Tales of the Ordinary Days

Enjoying the scenery, sun, fresh air I just finished a gorgeous bike ride. Twenty miles of Colorado beauty right outside my front door. A new normal is beginning. People are venturing out again. Cars and trucks traveling the county road towing paddleboards, kayaks, and rafts; enjoying Memorial weekend. People feeling the outdoors itch was evidenced by the number of bicyclists climbing the winding stretch of County Road 240 east of Durango up to Lemon Dam. Garrett was intermingled with this chain gang, maintaining his own pace but looping back occasionally to check on me. "Good job!" "How are you doing?" "Almost to the top. You got this!" His words of encouragement as he breezed by me. With my love language - Words of Affirmation and Garrett's - Quality Time, this Sunday morning bike ride definitely resulted in a win-win. I have likened this isolation time as feeling like Garrett and I are on a weekend couples retreat that just doesn'...

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...

Ben getting a haircut in the backyard of our first home (Little Tykes toys, long gone...Grandma's homemade jammies, some kept in basement storage) Today I drove by my old house. Really old, as we haven't lived there in eighteen years. There wasn't any one thing that motivated me to do this, other than a recent sentiment of touching pieces of my past as I look to the future. I often think back to a parting conversation I had with my divorce attorney. It was a remark he said in passing, one that typically would have slipped my memory quickly. But ten years has passed and his words are burned in my brain. "You will remarry and be happy. I am sure of it. You're a traditionalist and will find your happy home again." I have often wondered which of my behaviors deemed me a traditionalist and not a trendsetter in his mind. Why conventional was seen as my future and not edgy? Did I ultimately fulfill this prediction? On the surface, one could say no. B...

The Russ & Cookie Lane table (left to right - Big Russ, Kori, Scott, Bryan, Cookie, Amy, Tricia, Sandy) Today I went to a funeral. Rather, a celebration of life. And that it was, in so many ways. Uncle Bob Gillen passed away. He was my ex-husband's uncle on the Lane side. I have enjoyed Bob's big, vibrant personality at Lane family gatherings over my many years as part of the Lane tribe. I have always treasured the Lane family from Scott's siblings up to his grandma, Lucille Lane Coschka, to all the parents, aunts, uncles and cousins in between. After receiving a text telling me about Uncle Bob and then getting over the initial shock of his passing, I made sure to clear my schedule to attend the funeral ceremony. Aunt Marilyn (Lane) Gillen and Uncle Bob are salt of the earth people. Always wonderful to me, pre and post-divorce. Walking into the funeral home solo, I was directed by Bob's daughter-in-law to the Lane clan taking up their own church pew...

Day 8 | 30 Days of Writing Day One of the Summer Road Trip of 2009 (our launch lunch in LV before Mom, Dad and I headed north - note atlas in the background) A week from today, we will be taking off for a two-week road trip. With our dog, Zeke, and my father-in-law, Larry, in tow, we will start a two-week adventure. I couldn't be more excited. My last true road trips, taking in the beauty of the US for an extended period, was in the summers of 2009 and 2010. And they were glorious. The circumstances were completely different, but I am hopeful that the outcome will be the same; enjoying the company of the ones I love while taking in the precious moments in life that collectively make the best memories. 2009 was a rough year for me. Technically divorced in all ways except the paperwork wasn't completed. There was a parenting plan dictated by the same courts in charge of the pending paperwork that including a month in the summer that the boys stayed with their dad rath...

A country mile run on mile 2 I have a confession to make. I cried. I cried really hard. The ugly kind where my face scrunched up as I wailed like an inconsolable toddler. It was as Garrett and I sat down to dinner a week ago. My brother, Matt, had left the day before to begin his new life in Arizona. It was a few days before that when my dear friend, Angelique, moved to North Dakota to start the new chapter of her life. The hard realization was setting in that I was just weeks away from Grant moving to Colorado and life never feeling the same to me. My impending empty nest was feeling like an empty heart. So many emotions over so many changes. And although all these changes are good things, great things really, I still cried. "What do I have to be sad about?" I continued to ask myself as I fought the tears away while making dinner. But I didn't win the fight. With my loving, sweet husband sitting across from me at the dinner table and asking  the simple quest...

As my mom so famously says when it's time wrap a FaceTime conversation... "Well, that's about it then." Total code phrase for 'time to hang up and move on'. On day 6 of a week long senior family trip that includes me and Grant representing our family, I am feeling both joy and a bit of angst as I close a long chapter in my life. And although I've experienced many lasts with my youngest over these last few years, the permanency has become very real as we close this trip. In total we had 13 recent grads with their families join our excursion. TimeHop reminded me this morning of the same trip I took with Ben and classmates, 4 years ago to the day. Those four years have flew by at a pace that is now hard for me to fathom. Zach joined us for that trip, as did many other siblings his age. We had a ball. Zach started gunsmithing school two weeks after we returned and Ben was packed and moved to Lincoln within a couple of months. The blo...

