Tales of the Ordinary Days

Carol, Cindy, (Shimerda girls-Anna, Sarah, Mary), me, Melanie, Barb, Nicky, LuAnn Picture was taken at Sarah's bridal shower a few years back With every great first meeting, there is a story. The moments in time where lasting relationships begin. This is the case with my neighbors of Elm Circle. Over the last nineteen years, we have co-existed like a close extended family. There were times when we needed each other, but was also the comfort in distance between own homes. My neighbors perfected the art of knowing the difference. Driving away from my home for the last time, I called each of my boys. We shared these years as a family with roots that grew deep. I felt the urge to share the finality of the moment with them. All responded with encouragement, but Grant nailed it with his comment. "Mom, it's really not about the house. It's about the people. I miss the people. You'll miss the people." He was so right. My home was not the same, now empty of...

The last picture taken together at 16706 Elm Circle To the New Owners of 16706 Elm Circle: I am writing this letter as a for-sale sign is being strategically positioned in the front yard of my home. It has been nineteen years since a sign to allure new owners (you) has been placed on its grassy front. Today I find myself reflecting on the sweet heartbeat carried in walls of my forever home and all the joyful moments shared inside and out. My hope is to pay this all forward to you. Today instead of savoring the past in my comfy chair in Omaha with three active boys buzzing around, I am in Boise with only a faithful dog by my side on a quiet summer morning. The only sounds here are the buzzing of the neighbor's mower and the many happy memories that are racing in my mind. A typical lazy August morning in our cherished house of past would include smells of chlorine from wet swim trunks not properly placed in the washer. Towels leaving evidence of late night hot tub use an...

Boy-See! The Boise Adventure. We are days away from the 6 month mark into our stay in Boise. What a fun ride! I haven't been blogging much lately, and the reason isn't lack of material. It's lack of time. So much to do, so few hours in the day. This is a pattern that has been recurring in my life since childhood. Per my mom, my youngest son, Grant, has similar tendencies. He always had great intentions with high determination, but time has never been on his side. When he was young, he and his brother would fly as unattended minors to stay for weeks in the summer with my parents in Arizona. Grant loved all of the newness of his grandparent's desert home and the resulting choices in how to fill his day. My mom has always been keen on how to best handle both her overly optimistic daughter and grandson. She later shared with me a story on how little Grant had a long list of things he wanted to do at their home on a particular day. Mom wisely asked him to write the...

Zeke decides to steal the driver's seat after his dog park adventure With Boise's typical sunny skies and high desert warmth (that seems to avoid the midwestern cold), we humans + dog are acclimating well to our new surroundings. The only difference between the humans and the dog is that he misses his snowy back yard and furry playmates in Omaha.  I keep reminding myself that if my biggest worry over the move is the proper socialization of the pup, we are in good shape. But it doesn't stop me from feeling bad for Zekers. As his human brothers before him, Zeke really loved the open run of our Omaha yard. With the house situated on a busy path for neighborhood dog-walkers and neighboring dogs, Zeke had constant interaction with both dogs and people. Boise is a whole new environment for him. We are living in the foothills, overlooking the city, and although our cozy retreat is perfect for Garrett and me, Zeke gets bored quickly. The quiet of our little house offer...

Garrett with his to-go desert compliments of Stagecoach Inn (restaurant is a classic western icon per my research and our experience) Way back when in my Lutz days, I had a client I worked with from central Nebraska. My main contact was a lady by the name of Aleta. Although she ran a medical practice by day, by night she was a ranching woman. We had only met once in person, but over the course of our many conversations, I always pictured her in cowboy boots with spurs and a rifle never more than an arms-length away. I always enjoyed Aleta. She was a straight-talker with colorful stories about life on the ranch, and her view on life in general. Many times her stories didn't come from the actual telling of a story, but from a sidebar comment. One that I clearly remember involved an asthma inhaler and her horses. I called Aleta with a question concerning a payroll tax deadline, a very normal accounting-ish thing to do. Aleta, in her typical nonchalant fashion, didn't pro...

