If this is my last post - I'm going out verbose!
Every one loves a good plot twist right?
So things that were planned out around my former position were scratched from the calendar and a new game plan was formulated. This new plan involved me giving up my home in Roswell with the sister-wife and moving in to B's place in Braselton. (It's okay, I didn't know where that was either until I met him.) Talk about a toe-pick! I had lived in the East Cobb/Roswell area since the day I moved to Georgia. It was an adjustment I did not make well. B promised it was temporary.
Change is hard. When it feels like everything is changing at the exact same time, it's really freakin' hard.
At the end of February I moved in with B to his place (He had a lease and I did not. His place was conducive to his custody arrangement and mine was not.) Paying 2 rents off 1 salary is not practical.
We had a low-key January and enjoyed some snow days with the kids as I tried to settle in up there, but not too much because he had agreed before all this that we weren't staying there.
February kicked off lacrosse season and I returned to the field in stripes. I worked pretty much any day I could and B got used to me being a road warrior.
I think it was also in February/March that the Kyle Pease Foundation reached out about assisting with their grant writing. I couldn't come up with a reason to not say, "Sure!" I went on to attend some seminars with the Georgia Center for NonProfit and learned a little and then went about it as baptism by fire. I've had success and I've had plenty of denials. Overall, I think I'm doing okay as they have kept me on for 2019.
In April I was at Dynamo Swim Club at my usual Wednesday computrainer class, and my legs stopped working. I couldn't get them to turn over. I left the room, shed a few tears and came back in to try again. But they didn't go. Nothing was moving and the voice I had in my head was spinning on repeat, "I don't want to do this anymore."
I spoke with B that morning and that afternoon on my way to a lacrosse game, I called Coach. He answered, told me he only had a few minutes but had a feeling I needed to talk to him. I told him I didn't want to do the 70.3 I had been training for in May. He basically said it was about time I acknowledged that, that the coaching team was just waiting for me to come to that conclusion on my own. And that was the day I entered ReTRIerment. We continued on with the focus just being on my running, but that didn't last long. By May, I had told Coach not to put workouts in my TrainingPeaks anymore because I wasn't doing them and I didn't want to waste his time.
Because I didn't have a full time job that dictated my time off, we were able to get the kids for a short spring break trip to Gulf Shores, AL with my sister and her family. Total perks of contract work is setting my own schedule.
Lacrosse season came to an end and for the second year in a row, I opted out of the State Championship (I don't know that I would have earned it, but I had worked it many years previously) to spend the weekend in Chattanooga supporting the 70.3.
Now we are in May and we haven't made any real gains towards moving. There were many reasons for this. But I was so unhappy in Braselton I told B that I would move out until steps were in place for us to move. I wasn't calling off the wedding or anything, but I would move out. B said he wasn't helping me move again so we found a house.
In June we took the kids to their first Disney World trip with B's mom, sister and brother-in-law. A good time was had by all, but we needed a vacation from our vacation. The week before we headed to Disney we signed the lease on our current place in Lawrenceville. It's not Roswell, but I'm enjoying being back in the middle of everything. The week we returned from Disney we moved. Thank you MacKay & Sons movers we know not to call you again anytime soon.
Our new neighborhood is a neighborhood. Has all the amenities I was used to within 5 miles. The drive to the kids' school is easy so that keeping our custody arrangement is totally doable. It cut about 40 minutes a day off B's commute. When I do go out running or walking I don't have to carry mace out of fear of loose dogs.
The end of summer had more traveling. We had a great trip to his family's place in Goose Creek, NC.
Then I took a week up in NJ visiting friends and family and B joined me for a weekend and I crushed his little soul getting him to experience as much Jersey as possible in 48 hours. He enjoyed it so much he agreed that this summer's big trip will be to bring the kids up for a week.
We visited a few lakes this summer as well. August starts school back up and our traveling settled down and I took on some admin type stuff to help out the Kyle Pease Foundation. I also had my bridal shower and started finalizing details for the wedding. Oh, and I started doing crossfit. Apparently it is possible to do crossfit without posting the WOD everyday on social media. I also spent the weekend at the track with B and his friends at this thing called GridLife.
September was a blur as we got ready for the wedding and took the annual Labor Day trip. Dress fittings, wedding, all wedding. And football for the boy: 3 nights a week and 2.5 hours on Saturdays.
The first week of October was the kids fall break and the week before our wedding. Due to some communication gaffs, they stayed with us that week. B was working. We woke up, went to the gym, went to the playground, and then it was wedding stuff. We made it work.
Wedding weekend was so much fun. So.Much.Fun. Still waiting on all the pictures, but the ones we have seen have been amazing.
Honeymoon. Hawaii. Ironman Kona. Brent and Kyle Pease become the first team of brothers to ever cross the finish line. I mean, why wouldn't we wrap up our honeymoon with 40 of our closest friends? And volunteering.
November seemed a little calmer as we hosted our first Thanksgiving as a married couple. B ran a half marathon that morning, I did a crossfit WOD. The food was amazing and then we took all the leftovers camping at Lake Moe. Oh yea, and we got a puppy.
December wrapped up the year and saw us with a lot time with the kids as since it was our holiday year, we got some extra custody time with them. I really do love having them around, but this mom gig is exhausting. We had an amazing Christmas. His mom visited the weekend before. Some good friends came over on Christmas Eve. Santa visited and then we met up with my folks to see Mary Poppins Returns. Then we headed off to Hilton Head to just hang out and be with B's dad and his wife, and B's sister and brother-in-law. We stayed through 1/1 making the decision to come home a day early to make it easier on the kids to transition back to their mom's.
It's been a good year. So why is this my last blog? B asked me if I was going to write more. I told him no. Most of the topics I would want to write about these days aren't about me. This blog started as being about me. I am my own story teller and can say whatever I want about me. My life isn't my own anymore. Everything I have to say, I have to presume will get back to the bonus kids or their mom. I talk about a frustration or an accomplishment, how will that translate back? Our relationship with her is decent. I'd like to protect that. Me running off at the mouth (or fingers) isn't going to do that.
So I'm signing off. This doesn't mean I won't vent to some of you, but it won't be in writing....plausible deniability, it's a thing.
