Setting Up Shop in Colorado Springs

So, the last week has been a whirlwind of trying to find a place to live in Colorado Springs, getting work done, signing papers for that place to live, shopping for some furniture and household items to make the place somewhat livable, setting up utilities, getting Matthew set up in his new internship, and still getting my running in at altitude.

View of Pikes Peak

I am exhausted.  But it is getting done.  I miss having E- with me to help as she is the one that has the head for this.  She is a lot smarter about these types of things than I am.  I have been relying on texts and phone calls with her a lot this past week.  I miss having her here to help with decisions; however, I miss her so much more because she is my sweetheart.  I miss seeing her before I fall asleep.   I miss seeing her when I get up in the morning to go run.  I miss seeing her when I get back from work.  I am definitely being selfish because I want her to move here with me.  This long term assignment is going to be hard being away from her.  I knew that was going to be the case before I started working this with my company, but now it is hitting me as to the depth of this longing.  I am sure I will get through it, but this aspect is going to be the worst part of the coming year.

View from Garden of the Gods

On a brighter note, I have immensely enjoyed this past week with M-.  He is getting his feet wet in his new internship position and I think he is having a ball so far being in Colorado Springs.  I am so excited for him to get to spend the summer here and I hope that he gets out and about to do as many things away from work as he can.  Due to him not having all of his badges yet, he has been having to ride to and from work with me, a 25 minute trip each way, and he has been staying with me until we get the apartment set up.  This is the most time I have spent with him for years and years, and I don't know about him, but I know that he hasn't gotten on my nerves at all!  I am sure I have gotten on his, but that's what Dads do.  It has been fun shopping for the apartment and furniture with him.  I am sure our testosterone dominated minds haven't picked out the best furniture in the world, but it is ours.  Our bachelor pad is coming together (somewhat :-) ).

M- outside of Garden of the Gods

M- in Garden of the Gods

The coming months are going to continue to be a whirlwind, I am sure.  I can already tell that when M- is done with his internship and has to go back to school in August, my life is going to become lonely.  I will miss E-; I will miss Rebbie; I will miss M-; I will miss my pups.  This is what I feel that I am being called to do for work though, so that will sustain me when I am missing them the most.

So this chapter of my life is taking shape.  The intro is being written and we will see how it takes shape.  Right now the conclusion is unknown and this chapter could definitely go a multitude of directions.  Hopefully it will end up being a fun ride!

Decision!

  So in my last post, which by the way has been too long ago, I wrote of how I tend to handle making larger decisions, and how I tend to obsess over them (see: Decisions, Decisions).  I have not followed up since then on if I had made a decision yet.

  Well, I have.  More accurately, we have, as this decision involved my whole family, not just me.  At work, I have been pursuing an innovation which involves a new type of position.  This position involves embedding a development/integration position at a location that is not Huntsville.  As part of  bringing this to my program for consideration, I have volunteered to be the person to assume these new roles and responsibilities.  What this means is that I will be splitting time between here in Alabama and in:

(imaginary drum roll)

Colorado Springs, CO

  As I move into this role, the bulk of my time will gravitate towards CO.  What about my family, you ask?  For the next several years, E- and I did not feel comfortable doing a full-blown move to CO while the kids adult children are in college.  We wanted to have someone close enough to drive to Auburn or Starkville in case something came up.  Even with a larger part of my time being in CO, I will be in Huntsville periodically and E- will come out to CO to spend time there too.   Part of this will be E- and I feeling out how this works, how we feel about it and things like that.  Same goes for figuring out the work/position part.

 When I first mentioned this to E-, I expected a flat-out NO!  However, her response was "Heck yeah!" followed by "I would move there if we didn't have M and R in college close to here." It seems she is as ready for some life changes as I am.

 Will I be slightly nervous doing this?  Of course I will.  That is who I am; I cannot change that.  However, as I have told E-, one reason I feel like this is the path I am supposed to take is that I have not been stressed about it.  I have not even been nervous about it yet, other than just momentary "what about this" and "what about that" questions that pop into my head at random times.  This lack of stress and nervousness is not the norm for me, so I am taking this as my sign.

 We are ready for a new adventure and if this works out in the long run, it will be just that.  I see others that I know that move to various places and do not seem to be too phased by it.  E- and I have not done that since moving here from graduate school back in 1991, mainly because we loved the Huntsville/Madison area and the excellent schools located here for our children took precedence over anything else.

  I am excited.  E- is excited (or at least I believe she is!).  And, another shocker to me, M and R are excited about it as well.

  Will we end up in Colorado Springs permanently in the future?  I don't know.  But it is fun and exciting to know that over the next several years, that answer will take shape.

  I am sure future posts will bring new info on how this is all working, how my running is going now that I will definitely be getting plenty of training in altitude, and how E- and my adventures are taking shape.  For those of you in or close to Colorado Springs, give me a ping as I will be looking for establishing new connections while I am there.

 Here's to those of you that let me know how you handle making major decisions after I posed that question in my last post.  It was nice to see how everyone handles it slightly different, but kind of the same.  Big props to my father-in-law, Zeb, for sending me a nice email on past decisions he has had to make.  What all of you sent as comments, texts, or emails helped me organize my lists and gave me other things to think about at the same time.

 In my heart, at this point in time, I am confident that I have made the right decision.  That doesn't mean that I will not have to make another decision in the future related to this same item, but I will worry that in the future when/if it comes.

 I will ask another question in closing.  After making past major decisions, how did things turn out?  Do any of you regret the decisions you made or if things didn't turn out as expected, are you still glad you chose the path you did?

 Wish us luck on our new Clemens' adventure!