A soft landing

Fearless Girl, a gift from The Weed, now hangs in my home office, reminding me to fearlessly face all of life's challenges.

It’s starting to feel like home.

Almost five months after ordering some furniture for our new place in Boulder, we are finally seeing our tables, wall units, and my beloved desk. Today, a few nightstands and a Midcentury sideboard will arrive.

It’s exciting to see our new home coming together. However, it’s also a little, I don’t know, emotional.

The Weed and I have not moved many times in our married life. There was a five-year sweaty stint in Phoenix. And, eventually, a return home to Colorado, where we landed in Superior and spent the next 20 years.

When we decided to make another move, it came with a lot of soul searching and angst.

Honestly, I had been a huge pest (bitch) about needing to move, make a change.

It’s been more than two years since our beloved yellow dogs died. In our home. In Superior.

It’s been more than six years since I was diagnosed with breast cancer No. 1. In our home. In Superior.

A lot of life’s ups and downs happened in that house. Frankly, some days, it just hurt to be there.

When we decided to put the house on the market, there were times when I quietly told myself: ‘This is crazy. This is crazy. This is crazy.’

For The Weed’s part, he moved forward; found a beautiful, quirky home in Boulder, near his office and favorite coffee shop; and took every real estate transaction/crazy seller situation in stride.

Today, I still wake up in the middle of the night not sure where I am.

I still have trouble finding the correct light switch for a fixture.

And, don’t get me started on the neighbors and the geese. (Note: Look for an upcoming blog about this situation. The HOA has a nature consultant scheduled to speak with all of us about how to or how not to manage the geese in our community.)

All this is to say, making a major life change at 50 years old has been exciting, terrifying, annoying, and wonderful.

Prints from my grandparents and my mother to remind me of meaningful milestones.

Fortunately, we’ve had a mostly soft landing at our new home.

And, being able to make it ours has been a blessing. For years, many of the prints and artwork I treasure have been boxed up, hidden away in closets.

Hanging the prints my grandparents bought for me when I was an infant or the print my grandmother gave me to remember our time together in Arizona or the print my mother gave me growing up in Greeley or the two prints The Weed gave me all mark meaningful milestones in my life.

The most recent print, from The Weed, is Fearless Girl.

When I asked for it for my birthday, I didn’t think about its significance in the year 2020. Still, I guess it really was a fitting gift for last year.

Boulder is starting to feel like home, geese and all.

This beauty, a gift from The Weed, was displayed in our previous home for almost as long as we lived there. She's now in my home office, across from my bike, reminding me it might be nice to look that smooth in a black evening gown. Some day.