A Year’s Worth of Living in 30 Days

Since this time last month: I've become a gifted mouse trapper, my daughter came to visit for a wonderful week, we had a big party, my dog Bill died, I had a housemate for one week, we went to Chicago for my friend Lori’s surprise birthday party, we had a garage sale, I have expanded my imminent domain to two households, Scott and I are preparing for a trip to the UK, I’ve biked my butt into its best shape ever, and I’m making plans to put my house on the market.

Carrie came to visit us in Madison July 21-28. We had the Two For One Double Celebration Party (Daughter on Parade and an early celebration of Scott's 29th anniversary of his 29th birthday) that Sunday at Scott’s house, and it was a delight with fabulous weather, many wonderful friends, and lots of laughter. No one had a better time than my dog Bill—greeting guests, playing with a neighbor's new puppy, helpfully cleaning plates... Little did we know that it was a triple theme—Bill's Farewell Party.

He was playing with his toys before bed that Monday night and still being the party animal. At about 1:00 a.m., he started whimpering like he wasn't feeling well. He had a rough night and was finally able to lie down and rest. I was with him all night, and early Tuesday July 24 he peacefully went to his next assignment. He was pushing 15 years old and got some great bonus time. And how thoughtful that he chose a time when Scott and Carrie could be with me to celebrate his life, make a memorial stepping stone with his paw print, and escort him to his final resting place. It’s been almost a month now, and I’m still missing him a lot—but that's part of the process of having a wonderful pet.

Even with Bill’s passing we had such a good time with Carrie. Thursday July 26 we went to the airshow in Oshkosh and the highlight was riding in a 1929 Ford Tri-Motor plane there. I initially thought it was ridiculous at $50/person for a 10-minute ride, but Scott insisted (and paid while saying "It's an experience we should take advantage of. We won't always get this chance—we'll outlive this plane")—and it was fantastic! When Care went back to Austin, we were both ready to resume our regular lives, while knowing we would miss each other a lot.

A few months ago Scott and I decided that I would move into his place after Bill passed. Bill visited at Scott's, but it's a place with no fenced yard and too many stairs for an arthritic pooch—so it wouldn't have been a good place for Bill on a permanent basis. So I have started making the The Move. Once I get my house in shape, I'll list it with my friends and realtors Jeff Kramer and Jodi Pahs. In the meantime, I'm a dual citizen at Waubesa Avenue and Woodland Circle and actually kinda like it that way. I've totally enjoyed the extra time I've been spending at Waubesa with Scott, and it's feeling more homelike all the time. But I'm also liking this "twilight time" with my house. I stay at Woodland Circle on the nights Scott's out of town, so I not only get a few things done but also get that last taste of "Mine! Mine! All mine!"

Before all this, the house a woman in my neighborhood was renting was being sold, so she needed a place and was going to rent my extra bedroom. She got moved in the first of August and after five days she decided she wanted her own place and moved back out. (SHE moved out—somehow I'm still saddled with a roomful of her stuff she said she was going to get a week ago.) A seemingly nice lady, but ultimately a flaky user. She was a clean freak, so my house is now spotless and the furniture rearranged. Perhaps part of the problem was when she was cleaning and started discarding things of mine she didn't think I needed anymore, and I objected. But it's all good—her move-in motivated me to get HUGE amounts of stuff sorted out and ready for a garage sale (which Scott and I had on Aug 11—ridding ourselves of some serious crap and making $300) or discarded (of my own choice) that will help in my household transition. And did I mention that my house is clean?

I'm really sorry not to be getting the $400/mo, but even though it seemed like a good idea, I'm really happy to have my house back. It was a disaster from the beginning. Every time I was at Woodland Circle, she had a new problem. When she first moved in, her coffee maker sparked and blew the fuse to that outlet. Replaced the fuse, did it again. Then even replacing the fuse wouldn't fix it. When Scott went over to look at it, he had her plug it into a different outlet, and it blew that one too. She said when she took it back to her other place, it worked fine. Weird. Fortunately Scott was able to fix the blown outlet, but it took awhile. He figured there was something wrong with her coffee maker that was pulling way too much current. Then... that relief at having my own place back which I hadn't even realized since I'd been at Scott's the whole time she had moved in—except for the visits to pick something up and deal with her problems—it was so great after being grubby from my bike ride home from work and then doing yard work to sink into the tub with a glass of wine and listen to Harry Potter without the concern that I was blocking someone else from the bathroom or bothering her with Harry.

Next week Scott goes to Scotland on business then gets back just in time for Labor Day Weekend and for us to leave for the UK the following week.

In between major life changes, I’m training for the Oct 7 Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon. I’m now pausing to take a deep breath and just be. Before getting up to set another mousetrap. Or build a better one.