Today my husband is closing out his ski season; looking to get the last breaths out of winter as seasons officially transition. So different from years past, I have only skied once this year. Today I am in Nebraska. Garrett is in Jackson Hole. Not my year for fun in the white fluff. At least not mountain style. My Colorado ski trips started long before meeting my Colorado husband. With three young sons, a decision was made in 2006 to try a family ski trip. I randomly chose Copper Mountain in Colorado and booked a week around President's Day weekend. Complete novices to this sport, we took our first road trip to the Rocky Mountains. It was an adventure starting with ski schools and learning the basics. None of us had touched a ski or board before. We were taught the differences between blue, green, and black runs. On our third day, we were all out of 'school' and ready to tackle the slopes together. Thinking we knew what we were doing, the five of us (led by two par...

Grant finishes the front yard Today Grant and I raked leaves. A yard full of nature's colorful palette. And a sign of the change of seasons. The changing seasons is one of my favorite things about living in the midwest, with summer-to-fall as my all-time favorite. Each year I delight in putting out my Halloween decorations. Football, hoodies, and bonfires fill our nights. Trading in the petunias for the peonies and mums, while preparing the autumn foliage for frost. An annual rite of passage. With a 70 degree Sunday, today was a perfect day to do yard work. It was also an excellent time to reflect. Sharing sweat labor with my 16-year-old was frosting on the cake. Physical labor in the great outdoors builds character. I was also reminded of the changes in the seasons of life. Fast forward two years and all Lane boys will be out of the house. I must now confess that I have never mowed my own lawn. There have always been plenty of able men around to perform ...

My 90 days off is over. I actually hit the 90 day mark about a month ago. Which leads to a small confession. I gave myself an extension about halfway through my time off. I quickly realized how glorious it was to pull away from making any major decisions and just enjoy life for a while. But I also knew that launching into a new career and starting a new chapter in my life would require some more time and planning. Time for decisions to be made and plans to be executed. Time to launch. I have learned a ton about myself and life and much to share. But first off, I believe a recap of the last months is in order... My 90 days off I left my position in healthcare finance on a sunny Monday afternoon in early December. Although my departure was unexpected, I have always had a Plan B. And my Plan B was to take time off. Time to do nothing but enjoy my wonderful blessing of life. Reflecting a bit last year, it was very apparent to me that my life had been full of the crazy train. W...

From Ben's phone The adventure has begun. Ben and Mom. Mom and Ben. A quick trip planned in a short timeline. But life is short and time, a treasure. So we are off on our adventure. The idea of a getaway began 19 days ago when Ben sent me a text at 2:51 a.m. on a Saturday morning. I quickly surmised that my middle child, who doesn't like to miss a party, was creating his own party. Coincidentally my blog post the day prior was on his brothers spending a week together in Denver without him on Grant's spring break. It was tempting. Very tempting. We hadn't seen my parents since last May at Ben's graduation. Although time is a scarcity these days, I bit. My counteroffer was that the trip would have to fall over a long weekend. An excited Ben called his grandpa the same day to seal the deal. I was just as excited. I missed my parents. Spontaneous quick trips many times hold pleasant surprises and the best memories. With a 19 day window to take off, I sec...

Next week is Spring Break for Grant. And he's spending the week in Denver with his brother, Zach. Although going to Denver wasn't a surprise, spending the whole week was a late-breaking development. Months ago we planned a weekend in Denver that including friends from Omaha. Recently as I was mapping out details of the trip, Grant looked at me confused. "I'm only going for the weekend?" With my confirmation of this being fact, Grant said nothing with a hint of disappointment in the air. Last weekend, I was going through the same detail mapping with Zach. Completely independent of Grant, his response was near the same. "Why can't he come for longer? Isn't he off all week? He can play my X-Box and hang out while I'm at school. And then he can hang out with me at night." Feeling tag teamed, I paused a bit over an idea that escaped my planning brain. Yet it didn't escape the thoughts of my bookend sons. After some circling ...

Mom, Aunt Joan, Ben, and Zach enjoy a quiet moment after the winning bid Our piano has a long and loving history with my family.   It began at the Elmer Pick home in the early 1950's. This piano was handpicked by my Grandpa Elmer's sister, Sister Aiden. And, yes, she really was a 'sister' under both meanings.  Four of Grandpa's sisters chose a life of service as a nun as their vocation . The story, as I have been told, is that the musically gifted Sister Aiden went with Grandpa to the piano store and carefully played each piano until she choose the perfect one for her brother's home.                 The Pick "Sisters" This same piano now sits in my living room.   My mom and her eight siblings were taught on this piano at their childhood home in Remsen, Iowa. It then traveled to the farm as my grandpa retired from his life as a vet to begin his life as a farmer.   The piano ultimately followed...