Battle Royale

When Paul left for OCS in the fall I worked very hard to fall into a new routine that allowed me to do all the things I wanted to do (run a half marathon, group bike rides, spend time with friends) while figuring out how to do all of the necessary household things. Now, I know that there tons of single women out there who do amazing jobs finding this balance and kicking butt every day. It's not easy. I totally get that. But it's also not easy to go from living the married life to living a somewhat single life back to being married again. I'm not complaining- I know I have it easy. But it is an adjustment and that doesn't happen overnight.

When Paul left I had no choice but to quickly figure out a plan. He took out the garbage, did all of the laundry and walked the dogs most of the time. None of those things could have been skipped over- I had to figure out how to do his share plus my share and fast. This part was actually pretty easy because I was able to do all of the household stuff (minus walking the dogs- they dictate that) on my own terms. Laundry on Tuesday night- sure, grocery shopping on Friday- perfect.

I actually adjusted to my new routine so well that when Paul came back from OCS I was thrown for a loop. I'm pretty sure I have been caught saying 'well, that's not the way I do it' a couple times. Yikes!

But even that wasn't too bad because we were in the midst of moving, neither one of us were working, and we had so much on our minds that we really didn't care who cooked or who took out the garbage. It was basically a month of chaos and a routine was something in the distant future. At this point, all we cared about was finding a nice, safe place to live and that our household goods arrived in one piece.

Now that we are into our third week in our new apartment (and my third week at my new job) we are starting to get into a routine. Everything is going pretty well. We are almost completely unpacked. We are learning our way around Pensacola. We are both adjusting to our new work schedules. We have been able to make most of our meals at home, we found some nice running trails, we even have a fun weekly tradition of trivia night at Mellow Mushroom.

Everything is great.

Well....everything except this one small thing.

I want to murder my alarm clock.

I can't believe it has made it this far.

I held onto my normal sleep pattern (8pm-4am) for a few weeks even after I stopped working, even while I was in RI/Boston, even during the move but once we hit Pensacola and started living in a hotel I just couldn't do it. I was sleeping until 530-6am which worked just fine because I don't have to be in to work until 8am so I can wake up at 6am every day. No big deal.

But it is a big deal. Ok, maybe not a BIG deal but still. It is the last thing that I haven't been able to get readjusted to. So, on the days when my alarm is going off at 4am telling me it is time to go run I will admit- I have lost that battle more times then I have won. I literally want to rip it out of the wall, throw it out the window, and go back to sleep- because I know I can. I don't actually NEED to get up at 4am. But I WANT to. It's just getting my body and mind to agree on this right now- that's the problem.

I know I'll get there, back into my crazyass 4am routine, because that's what works best for me. That's just the way that my life is now- early morning workouts so I can spend time with Paul at night. That's the life that I want.

But I do recognize that it is sad that I long for the days when 530am was sleeping in. I'm weird, I know.

What helps get you back into a routine? Are you a morning person or a night person? 

On the Road Again

Hello...I'm here...I'm not avoiding you- I swear.

Life has been somewhat hectic the past few weeks. Why, you ask?

Well, let's see. January 18th was my last day of work at my job in San Antonio. I gave my notice after the New Year and then spent a very chaotic 2.5 weeks there trying to train my former co-workers to take over my responsibilities. That was crazy. Just a few days after my last day there I headed up to Rhode Island to attend Paul's graduation from Navy OCS- Officer Candidate School. From RI we headed to Boston for the weekend to celebrate. From Boston, we both returned to San Antonio in order to prepare for our move to Pensacola, FL that would take place just 12 days from our return. I should mention here that we didn't even find out our move dates until we were in Boston so we basically had just 2 weeks to prepare.

We are beyond fortunate that the military contracts movers to take care of the packing, loading and delivery of the household goods so that made the move a million times easier. That being said, there are still alot of things involved in moving hundreds of miles away like finding a place to live, where to stay while the household goods are in transit, what needs to be packed and taken with us (like important paperwork, dog meds, underwear, etc) and of course all the fun stuff like calling the power company and waiting on hold for 38 minutes just to stop service - which took less than a minute to do once I was on the line with a human. Sheesh!

