The end of a 4 year streak

~Because it took me so long to finish this post, it ended up very picture heavy, not quite how I wanted to write it.  I just wanted to get it done. ~

I started this post the second week of November, I worked on it the first week of December and then have just kind of ignored it. I think this post is going to be a long one, and I just haven't wanted to take the time to write it.  Plus, I have so many thoughts about it, that it's hard to wrangle them into one space.  Often, lately (and by lately I mean the last several years) when I have a lot going on or a lot to share, I do just a picture post, but this one deserves more. 

I'm talking about the end of my run streak.

Maybe I'll start with the beginning of my run streak: 

    I have been kicking around the idea of a run streak.  I know that there is a popular one from Thanksgiving through New Year's.  I've never done a run streak, but for some reason, this year, it sounds interesting.  The rules of a run streak are that you have to run at least one mile every single day.  There was a story on the news a few weeks ago about a guy with the 5th longest run streak, he had ran for 40+ years, every day, one mile.  Then one day he was hurt and he quit mid-run.  I can't imagine running that much, I think he was in his late 70's when he quit.  Then I heard my supervisor and another lady at my work talking about their 100 day run streak (they didn't really do it though, they committed to 100 miles in 100 days but they counted a 5 mile run and then they didn't have to run for 4 days if they didn't want to, and neither one of them actually accomplished 100 miles in 100 days), but it got me thinking that it would be interesting if I could do it.

I am terrible at follow through, unless it's a race.  So I wonder if I can come up with some sort of reward for completing it.  I don't know what that would be though.  It has to be something I wouldn't do or get anyway. 

I wrote that on Oct. 22, 2018 and you can find it here, 

It's funny that I wrote "I'm terrible at follow through . . ."  That run streak lasted 4 years.  

I have thought a lot about why I decided to do it, and I look at the year I started, 2018.  That was a hugely significant year for me, it was the year I lost my Mom.  I know for a fact that I started school (master's degree) as a result of losing her, I needed something to take my thoughts away from the pain and memories.  But did I start a run streak because of it?  Maybe, not consciously, but maybe.  I also stopped running races.  Oh I ran a few, in 2018 I ran ones I had already committed to, plus the one I found while we were in Ocean Shores and the half marathon on my Mom's birthday that year. But I really lost the desire to run races after my Mom died.  I think it was the idea at the time that there were such bigger things than races.  

I know that one of the reasons I kept running every day was because of my Dad.  I've suspected for years that deep down my Dad wanted to be a runner.  When I was in high school (and younger) I loved running. (You can read how and when I learned I loved running here.) My Dad would challenge me to a race, he always won, of course, but I enjoyed it.  When I started running I decided to do Bloomsday  because he mentioned thinking about doing it.  He talked about doing it every year that my sister and I have, and he even started training for it (walking) 6 or 7 years ago but he got sick and never really got back into training.  Anyway, every time I talked to my Dad he would ask me "Still running?" and I would say yes and give him the number of days of my run streak.  I think he enjoyed that I was doing it.  

So what does 4 years of daily running look like?  Well, I've run everywhere (well, I never did run in an airport and always thought that would be cool).  I ran back and forth (and back and forth and back and forth) in a hospital room when Maddox had his appendix taken out. 

I didn't realize that happened right after I started my runstreak.  That picture was taken Thanksgiving 2018, which I started the streak the first of November 2018.

Races

In June of 2019 I ran my first (and only) Ragnar, which also was my last in person race.  My Dad came over and "followed" me while I ran.  He often asked when I was going to do it again.  I had decided to do it, mainly for him, but then he died.  I don't really have a desire to run another Ragnar.

ragnar

I did a few virtual runs, this one, the Tulip Run, was the last Tulip run I did.  I have not done it since, and it used to be one of my "always" runs from the very beginning of my running journey. 

Trips

At the end of February of 2019 I went to Hawaii with my sister and brother-in-law (and Chris).  I will say, Hawaii is my most favorite run ever.  If I go back, I will probably run everyday while there.  I love it, even when I feel like I don't want to or don't have time, I still love it.

And then in August of 2019 my Dad took us on a cruise to Alaska.  

