Let’s Catch Up

Grab a 'cuppa

Wow it’s been a while. Sorry for the lapse. A lot has happened since we last spoke. So grab a cup of whatever and I’ll give you the nutshell version.

Divorce: Well, after a few years of separation, Sparky and I finally divorced. Out of respect for Son O’Mine, I will spare you the dirty details.

Move: Six weeks after the divorce was final, I sold the house and purchased a condo. Two closings and one move in one day. A real estate marathon. My attorney was so impressed with my negotiating skills he told me if I ever decided to start a new career as a real estate paralegal, he’d hire me. I’m still considering that.

Preparing to Exhale

Fire: One month after I moved out, while it was undergoing renovations, our old house burned to the ground. Nothing left but the foundation, one chimney and the curbside mailbox. Thank goodness no one was injured.

When the new owners rebuilt, they used the same footprint but a completely new floor plan. Since the house was on a corner, they were able to turn it so that it now faces to the side with a completely new address. It’s as if 30+ years of history has been completely erased. I felt kind of strange about it at first, but now I find it rather freeing. The only good thing that came out of that time is Son O’Mine and that’s fine with me. I left all the lies, betrayals, the emotional abuse and pain behind when I walked out of that house for the last time.  After all those years of walking on eggshells and holding my breath, the fire allowed me to finally exhale.

So, moving on was the most difficult and best thing that I ever did. I was able to purge and only take the things that mattered to me. Everything else, I left behind – in more ways than one.

When I started this new chapter, I promised myself I wouldn’t settle. I had spent my entire life settling for what other people told me I should have, should like, should do. No more. I refused to settle and found the house of my dreams. Life was going great.

Then, in October of 2018, everything changed.

Surviving a New England Winter

Up to his nuts in snow

So this has been an interesting winter in New England. We already have about three feet of snow on the ground and they're predicting another blizzard this week - dumping another foot of snow.

My front walk looks like a luge.

Early in the season, I bought a cover for my shiny stainless grill. It lasted exactly 1 day before it split and dissolved into a puddle around my grill.

Before the next storm, I went to Home Depot and bought a heavy duty tarp. I thought I was pretty clever (the tarp cost $8). I tied it around my shiny stainless grill and smiled, incredibly pleased at the pretty blue shroud.

When the storm was over, as I was shoveling, I was almost blinded by the sun reflecting off my shiny stainless grill.

*sigh...

I figured it probably flipped off and was under the snow close to the grill. So, in a fit of pissed off redheaded pique, I shoveled a space about 4 feet wide around the shiny stainless grill - no pretty blue tarp.  It is apparently somewhere in the half acre of back yard, under three feet of snow.

*big sigh...

And now, they're predicting another foot of snow.  So, today I decided I am not spending another dime on grill covers - and I improvised.

Trash bags 'n duct tape

Universal truth - Duct tape is like the force - light on one side, dark on the other and it holds the universe together.