If you had asked me 2.5 years ago what I thought our life would look
like in 2018, I don't know what I would have said. I don't think I could
have imagined how different it is now, even though many things haven't
changed. It's impossible to catch up on 2.5 years in a single blog post,
but I'll point out some of the highlights...
House:
We still live in the same house. Much to our dismay we had a pipe let
loose in our master bathroom last spring and cause major damage to
pretty much the entire house. After months of contractors, we finally
had everything fixed last fall. Refinished hardwood floors, all new
carpet in the entire upstairs, a new kitchen ceiling and lights, and a
new bathroom vanity. We keep kicking around the idea of moving to a
neighborhood (well, I do anyway, Chuck not so much), but after
everything we've been through with this house in the past year, we're
staying for now.
Chuck:
Chuck is still working for Progressive, though he's in a different role
now as a Product Manager and is interviewing this week for an IT
management position. He just had his 18th anniversary with Progressive
last week! The company is growing like crazy and we are fortunate, as
gainshare was substantial this year. It means we're going on an 8 day
western Caribbean cruise next month for spring break, and I can't wait!
Chuck is such a supportive husband, and even though parenting in this
stage of our kids' lives has been tougher than we'd imagined, we are a
team and we get through things together. He's definitely my sanity.
Aiden:
Aiden is in 6th grade this year at Lamuth Middle School. I know, I
can't believe it either. They just won't stop growing. With all that
growth comes the typical growing pains of pre-teen life, and we're
dealing with some tough times this year surrounding technology and
boundaries and rules...but he's a great kid. He's playing the clarinet
this year and picking it up very well, and this winter he joined the
Snow Fun Club and learned how to snowboard! I'm so proud of him for
being a kind friend, an awesome cousin to Abby and Drew, and (mostly) a
good big brother to Ava.
Ava:
Ava has probably had the most change out of all of us I think! She
started dancing at Savelli's in 2nd grade (jazz), added tap in 3rd
grade, and this year is doing jazz, tap, and hip hop, plus dancing as a
Rebel in the Cleveland Tap Crew! Her first competition is next month and
she is sooo excited. We love watching her do what she loves to do, and
dance has definitely become a big part of her life. She's in 4th grade
at Madison Ave. and is still in Girl Scouts. She's lucky to have a great
core group of friends, and she is a straight A student. She loves
baking and being in the kitchen, and has been making lots of cakes
lately. She loves all things Barh & Body works, squishies,
unicorn anything, and of course, dance!
Me:
Oh, where to start. Remember all that weight I lost in 2014 and 2015? I
found it again. These past 2 years have been tough for me. I'm still
muddling through my Master's in Library & Information Science.
I'm taking my last course now (Research & Assessment--it's
killing me) before I complete my Culminating Thesis Project in the fall.
I'm soooo ready to be done with school, it's been so much more work
than I ever anticipated. I wish that my personality would let me slack
off and not care so much about my grades, but it doesn't and I do, so I
have a 4.0 (which doesn't matter at all because no one cares about your
graduate degree GPA but my brain doesn't accept that as a fact lol). In
the summer of 2015, I took over as the Children's Services Manager at
Morley Library. Some days I still feel like I don't know what I am
doing. I've experienced a lot of staff retirements and turnover in my
department, and it's more challenging than I thought it would be.
Overall, most days I love my job and the library, but some days are
tough. Things I still like: reading for pleasure (though there is rarely
time to do it), wine, crafting, hanging out with my sister whenever I
get the chance to see her (which isn't often, sadly), spending time at
the beach, cooking, and being with my family.Overall, our life is good. It's not perfect, and we all struggle with things sometimes, but we love each other, and we are doing well financially, and we are healthy. We've had some great times over the last 2.5 years, and we've had some rough times. We make a choice every day to be supportive of each other, and we do our best to make things work. It is a perfectly imperfect life.