I will say it over and over, Hawaii running is my favorite.  There is no better view.  These two were in 2021 and I can't wait to go back so I can run there again . . . well, and do all the fun sun things.  😊

I ran in Long Beach, WA.

In 2019, I ran in Idaho while there for my 20 year college class reunion.

I ran at the Grand Canyon, sadly I didn't run along the Canyon, I wish I had.  If we had gone when the original trip was planned, with my Dad, I would have been able to because our hotel was right along the Canyon.  However, he died a month before that trip was supposed to happen so was postponed.  

We went to Vancouver, WA a couple times in the last few years for different family (Chris's family) events.  I think this one was his Grandma's 90th birthday party in 2021.

In 2020 we went to Deer Lake 3 times between March and September, the most we had ever been there in one year.  Somehow, we have continued to do long weekends, as well as our yearly August trip since then.  I ran every day while there.  

Pandemic

I ran through a pandemic, seeing deer in the middle of town in the middle of the day.

The creepiest run I've done in a long time, through a cemetery in the fog.

Also, in 2020 being cooped up at home forced social issues to be realized, or was at least highlighted.  "Irunwithmaud" was the hashtag after Armaud Arbery was murdered by men who chased him while he ran.  

In 2017 (pre-run streak), I started having a pain in my leg that I found out was caused by arthritis in my hip.  I had been pretty much ignoring it, until sometime in the last 4 years.  I found this stuff, Dragon Balm, which has CBD oil and rubbed it on my trouble areas.  It smells terrible but worked okay.  Then I started doing yoga with my sister in 2021 and that has almost completely alleviated the pain from my arthritis (I still recommend this stuff though).

Kids

I ran with my kids, even Asher, who was the cutest runner partner I had.  He just bounced, and bounced while I ran on my treadmill.  😄

Eastern Washington

In 2022 I ran in eastern WA a lot.  I was there monthly dealing with my dad's house.  I have so many pictures there.  I ran the day my Dad died, and I ran the day after he died.  (On a side note, I remember my first run after my Mom died, she died of a lung disease and being out of breath made me think of her.  It was maybe my hardest run ever. But it wasn't during my runstreak.)

My most favorite running picture ever.

In 2019 they did repairs on the highway close to my Dad's house so they closed several miles of it.  I grew up there, never walked on that highway, but that year, I got to run on it.

This was actually December of 2021, it was sub-zero temperatures and I ran around the barn 4 times (I think) to get to one mile because it was easier than running on the road. 

Same area, different season.

Milestones

I reached one year on my runstreak and thought I was so clever to write "365" on my route.  It wasn't until a day later, after I posted on Facebook, that a friend of mine asked why I ran "E65."  😂😂

My two year runstreak anniversary . . . I swore I took a different picture, but I can't find it, and this was taken on Oct. 31, 2020, so it has to be the one.  

I thought 900 days in a row was a big deal, so I decided to try to write a number again and was much more successful than E65.  

For 2021 I went to a trail near my house and did my runstreak anniversary run.  

2022 was a year I didn't do anything exciting for my runstreak anniversary.  I think I may have even been sick that year.

And my last day of my "official" runstreak.  I actually ended up running two more days after this because the weather was so nice.  But the reason I ended it was so I could run when I wanted to, not because I felt I had to.  So I ran . . . because I wanted to.  (Although I did joke with my sister that it was runstreak days 1 and 2.)

Seasons

Obviously I ran through all seasons.  Fall and spring are my favorite, but not while it's raining or windy.

It wouldn't really count if I didn't include the season of rain (which is about 10 months of the year)

I ran on Christmas day and in the snow (which I love).  I love running while it's snowing, as long as there isn't snow already on the road.  😊

This was after a treadmill run.  I was so hot, I thought a snow angel would be a great way to cool down.  It was . . . maybe too cool though.  I think I much prefer the method of cooling down in the pool after a hot run during the summer.  😂

Treadmill running

I think 2022 was the year of the treadmill . . . and the one mile runs.  However, these pictures span from 2018 to the end of my runstreak.

My brand new treadmill.

