These past four months have been absolutely insane. We closed on our house on Friday, May 30...but could not move in that weekend. Instead, we drove down to Richmond, VA to participate in the MS150. For those who are not familiar with the MS150, it is a bike ride to raise awareness and money for Multiple Sclerosis research. We had a great time that weekend. On Saturday, Brent rode his bike 75 miles from Richmond, VA to Williamsburg, VA…while Chris and I drove down to meet him, and the rest of our team, in Williamsburg. We stayed overnight in Williamsburg and the next day Brent was supposed to ride back to Richmond. However, due to having ZERO chance to train this spring because we were house hunting and I had more surgery, Brent opted to drive back to Richmond and do the Family Fun ride with Chris and I. We had a so much fun. However, this was the last weekend of worry free fun for a while. The next week found us in Hell!
By Hell, I mean it was hot, it was sticky, it was humid and there was NO air conditioning. Our new house had a busted A/C, inside and out; and we had to wait for the parts to come in. Meanwhile, we wanted to get started on the house. So, for the first week of June, we painted in a house where the internal temperatures were about 100+ degrees and humid. It was miserable; however, at the end of the night (more like midnight or 1am) we would head back to the townhouse. That didn't last though, because that first weekend in June, we started moving all of our stuff in. Brent's parents came down and helped us pack and suffered through the heat and humidity with us. I swear, at one point, I thought his dad was going to suffer from heat stroke or something. I was keeping a very close eye on him and was pumping him with water. From that night on, we stayed in the house…although it was on air mattresses in the basement where it was much cooler. We had fans everywhere and even had to buy and borrow window a/c's so we could start sleeping upstairs until our A/C was fixed.
Ah, yes, repairing the A/C. The parts were finally in, the repair man comes out. We are ready to bow at his feet and swear fealty when he says that he was the original repair man that came out and examined the unit…and recommended to the owner that she replace…not repair, REPLACE the unit. She told him she wanted to go the cheapest route because she was selling the place. AAAHHHHHH!!!!! He told us that he could put the parts in and it MIGHT start up; and if it did start up, it MIGHT last a minute, an hour, a day…who knows how long? His recommendation…again, was to replace. We, being the smart people (and cool air deprived) we are, opted to replace. Well, the money she had put towards repairs (and thought she would get some back) now went to replacing the entire internal and external unit. The upside…we have a KICKASS air conditioning unit now!
Needless to say, those first few weeks, not a whole lot got done in the house because we were just plain miserable. However, once that A/C got fixed, we got rocking. By August 1st, we were completely moved out of the townhouse. I must say, DAMN, we have a lot of shit!! When we moved in together, it was not like we had nothing. It was two full households blending. He moved from a 900 sq. ft. apt that he had full into my 1100 sq. ft. townhouse that I had full. Now, we were moving into a single family home with 2196 sq. ft. We had just doubled the space we had, as the new house is two stories along with a fully finished basement.
August was spent doing most of the work, along with starting to entertain. We had friends over for dinner and we really enjoyed finally being able to show off the house. We were so proud of it. (I will be taking some "completed" pictures soon and posting them.) As a matter of fact, starting the weekend of my birthday (August 16th), we started a habit of having people over. Labor Day weekend, my brothers and sis-in-law were in town for a wedding. They were able to stop by, on the way to the parent's house, to see mine. There was a bit of hookah smoking going on…Brent loved that. The following weekend was our Open House and that damn Hurricane/Tropical Storm Hanna came. Needless to say, our party wasn't that large, but those that did come had a nice time. It worked out well and we had just the right number of people, since we had to move everything inside. We had a break the next couple of weekends and then we had Chris's birthday.
Chris…wow! I can't believe that my baby is 13 years old now! It seems like it was just yesterday that he was this little being that depended on me for everything. He is growing up so fast and he is such a great kid. He and I have been through so much shit over the last 10 years or so. With everything we have been through, I can't believe that he isn't screwed up. Don't get me wrong, he has his issues. He has low self-esteem, high anxiety, he suffers from bouts of depression; he also has learning disabilities and developmental disabilities, but he tries so hard to succeed at what he does…and gets so frustrated when things don't work out. For so long, his only real "father figures" were my dad and two brothers…and those three men have been absolutely amazing. Chris adores his grandpa and uncles; they mean the world to him. Yet, I know that the one thing he has truly missed has been having a dad there for him, every day. Even when we were together, his father was distant. Honestly, I think he just didn't know how to be a dad. Some men are born meant to be fathers, they have no problem bonding with their kids. While other men, just don't have it…they may have good intentions, but it just isn't there. My ex, while he and I don't get along (and that is putting it mildly), I will always be grateful to him for my son. However, now my son has a man in his life who is a dad to him, in every sense of the word. They refer to each other as dad and son; I honestly think they couldn't be closer, even if they were blood. Brent and I have only been together for 2 ½ years, but the relationship that those two have built is amazing…and to me, a miracle. My son has needed that. People who see pictures of them together swear that they look so much alike, that they could be natural father and son. Someone once told me that sometimes things happen for a reason; that perhaps I was always destined to be with this man that could so easily blend in with our lives.
Looking back over the years, I have to feel like I have been blessed. I have been through some rough shit! I have been cheated on, abused, dealt with an alcoholic, dated some real nut cases and made some mistakes; however, instead of letting that define my life, I made the decision to break the mold. I consciously looked for a man that I could trust (with both myself and my son), love and share my life with. I wanted a man with similar family values, a man that could not only be my lover and protector, but my best friend. And I can say, happily, that I found him. Like any couple, we have our ups and downs…if things were perfect and we never had disagreements, I would be worried. However, we work through them.
I can say that despite all the shit I have been through, I am happy. All of that crap was worth going through to get where I am now, they were excellent life lessons.