, drove through a crowded city without hitting any pedestrians, found our way to all of our destinations without getting lost and had a great time.

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Stuck in a Chevy Chase Movie

By on August 9, 2010 in Deployment

The kids seem to have adjusted as our vacation turns into a Chevy Chase movie. We had a brief melt down upon arrival, but have pulled ourselves together now.  Spiders outside the window are freaking us out, pouring rain for hours now, terrible phone reception and worse data reception. I feel really bad for the people in tents. Our bikes are absolutely soaked. It will take days for the seats to dry. We can see the river out our front window, but have to walk down the road a bit to get to it.

The dogs smelled of tick repellant all the way up and now that is mixed with wet dog smell and of course they don’t want to go out because it’s raining.

We had to make the trek out to Price Chopper to buy some food for us and the dogs along with hand soap and paper towels. We rented movies from Red Box to watch on my laptop then proceeded to but more junk food than we eat in a month. I was feeling guilty that our day was turning into a nightmare so I was abnormally indulgent. We finally finish and frantically load the groceries in the torrential downpour. We head back to the cabin to feed the dogs and eat along with our spider friends outside the window. I ask the kids where they put the movies, but all I get are blank stares. Hopefully they are still in the cart and have not been stolen or I am out $50. I can’t believe I have to go back out in this.

The kids graciously offer to come with me and look. The sight at the cart corral must have been hilarious. Alex and Elijah start pulling every cart out so they can check the top sections, when the cart guy comes in. Alex is standing smack in the middle of the carts looking like a crazed woman and he politely asks if she needs some help. Meanwhile I went in to ask customer service if any movies have been turned in. Nobody has seen anything, but just as I am leaving the young guy emptying the garbages comes by and overhears us. He found the movies and put them aside in the office. Hallelujah!

We reassemble the cart mess and head back, laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. We hope the cabin has not floated away and that tomorrow will be a better day.

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