Maybe I'm not running in this picture, but I did, at the beginning of the pandemic, walk a lot on my treadmill while I worked from home.  Once I got my "closet office" I quit doing it, but it was really nice for a while.  

The end

Runstreak

 I don't think I've mentioned it, maybe I have, but I've decided to stop my run streak.  November 1, 2018 was my first day of my run streak, so October 31, 2022 is my last.  4 years.  There were so many times this summer that I was done.  I was running so little, I only ran more than one mile 27 times from June through August, several of those were only 2 mile runs.  Looking back, in March I only ran 3 miles one time, the rest were all 1 mile runs.  I've been done for a long time, but too stubborn to give it up.  

This summer I had enough.  I was going to e. WA all the time, I wasn't even home on the weekends in August, I was just done.  I didn't want to run anymore.  So I decided I'd get to my 4 year mark and end it.  Honestly, when I made that decision it was soooooo long until Nov. 1.  I didn't think I'd make it.  But now it's only a week away.  Including today (because I haven't run yet) I only have 8 more runs.  8 more days until I can take a break.  

I'm dreading it, and looking forward to it.  I honestly don't know how I will handle it.  Chris told me this weekend he thinks I'll have anxiety not running every day. My sister told me she doesn't think I'll stop.  And honestly, part of me doesn't want to.  I will never do this again.  This is it.  1461 days, that is a lot of days.  4 years.  

I worry that I will stop completely.  It will just get to be "I don't have to run and don't want to run, so I'm not going to run."  I don't want that to happen.  But I also want to want to run instead feeling I have to run.  I want to enjoy it again.  I've started running more miles in the week.  I've gone back to trying to have a schedule.  I used to run on the same days every week, and have the same days off, well, at least Monday is always the day I took off, with another one or two later.  But always run on Saturday and Sunday, with Sunday being my long run.  I've been trying to start "long" running again, but so far, I've only made one 5 mile run (2 four mile runs).  I'd like to run at least 4 times a week, although this month I've only managed that once (well, more than one mile right now).  I started this in October, end of September, because I know I'm going to be done and want to be in the habit now.  

Mondays are now good days for me to run, while Wednesdays and Fridays are harder, so those will probably become days off, although I liked Monday off because I would rest after my long run, so we'll see.  But I do feel I need to have my "rules" so that I stick with it.  I had them several years ago, never run on Monday, always run either Thursday or Friday, long run on Sunday.  With my current schedule and not doing crazy long runs, I'll probably run on Mondays, and probably skip Wednesdays and Fridays and no fewer than 3 days a week, but preferably 4 or 5 days a week.  I guess we'll see how it goes.  

My crazy one mile run last November
at my dad's in freezing temperatures.

a downer of a post

I had a really hard time titling this post, sorry.

I was catching up on my blog reading, through my move I read very little of my favorite blogs.  Then when I was finally wanting to catch up, my main way of reading, bloglovin, wouldn't let me in.  I was trying to find my blogs in different ways, but I have definitely become dependent on bloglovin and how I get to my favorites there, I couldn't remember the names, much less the addresses, of the blogs I read.  Well, a few weeks ago I was finally able to get into bloglovin, and I had some time, so decided to look at some old entries.  

Stained Glass Butterfly posted in September that her mom passed away, and it hit home for me. 

I thought I had been very open about my own Mom's death, but I don't see any posts about how she died. So I'll tell you. In February of 2018 it snowed, on Valentine's Day my mom went out to make a snowman (because in my family, if it snows, you make a snowman).  She slipped after taking a selfie and broke her ankle.  She was told she would need surgery but they had to wait for an available spot.  Well, about a week, maybe 2, later while she was trying to get up to use the bathroom she fell again and made her ankle worse.  They ended up admitting her into the hospital and did the surgery the next day. They started talking about putting her into a rehab place for physical therapy, so my family and I decided to go over (4 hours) to celebrate her getting out.  Well, she started having breathing problems, her oxygen was low and she was always breathless.  They did a bunch of tests and saw a mass in her lungs, the doctor thought it was fluid, but all the tests came back saying it wasn't anything.  Finally it was discovered that she had a lung disease, I can't remember the word but it meant "generalized lung disease"  meaning they didn't really know where it came from or how long she had it.  But being put under anesthesia exacerbated it  and by the time it was discovered it was way too late.  We found out on Saturday that she wouldn't make it home again.  My sister had to come from N. Carolina to say goodbye so she held on until they got there, and she died Monday evening March 5, 2018.  