Showing off my new gift from Kathy - evil eye ring (wards off evil...been a family thing for years) It's amazing how quickly one adapts to new surroundings. We are enjoying our little rental home up in the foothills. There is a lot to be said of natural light and lots of windows. The view looking onto the city is an added plus. We are only here through the end of March, so will definitely enjoy the time we have it. Of the three of us, Zeke is the one a bit lonely. He misses his best friend, Lucy, and our spacious backyard which had turned into his playground. This is even with a very long walk this morning and lots of love from his humans. Part of my adventures planned for next week include finding dog parks and other venues for doggy interaction for our Zeke. This morning he and I put in 7,000 steps around a neighborhood to the south of us. There was a nice park with a walking path and lots of new smells for the pup. My last movie of 2018 was about a man who spent 6+ yea...

The boys Today was a great reminder that 'we're not in Kansas anymore'. Well, technically Nebraska, but we can all relate to the Kansas line. Instead of Toto, we have Zeke. And instead of Oz, we're in Idaho. While Garrett and I worked diligently through the day, we really wouldn't have known where. We were just working. The sun and the clouds look a lot the same in Nebraska as Idaho when sitting indoors. This was until we got to mid-day and needed to coordinate our workout schedule. Old routines continued as I vocally weighed the options of running outside vs. a nearby gym. Garrett, thinking outside our typical box, threw out the better option. "Why don't we go for a hike?" Working our way backwards from our scheduled happy hour with my Aunt Kathy, we decided we had a little over an hour for outdoor activity. With a quick Google search and review of on-line trails, we found our new place .75 miles, door to trailhead, to a large hiking area....

Office is set up. My new view. The part of our move I have been most looking forward to is exploring new places and meeting new people. I have all kinds of ideas on what these new days will look like, but that fun won't start quite yet. First I need to play catch up on work projects post-holidays. That was our day today. Garrett and I were completely heads down, trying to get back on top of the e-mails and work that has been mounting over the last two weeks of holiday cheer and travel. Many people have been asking if Garrett and I still work full-time and the answer is yes. What that means is a whole other explanation. But I guess that is a great place to start on how we ended up in Boise. Both Garrett and I have worked as consultants for the past few years. His focus is IT and business operations and mine is finance, business operations, speaking, facilitating, coaching, training and a lot of other stuff. We both partner with others at times, but haven't been employe...

We made it! We crossed the Idaho state line at about 2:00 p.m. today past accompanying mile marker 0. A perfect place to begin. Our day started at a dog-friendly Baymont Inn in Rock Springs, Wyoming. The temp was nine below zero as we took off for day two of our road trip from Omaha, NE to Boise, ID. By the time we meandered through Utah and crossed into Idaho, the temp was north of twenty. A step in the right direction, although I keep asking Garrett why we are moving northward rather than southward. For now I will accept his explanation that Boise, although clearly north latitudinally, has Denver weather (which is good) without Denver's excessive population (which is bad). I will take his word for it and test it out on my own now that we are here. Our little pull behind U-Haul has been unpacked. My Aunt Kathy (and Boise resident) arrived with food, wine, and beer as we enjoyed her company and relaxation after a day of traveling. Zeke is loving the great open area o...

Fam picture - Christmas 2018 (Garrett gets photo cred) I chatted with Kat on Christmas Eve. She’s my kids’ stepmom and my ex-husband’s wife. By my estimation it’s been at least five months since we’ve spoken. Like a couple of old college friends, She and I quickly caught up in the five minutes before I had to take off. Recently I commented to a friend on how weird it was to not have routine interactions with my ex, Scott, and his wife, Kat. With no school activities, sports, or the coordinating of kids, the frequent phone calls and texts have stopped. No more sitting in the bleachers together at football games or coordinating holiday breaks. As weird as it sounds, I miss this. But then I remind myself that the lack of having a reason to talk to each other is a good thing. It is a sign that our sons are doing just fine. We have no worries or issues that warrant discussion as co-parents of adult children. The boys are all doing their thing, happily flowing in their individ...