Major Changes Start This Week!

You'd like to think that your weekend allows you to rest and get ready for the week ahead.  It is becoming more and more clear to me that my weekends are the really hard work and Monday through Friday is easier work!  Whew - it is now Sunday evening and I am exhausted from all that I have done this weekend.  I wish I could say that I was out partying each day and night but I haven't been. 

I know I have explained this in the blog before, but for much of the time between 2006 and 2010 life seemed to be in a state of suspend animation.  I didn't move forward with a lot of change.  When Shelly came into our lives in the 2nd half of 2009 things slowly started to change but the real work is taking place now!

Since mid-May life around the house has been about preparing for major changes.  In the preparation for those major changes I have been cleaning and purging.  The folks at Goodwill at Holly and County Line have to come know me on a first name basis as they have seen me in there so many times.  All the work and purging is now starting to pay off as the upgrades and changes to the house are starting this week.  The first thing that is happening is on Tuesday we are getting measurements for the entertainment center that is being put in the basement.  The entertainment center will give me the capability to install a home theater that we can use for movies and Zack can use for playing video games.  It will substantially increase the use of our basement for both Zack and me.  Then on Thursday my new garage doors are going to be installed.  The change in the garage doors will significantly update the curb appeal of the house.  Additionally, I expect to get my formal approval in the mail this week from the HOA Architectural Control Committee to go ahead with the stamped concrete front patio and landscaping changes.  On top of that there is another major change happening which I haven't 100% finalized yet but will have a major impact on life here at Casa de Kromero.  I should be able to get that finalized by the end of the week but until then I am somewhat loathe to speak about it.  (It is a change that has taken me a huge amount of effort to make.)

So what does all this change mean for us...  It means we are reinventing our home to match they way we need to live as we go forward.  I am still continuing to evaluate whether we are going to stay in this house or move to another house in Willow Creek.  But I have limited my search criteria with my real estate agent to some very specific features so it may be awhile before a house with those characteristics becomes available.  So in the mean time we are continuing to do upgrades to this house because we might just be staying here.  For those of you who know Willow Creek the specs that I am looking for in a new house are pretty detailed so you'll see that it may be awhile before a house comes available.  My key requirements are I want it to be on one of the big greenbelts, have a walk out basement and the house be thoroughly upgraded through out.  Given I am continuing to look at different houses I am holding off on the really big change to this house that is severely needed - a new kitchen and family room!

So besides all the work there really hasn't been much going on.  On a historical note, yesterday Zack and I took the last CRT monitor that we have in the house to be recycled.  Who would have ever imagined that we would be rid of all the Cathode Ray Tubes and only be using flat screen technology?  It is staggering to think of when you consider prior to 2008, there wasn't one flat screen TV or computer monitor in the house!  I think so many business and homes have gone this route in recent years, it is just startling the pace at which the technology we use changes.

The only real relaxation of the weekend that I got (I won't speak of Zack who seems to get tons of relaxation!) was taking a really long bike ride this morning.  I did over 37 miles on the C470, South Platte and Bear Creek bike paths.  I am starting to hit a good peak of endurance and speed on my bike so I feel pretty good about taking some really long bike rides these days.  My left leg still continues to bother me a bit.  Yesterday with all the moving of heavy objects I did, my leg was really bothering me.  However it felt better today since I didn't do that kind of work.  I am hoping this week it will feel good enough that I can return to the gym.  It would be nice if my leg started to feel good enough that I could do some hiking but so far that is not in the cards.

We are very quickly approaching July 14th and the 3rd anniversary of Patty's death.  I am consciously doing a lot of thinking about it this year.  My psychologist tells me that Patty's death is going to be part of my life for the remainder of time I have on this earth.  But with that said, what I do with her death and how I process through it makes all the difference in the world.  So this year, I don't want to try and sweep it under the rug the way I did the last 2 years.  I want to acknowledge it and deal with it.  I think that will really allow me to have a much firmer grip in my mind about the loss I have experienced and it will make life that much easier to move forward with.  In some ways it is all kind of crazy, but you come to realize that a death that close to you impacts you in ways that you never thought.  I just look at the impact it has on my day-to-day existence and I realize that I spend at least 3 hours each week taking Zack to/from psychologist appointments - all of that is due to his dealing with the grief from Patty's loss.  I just want all of that behind us for the most part so we can start living a day-to-day normal life again.

I could write a lot more tonight as I am in a writing kind of mood, but I am exhausted and I really want to go sit on the couch for a while, eat a few popsicles, watch the news and the head to bed.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Thanks and peace to all! ~J.

FY SRD!!