This loss was devastating to me.  I was angry. Really, really angry.  Not at her, but at the world.  She was the healthy one, she was the one that we expected we'd have to take care of after my Dad died.  Her family was the one with long life (I had a relative that lived to be 100 on her side), my dad's family has all died before they turn 80, they have multiple illnesses and no one lives long.  (Probably has a lot to do with living downwind from Hanford.)  I could not say my Mom "passed," my Mom died.  I felt "passed" was too kind, and it wasn't kind or fair that she was gone so soon, she was only 70.

My Dad died a year ago.  And my reaction to his death has been very, very different.  I still have the anger, but this anger has been focused at him.  He gave up after my Mom died.  He did nothing, he sat at home and just. gave. up.  He has 4 girls, 5 grandkids and one great-grandson, and he did not care enough to live for us.  I have compared him to my Mom so many times.  My Mom would have been devastated the he died, but she would have lived.  She would have enjoyed her kids, grandkids and great-grandson.  She would have always been at my house.  She would have lived, she would not have given up and she would not have allowed her health to get so bad that she died in her sleep.  You can still tell that I am mad at my Dad for giving up.

Going back to Stained Glass Butterfly.  She posted about her Mom's death, and her very next post was so inspiring. She focused on how her Mom lived, not on how her Mom died.  And that should be what I focus on.  

My Mom loved her girls with her whole heart.  She was kind, and friendly, embarrassing and unique.  She was friends with everyone, no one disliked her.  Even if she disliked someone, she never let that show, she showed grace and kindness to everyone.  I actually started school because of her, but not because I wanted to make her proud, but because I needed something to keep my brain active and not dwell on her loss.  But she would have been sooooo proud of me.  I can her voice so often "Woooo! Go Cathy."  I heard that countless times growing up. 

And my Dad . . . right now he's harder for me, but I need to forgive him.  He loved my Mom and he just couldn't handle his grief (he did not kill himself, he died while sleeping).  My Dad was a family man, he loved his family, he loved his farm.  He was loyal, he was hardworking.  He was kind and humble.  He was quiet, he was always in the background, he would let my Mom talk after church forever even though all he wanted to do was go home.  When I was in college I started calling him Pa as a joke, so he started addressing his letters to me as "Da #3" (I was the third daughter).  I think we had a connection that way because he was also the third child in his family.  In fact, after I had Maddox he told me I had to have another so that there was a 3rd child.  I know he was proud of my school and my job.  I talked to him about a week before he died and he told me.  I was only 2 weeks from graduating (yes, he died one week before I graduated), and I was talking to him about my career options.  He told me he was proud of me.

I need to remember the good things and not be so angry.  

  

How I spent my weekend

 So I hear you all asking what I did with my first weekend at home, so I'll tell you.  I worked in my "garden."  

If you remember, this is what my garden looked like in the real estate pictures.  (you can find this post here)

And this is what a summer of ignoring the garden looks like.

There are roses along the fence, 17 of them to be exact (I know because I moved them all).  They were covered in bindweed (also known as morning glory and trumpeter vine, but Google says the invasive stuff is bindweed, it is a vine with white flowers). There are planter boxes in that mess, well, you can see them in the above picture. 

After 2 days and 6 bags of cheap potting soil, I transferred the roses to 10 gallon garden bags I bought off of Amazon.

I mowed the parts I could, and Damian weedeated the boxes.  Then I sprayed the hell out of the weeds with noxious weedkiller.  I know it's not ideal for a garden area where I plan to plant vegetables, but there's no way I will get rid of the clover and bindweed without chemicals.  Bindweed travels above and below ground, google says that it's roots could be 9 feet long and every time you pull it out, it strengthens the roots and it grows new shoots.  Also, if you leave even a small piece of a root, it will regrow, very hard to get rid of.  Google says chemicals applied regularly is the best way to kill it.  So I guess I will be destroying the ground for awhile and then will have to work on making it better once I can get rid of the stuff.  

