New Year, New State | Moving Update
This is not the usual New Year, New Me post. It is mostly an update on what’s been going on over the past month, which happens to be the first month of a new year. But there’s some of that in there as well. I mean, you cannot avoid it when you just moved to a new house in a new city in a new state in a new time zone with a new routine, amirite?
This month we left our flip flop year-round weather behind and headed to the four seasons of northern Virginia. And so far we’ve seen three of the four seasons within the first week, which I hear is totally normal for these parts.
No snow yet, but my kids are asking every. dang. day. for it.
The month of January has been an incredibly full one. Busy. Stupid busy, y’all. It started right after Christmas when we got to work on the old house.
We cleaned up the yard a bit, painted some walls, found a realtor, and started the great purge of 2017.
My number one tip for anyone moving- anywhere, even just across town: DO NOT take things with you that you have not looked at or touched or thought about for at least six months with you. There is no point.
Flash forward to arrival at the new house and unpacking box after box after box of “What the heck IS this?!” and you realize that hoarding is real.
When I say we were busy, boy do I mean it. There were days that I was on my feet cleaning, painting, and hauling boxes around so much that my FitBit was chiming 10,000 steps before 9 am.
With all the activity going on, I did not have time to worry about peeing a little on myself. We were on the clock, and we needed to get a lot accomplished before those movers showed up.
The last thing I needed to worry about was staying dry or feeling less than confident while putting in a full day’s work around the house.
In case you have not gone through it, let me just share: the moving process is intense. My mind and body were racing all day, and I felt like I was always forgetting things.
I practically lived at Walmart on some days, since I was driving back and forth to the store picking up the essentials we needed, including the Poise liners.
That might feel like an exaggeration, but let me tell you: Walmart and I got real close once the movers showed up and hauled all 21,000 pounds of our stuff away.
Things I had to stop in for: an emergency suitcase run (this one was on Dad’s watch), food on a daily basis, and air fresheners for the cars. We shipped those bad boys cross country, and I was terrified to learn what my van might smell like without any fresh air in it for two weeks.
These are things you may not realize you need until you totally do. And when it happened to me, I knew there was one place that I could run to for help. Is it any wonder I felt like I did not even have time to pee on some days? Ha!
In the middle of all this, there were a few days of fun thrown in (ahem- runDisney trips) that happened.
Could they have been canceled? Certainly. Did I need to cancel them? Nope.
Dear Women,
You have to take care of your family, OF COURSE. However, you can only do that if you are taking care of yourself as well!
Love, Me
While the prudent thing might have been to cancel the Walt Disney World trip, the right thing for me was to say, Nah, girl; you need a little running and Disney in your life.
So I took the working racecation trip, packing along my Poise Impressa for the running days, and didn’t look back. And since that was a trip centered around running, well, I did not feel at all guilty about it either. In fact, it was probably just what I needed to calm down and refocus on the rest of the tasks ahead.
Mother runners: keeping ourselves sane through sweat and miles for years.?
Let’s talk about that for a moment. Running. Where are we, eh?
While my official training has been crap this month, and my two races have been for completion and not competition, there have been some fantastic runs happening that have me hopeful.
I know a few weeks back I talked about losing my love for running. I worried about how I was going to keep the joy?in this much-needed activity.
Y’all, I found my secret to success: I removed all expectations and pressures related to running. I decided I would walk when I wanted to go for a walk. There would be no pressure to make it something I did not want it to be (i.e., a run) but I’d still get up and out and stay active.
Moreover, it worked.
After a few long walks, I realized I wanted to run a little.
After a few intervals of running, I realized I missed it, and I wanted to run a few minutes more.
Those minutes turned into a couple of miles here and there, and I was smiling the whole time.
It was never long, it was certainly never speedy, but in the middle of all this craziness, it was just what I needed.
I like this new running me. She is happier & more confident, and that is awesome. This new life with my new routine is going to be a great one, I just feel it!
How are you kicking off your New Year? Is it a New You (or New Runner) type month?
Side note: a little help here?
Can someone tell me why I have a box of stuffed animals and shopping bags in my bedroom?! Gah!
Thanks to Poise and Walmart for sponsoring this mom focused discussion.?
Patty Holliday is the owner and creator of all things No-Guilt Universe. As a lifelong fangirl and pop culture connoisseur, she’s been creating online since 2009. You can find her work at No-Guilt Disney.com, No-Guilt Fangirl.com, No-Guilt Life, and as host of the top-rated No-Guilt Disney Podcast.
Oh yes, it’s almost 9 years ago now . . . and I remember it like it was yesterday. The boxes stacked floor to ceiling literally everywhere. And we did get rid of stuff before we moved! So not fun. But you know what? This too shall pass.
Just remember, VA may not be as hot as AZ, but it’s humid. But you should remember that from TX!
I know- I sure wish I could have my cake and eat it too (high of 85 and no humidity in August!) but I guess that’s not meant to be!
I don’t know how you do all the moving. We’ve done it twice in 15 years and I’m barely recovered from the last one a year later. Great job. Now please, for the love of God, go take a nap.
I love how well marked the box is.
As a “runner of a certain age”, I appreciate this discussion!!