Dare to dream

I wonder, sometimes, why I wake up at 5am and can’t get back to sleep. “There’s nothing specific on my mind,” I say to myself. “Nothing I’m particularly stressed about.”  But there’s still the notable sleeplessness, stiff shoulders, and fairly consistent fatigue.

Then, today, after reading a draft of my mom’s New Year’s letter, I thought, “Wow, really has been a pretty crazy year!”  That’s when I realized, at this time last year, N8 & I were in Virginia celebrating our first Christmas together.  We had already decided to move to Colorado “some time in 2008,” but we hadn’t told many people, and a lot of details were still up in the air.  Since then:

• Nate quit his job with no guarantee of getting one in Denver
• We sold my car to pay for moving expenses and have been a 1-car family since July
• We lived out of a suitcase for about a month in VA before moving (although we had wonderful hosts!)
• We had to say goodbye to a wonderful community of friends in Virginia (14 years there for me; 4 for Nate)
• We bought a home in a Denver neighborhood we barely knew
• Nate’s dad was diagnosed with lymphoma
• My dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer
• I started working full time from home (the virtual project manager)
• Nate got a new job at the Denver FD
• We got pregnant

I’ve heard that some of the top most-stressful things in life are:  new home purchase, job change, death in the family, new addition to  the family, and a geographic move.  We’ve done 3 1/2 out of 5 this year.

I’m not by any means complaining!  I am so thankful for every change–and thankful that N8 and I could be here for our fathers as well.  I’m so thankful for God’s timing in all of this, but I guess it does explain why I’m tossing and turning a bit more than I was this time last year.

My hopes for 2009?  A healthy baby. N8 to do well in the Academy and graduate in April. Our fathers to have clean bills-of-health.  And maybe, just maybe, be able to squeek in some actual sleep before June 19th-ish when Baby Hamel arrives.  (Dare to dream!)

Shout-outs

After another work trip (this time to Provo, UT), I’m happy to say that I’ll be home for 10 days in a row before my next trip. Yipee!

I suppose I’m acclimating to CO. I find that I’m have up days and down days. This morning, while putting some pictures into my screensaver, I came across pictures from a big bbq and jam-session that the Ambassador worship band had the Saturday before N8 and I left. As I saw pictures of Roger on bass, Carrson on electric, Eric on guitar, Betty on drums, and other family members and friends who came. . . I burst into tears again.

I’m usually okay in the mornings; I go on walks and then head into the office (down the hall from my bedroom ). But around 6 pm EST, when it’s only 4 pm in CO, and my VA-area friends are shutting down, heading out with friends, and doing things I used to be a part of, that’s when it gets hard.

However, as always, there’s lots to be thankful for out here, so I thought I’d share a few cool things going on out west:

Denver Modernism Art Exhibit

My brother-in-law, Ryan had 2 paintings accepted to the Denver Modernism exhibit next weekend! This is a huge accomplishment because not only did he have works accepted last year as well, but this year, they’ve selected only 35 pieces.

Check out his work at ryanricefinart.com ; if you like what he does, you can order prints. My favorites are “Chicken Cordon Bleu,” “Peking Duck,” and “Peacock” (not pictured).

Snooze

I had a lovely breakfast with my fabulous sister this morning at a cute retro joint called Snooze. We shared two dishes; the breakfast burrito was smothered in *phenomenal* green chili sauce, and the cinnamon French Toast had a yummy crumb topping and a side of cinnamon butter.

Now I’m back at work spending most of my morning trying to troubleshoot the silly things my computer is doing: generating various error messages, not allowing my optical mouse to work, and killing off my perfectly good computer battery.

Hmm. Maybe I should be more compassionate. Perhaps my computer is acclimating in the same way I am; I just wish it would have fewer down-days.