This was taken from my balcony, the space between the fence and the planter box is where all the roses were.  It was a lot of work, but I love gardens and want to get as much done this fall that I can so I can start on it in the spring and hopefully have flowers at least.

We did have to stop on Saturday and take Maddox to his first soccer game, and I kept having to go back to Lowes to get potting soil.  6 cu. ft (2 bags) is not enough, I ended up buying 7 and used 6 bags.

Once I was done with that I decided I wanted to finish the fake wall tiles in my bathroom.  That has been a project I've worked on here and there since we closed on the house.  The first picture is after I painted and I had put up one peel and stick tile before remembering I should take before and after photos.  

And the vanity area.  There was a mirror, but we took it down to paint.

And this is the end of the peel-and-stick tile.  It turned out so good, although, I feel like I need a trim.  It looks even better with the shower curtain up.  

I had finished the vanity a long time ago, but here's the after.  Obviously I have a few things still to do, like hang the toilet paper holder and towel rods, but I'm so happy with how it turned out.  The counter looks messy in this picture, but it really isn't.  The back of the toilet is with all the things I need to finish.  I also have a hanging cabinet I want to hang up above the toilet, as well as the towel rods.

So that's how I spent my first weekend at home since moving in.  Also, I did not unpack even one box.  I guess that's a project for next weekend. 

Just Checking in

Well, I finally will have a weekend at home.  This last weekend I went to eastern WA for my sister in law's 40th birthday.  She has cerebral palsy and has been confined to a wheelchair her entire life.  She was not expected to live to her 20s and she just turned 40.  It was also the last weekend I have to go anywhere until October.  Which makes 6 weekends in a row that I have not been home.  

We did our big move the weekend of July 22nd.  Then July 29 and 30 we finished up cleaning and such at our old place.  That was the last time I was home for a weekend, the last weekend in July.  All 4 weekends in August I was gone, granted, the second weekend we were finishing up our normal August vacation, but still, not home.  

I am very excited to be home for a weekend.  There is so much to do.  We've lived here a month and a half and still have a garage full of boxes.  I have a garden I would really like to start getting rid of weeds in so that I can have at least a little garden next spring.  I want to be done with it all so I can fully enjoy my house and not have to think of all the things that still need to be done.

I am still running at least one mile a day, the miles have been short, August was only 48 miles, which means that I only ran 8 days out of 31 more than one mile, and no more than 3 miles at a time.  Today marks 1414 days in a row.  

I've pretty much decided that I'm going to end my streak.  This summer was a summer of short runs, mostly only one milers.  From June through August I only ran more than one mile 26 days, not even a full month's worth of runs.  So sometime in the middle of July I decided I'm going to get to 4 years and then end it.  November 1, 2018 was when I started my streak, so October 31, 2022 will be my last runstreak run.

Running isn't very much fun when you have to figure out every single day when you are going to run.  I don't like feeling like I HAVE to run every day, I'm tired of it.  I'm hoping that I will start to enjoy it again if I don't feel like I have to run.  I'm not sure how I feel when I end it.  I'm not going to quit running, it is the only exercise I do faithfully and I usually love it.  I just want the pressure of it to go away.  Maybe I'll start entering races again.  

Today's run was cold and I could feel the damp air.  It rained this morning, and i have to tell you that even though it's been a hotter than normal summer here, it started so late that I'm still not ready for fall.  I don't want to go back to rainy and cold days that makes up fall, winter and spring.  I really do like all seasons, but I don't like the constant rain, which encompasses 3 of 4 of them.

On my current running route I almost always pass a yard with beautiful flowers.  Today the owner of the yard was out cutting flowers so I said something to her. Her house is on the other side of the dog park that is right next to our yard, so basically a neighbor.  She was super friendly and showed me her backyard.  It is beautiful!!  She said it's her "covid yard"  They did most of the work on it in the last 2 and 1/2 years.  It gives me hope that maybe it won't be 10 years before mine looks good too (probably not as nice as hers though).  But she sent me home with some flowers.  They are beautiful, I definitely need to make friends with her.  😁

A busy August

A whole month with no posts, I haven't done that in forever. Also, my formatting is weird again, I don't know how to change it. I'm sorry! Last time it did this I couldn't add images either.