And of course in the mix of all the moving stuff Paul and I started training for the Gulf Coast Half Marathon on April 7th here in Pensacola. We had a crazy first week of training because we thought it would be smart to do back to back to back runs- speed work one day, long run the next, and then a 7K race the day after that. I should also mention that we did that 7K race after an 18 mile bike ride. Needless to say my legs were TIRED after all of that. We had to fit in the runs whenever we could but it would have been smarter if we skipped one of those and gave our bodies adequate rest. Or at least maybe done an easy run in place of speed work. Hindsight, right?

Week two of half training was almost non-existent for me. I think I only got in one run, maybe two if you count the tiny bit of time I spent on the treadmill and elliptical Saturday morning before we drove to Pensacola. I had great plans on how to squeeze in my training schedule around my move but it just didn't pan out. Faced with the choice between running or cleaning/packing/organizing I had to go with the move stuff. It NEEDED to be done. Oh well, I am definitely not losing sleep over missing a few runs especially since it was only week 2. Life happens, we have to be flexible.

Now I am 'settled' into our hotel room here in Pensacola and have much more free time this week. I have gotten in 2 training runs so far (both on the treadmill) and have a my long run on the books for tomorrow. Paul found a great, unpaved running trail along the beach at NAS Pensacola and since I am still not working I will be able to join him tomorrow for a run.

On Saturday we sign the lease to our new apartment. We were hoping to rent a house but that didn't work out. We did however find a pretty awesome apartment complex with some amazing amenities; two pools, two fitness centers, and a huge dog park. Oh, and it is just 2 miles from where I will be working. So, yay me! I totally lucked out on that one. We are still waiting to hear from the movers- we were told the other day that our household goods might arrive Saturday which would be awesome. If not, they will be here early next week. Either way, I am just super thankful that it won't be much longer before I can get back into a normal routine. My body is sick of eating out every day and sleeping way too much. Ugh! I just keep telling myself that this situation is temporary and that I just need to make the best decisions I can.

Next week I start my new job, we'll be able to settle into our new home, and hopefully the weather gets a little bit nicer (no more rain, please!) and we can do more exploring of the downtown/beach areas. It should be great! Oh, and last night Paul and I went to Mellow Mushroom for trivia night and even though we were just a two person team we managed to come in third place. It was super fun and I think it will become a weekly tradition for us. Yay!

So that's my update for now. I hope to be back blogging regularly soon.

Happy Valentine's Day!

The Joys of Moving

I am so, so, tired. Physically tired and worn out.

Moving is exhausting

My body is so tired

Packing, ugh

Loading up the moving truck

And Paul’s car

And my car

Then unloading all the vehicles

Then unpacking all the boxes

And there are just so many boxes

Oh and I should mention we moved into an apartment on the second floor which made moving even more fun.

It was a rough weekend.

I am about 70% finished unpacking. Thankfully the main areas; living room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom, are pretty much complete which makes our new place livable. The only areas left to finish are the dining room, second bedroom, and balcony area which I am hoping to get through in the next few days.  It would be great to have everything unpacked by the weekend. I could really use a few days to rest and relax and I am hoping to do so this weekend.

Yesterday morning, while trying to motivate myself to get out of bed, I was thinking back through all of the moves I have made over the past 17 years. It was fun to take a trip down memory lane. 

In the 17 years since I finished high school I have lived in 9 states and at least 20 different residences- so many it’s hard to remember.

In our almost 8 years of marriage Paul and I have lived together in 6 states and 9 different residences.

You might think that is because we are a military family but the funny thing is that in the 3.5 years Paul has been in the Army the only place we have lived is Texas.  Not quite what we had in mind when he joined. We are hoping that Navy life will take us to some new and exciting places, hopefully even abroad.

I like moving. I like living in a new place. Especially when that new place is somewhere I have never lived before.

I am not, however, thrilled that I had to move for the third time since arriving in San Antonio but this move was out of necessity so I will make the most of it. Here’s to hoping the next move takes me somewhere new.

Until then, I will enjoy the time I have left in Texas (however long that might be) and make my new apartment my home.

“A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body.” ~ Benjamin Franklin

Balcony at our new place