Well, that worked for you, I can't see it in editing mode though (which annoys me). 

Are any of you using Bloglovin'? I haven't been able to get on it which means I can't read any of the blogs I follow. It's quite annoying. Anyway, August was very hectic. We finished up moving and cleaning our old place at the end of July. Then I spent the first week in August going to my Dad's house with a uhaul to help my sister move into my dad's house and grab my stuff from there (inherited stuff), came back to unload, and went straight back to my dad's the next day to help my sister paint her room. (I was voluntold by another sister I had to help, although I had no help from them). Then we went to the Lake the second week of August for our vacation. Which was nice, but definitely not long enough.

I realized that I tend to take pictures of the same thing over and over, so I quit taking pictures. Looking at what I did take, I don't have very many this year and I can't find any of me in my favorite spot in the morning with a coffee cup, or in the evening with a wine glass. I thought I did, but I can't find them, so you're stuck with a bunch of sunset pictures, with a few others. 

The picture of my sister on my paddleboard was meant to capture her dog on the board. She was very reluctant to get on, but couldn't stand being so far from my sister. 🤣 After the hectic months of moving, and going to my Dad's to work there once a month, I am still feeling the affects of it. Although, that might also be because I have not been home for a weekend since July 30th. I was looking forward to one weekend at home, but then we found out before our vacation that Chris's Grandma died, so we had to go to her funeral the one weekend I had at home. 

The last weekend in August I had to go back to eastern WA to help my sister paint her son's room and visit with my Mom's cousin, which was a lot of fun. Then Labor Day weekend I went on an overnight hike with some friends, and guess what? Next weekend I have to go back to eastern WA for Chris's sister's 40th birthday party. That will be 6 weekends in a row I was not home. This means that I still have a house full of boxes that hasn't been unpacked. Plus, it is time to start working on my garden so it (hopefully) will be less work next spring, but I haven't had time. I have so many plans, I just can't get them all done. 😔 I may have some time at the end of September to do things at home, but who knows.

Moving sucks.

I can't tell you how much I love my new house. I also can't tell you how much I hate the moving process. We finally finished painting yesterday, but we have been taking boxes over there since we closed. We've stored them in the garage, but while I have been touching up the edges and missed areas of paint, my husband has started to move boxes into the living spaces. I've moved most of my clothes there, all but two work outfits, with shoes, are there, but my dresser still has some tshirts, pants, and underclothes (don't you just love that word?). The last 2 weeks I have spent 4-5 hours after work at the new place, and then all day on the weekends (although last weekend I was at my dad's house again). This weekend is it, we are going to spend Saturday and Sunday moving everything else into the house and officially move in. We still have our rental through next week, but we are going to get it empty and then clean it next week after work. We have our final walk through next Saturday with our landlord. Honestly, as excited as I am to have my new house, I am very sad to be leaving this one. We've lived here 7 years and 3 months. It's the longest I've been in one spot in my adult life. And before we lived in this house, we lived 3 blocks over, so I've been in this neighborhood for 14 years (minus 6 months when we had our "temporary" home in 2014). I will drastically miss my running routes, and my neighborhood. We are friendly with all our neighbors and our current house is on a quiet cul-de-sac (sorta) with a lot of kids. Although, I think Maddox is outgrowing them (they are all younger by at least a year or two), he's at that age where a year or two make a big difference. In a year or two, it won't be so big, but for now it is. I was sitting out on my hammock chair last night enjoying the evening (it was late, but I didn't want to go straight to bed after getting home from the other house) and was thinking about how much I love this area. And yesterday I went to downtown Mt. Vernon on the riverwalk and was thinking that I will miss that too. Yes, my new house is only 5 miles away, but it's a different town (they are separated by the Skagit River) and I won't be able to run along the riverwalk unless I drive there. I'm just sad to be leaving, even though I'm excited for my new house. I wish my new house was in Mt. Vernon, that's what I most wish. Enough of the pity party, I am happy to be moving into a house where we all have our own space. I just noticed that this may be one long run-on paragraph, I promise I hit enter a ton, I'm on my 6th paragraph, but it's acting funny today, I'm sorry.

June . . . and a new house

Ouch,  I haven't posted at all in June.  June 17th we closed on our house and got the key.  😀  I am super excited to have the house, but I am looking forward to the end of August, maybe September or October.  That is when we will be moved and in the house, and hopefully unpacked.  😂  We are staying in our current house through July so that we can paint and get things done in our new house.  

Honestly, I love the house.  Chris has been worried about finances, but my sister had a great idea to start acting like we are paying a bigger mortgage already several months ago to see if we can afford a house. So I've been putting what we will have to pay in mortgage in our savings for several months and we haven't had any problems financially.  Bonus is that now we have a little extra for the stuff we are doing in the house.  

The last two weekends we've spent painting and mowing the lawn. The day we closed, Friday, I realized that it was Berry Dairy Days in Burlington (where our house is) (Berry Dairy Days is my second and fastest half marathon) and there would be fireworks that night. The park where they would be set off is not very far from our house, and our deck faces it, so Maddox and I decided to stay the night at the house.  We ran home and grabbed a blowup mattress and things to stay the night.  Unfortunately there was a tree in the way of the fireworks, but we were able to see some of it.  On Saturday Chris and I spent 5+ hours mowing and weed eating.  I know those are not necessary to move in, but I thought if we didn't do it first thing, it would only get worse.  The grass was up to our knees.  We had to have our mower at the highest level and then we basically mowed everything 3 times, forward, backward, forward again.  

Did I mention Saturday was also Maddox's birthday?  and don't forget Father's day on Sunday.  One of Maddox's birthday presents was a trampoline, which he's wanted for years.  So we also put that up, again, not something necessary for move-in, but a small thing to make Maddox feel special.  

Sunday we did some more yard work and got paint, and Damian and I spent Monday (Juneteenth) painting the living room.

This last weekend we painted the dining room and the three upstairs bedrooms. And Damian did Asher's room on Monday (his normal day off).  I'm so excited to get it done.  We need to do the two bathrooms, kitchen, and my closet.  Then Damian's space downstairs.  I'm hoping to get everything done before the weekend of the 22nd, and then we move all our stuff that weekend, and clean our current place the last week of July. 

Maddox's very bright
colors in his room.

The color selections for my room, 
I decided on the light green that is
painted on the wall and barely
visible.

Sunday was Chris's birthday and we had reservations so had to stop early. If we hadn't we probably would have gotten a little more done.  

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, we had already had plans to go to the Lake, which as you know we always go (and are still going to go this year) in August.  So nothing will be done at the house this weekend.  Then I'm going to my parent's house the 15th of July to finish cleaning out their house, so that's another weekend I'm gone.  Basically, that means I have one full weekend in the house before I want to move.  We shall see what happens.  It means that I will likely have many late evenings at the house finishing up the house . . . not to mention, we also are still packing up our current house.  It might actually be easier to just move all in one weekend, rather than over a month.  I still have to have clothes and makeup and food and  . . . everything . . . in our current house.  Oh, and I forgot, we have to buy Maddox two mattresses for his bed (a bunkbed with a futon on the bottom).  

We need to do the kitchen, which we know the color for, the two bathrooms and my closet.  Not to mention all of the downstairs, but Damian was able to get one room down there done on Monday.  We have to paint the ceilings down there because for some reason they started (very strangely) to paint it white over a light green, but followed no rhyme or reason, so some of the ceiling was painted and most of it is still green, but it's patchy.  

Yesterday I got Maddox registered for school and soccer in Burlington, so that is good.  The school is very close, so Maddox could ride his bike there if he wanted (and I think he does).  The school is a K-8, which might actually be a benefit to him.  6th grade in Mount Vernon is now Middle School (when Damian was that age he didn't move to Jr. High until 7th grade) but in Burlington, in the school Maddox is going to 6th grade is a "transition" year, which he had in 5th grade in Mt. Vernon, but I think another year like that would be very good for him.  

Anyway, things are moving along here.  I'm still running, by the way.  Today is day 1336 in my runstreak.