Writing On The Run
Back in April my life changed dramatically. I didn't realize at the time that taking a new job would shuffle my priorities to the point that it has. Obviously, this blog hasn't been one of the top ones in the last couple of months.
The job suits me well. It combines skills I learned as a young adult in the world of business with the second career I began when I became a nurse a decade ago. It will suit me well in the future as I age and spin closer to retirement. The only drawback is it is time-consuming at a time when it seems there isn't enough hours in the day to accomplish everything I need to do. I am living out of a suitcase more now than I was a year ago at this time. Commuting back and forth to work can be a draining experience in and of itself. Keeping up with two homes is a challenge. I've got a great family though and they accept the hours I keep and the quirks of today because they understand, not only my long-term goals, but how their future plans and dreams are incorporated into my own.
My home will become my oldest sons. I am slowly transitioning out of the picture there which will begin with my younger sons high school graduation in two years and be complete (hopefully) as the youngest finishes college and moves out on his own. At the time my youngest graduates from high school I will permanently relocate to live with (as our plans go) my future husband and complete an engagement that has lasted nearly 5 years now. In the time that he remains living with his brother and going to college, Mom will pay his rent to his older brother.
Right now as I write this my significant other is remodeling a room in his house to be a memory room for me. It will hold all my cherished memorabilia from years of being, not only a Mommy, but being me. Although we've shared our lives together for years now, it was never time for me to "move in". The time is drawing closer and for all of us the transition is beginning.
My younger son remarked to me the other day that it seemed his older brother seemed more emotionally involved with us, or as he put it, seemed to be realizing it wouldn't be much longer when we would no longer both be kicking around the house with him. I had privately come to the same conclusion and was impressed that my teenager had hit upon the same thought. This future reality has been driven home in the last month or so as I made "the list" of what would be moving with me. I spent a couple of hours inventorying and measuring. I described the "memory" room and gave my sons an idea of what the finished room would look like. For my sons having the "girlie" stuff taken from various places in the house has left them with the decision as to what would cover the walls and fill the corners instead. Laughingly, they've informed me that the manly way to go would be to replace my antiques and Renoir prints with posters of interest to them (i.e. Metallica, Nascar, etc.). Lord only knows what will fill the empty corners...
My better half has a nearly 100 year old house, which he has maintained a rustic look to in the interior. He leans towards different stained paneling hung horizontally which gives each room an individual look. He gutted the room with it's very dark and chinked paneling to accommodate the changes I wanted. I chose a bead board paneling (both ceiling and vertically on the walls) which will be painted white. He has already completed the ceiling and it looks great. He will rebuild the window sills and door jambs and even the interior room door panels to fit the old look to the room that I wanted. As it isn't an overly large room (12' X 10') along the top of the walls will run a shelf to put pictures, smaller antiques, and bric-a-brac that I don't want to give up. I have chosen a steel blue (my better half thinks it is gray) carpeting, which will go very well with my fondness for blue that comes out in the furniture I'll bring and the curtains that will hang on the windows. This will be the brightest room in the house when done and with it's eastern exposure will be an ideal place to house a few plants and make a peaceful setting to drink my coffee in the morning while reading the paper in my chair by the window. I am thrilled that my better half is making this happen for me, although I think he has an ulterior motive in which by creating a room for me his manly house won't acquire some serious feminine overtones. But that is all good, as I like his house that he basically remodeled himself and I don't feel the need to change it or him in the process of moving in. Having my own space is enough.
As to the rest of my furnishings that won't go with me, based upon what my oldest son wants and needs they'll either go the way of a yard sale or stay for him to use. I won't need any of it when I move permanently. But it is so nice to know that what I cherish will have a place to go. The plans are that when the room is finished I'll begin to relocate my things. As to the changes, I am looking forward to being able to feel more at home wherever I am. When you are the only female in a male dominated environment, having a feminine retreat is priceless.
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The job suits me well. It combines skills I learned as a young adult in the world of business with the second career I began when I became a nurse a decade ago. It will suit me well in the future as I age and spin closer to retirement. The only drawback is it is time-consuming at a time when it seems there isn't enough hours in the day to accomplish everything I need to do. I am living out of a suitcase more now than I was a year ago at this time. Commuting back and forth to work can be a draining experience in and of itself. Keeping up with two homes is a challenge. I've got a great family though and they accept the hours I keep and the quirks of today because they understand, not only my long-term goals, but how their future plans and dreams are incorporated into my own.
My home will become my oldest sons. I am slowly transitioning out of the picture there which will begin with my younger sons high school graduation in two years and be complete (hopefully) as the youngest finishes college and moves out on his own. At the time my youngest graduates from high school I will permanently relocate to live with (as our plans go) my future husband and complete an engagement that has lasted nearly 5 years now. In the time that he remains living with his brother and going to college, Mom will pay his rent to his older brother.
Right now as I write this my significant other is remodeling a room in his house to be a memory room for me. It will hold all my cherished memorabilia from years of being, not only a Mommy, but being me. Although we've shared our lives together for years now, it was never time for me to "move in". The time is drawing closer and for all of us the transition is beginning.
My younger son remarked to me the other day that it seemed his older brother seemed more emotionally involved with us, or as he put it, seemed to be realizing it wouldn't be much longer when we would no longer both be kicking around the house with him. I had privately come to the same conclusion and was impressed that my teenager had hit upon the same thought. This future reality has been driven home in the last month or so as I made "the list" of what would be moving with me. I spent a couple of hours inventorying and measuring. I described the "memory" room and gave my sons an idea of what the finished room would look like. For my sons having the "girlie" stuff taken from various places in the house has left them with the decision as to what would cover the walls and fill the corners instead. Laughingly, they've informed me that the manly way to go would be to replace my antiques and Renoir prints with posters of interest to them (i.e. Metallica, Nascar, etc.). Lord only knows what will fill the empty corners...
My better half has a nearly 100 year old house, which he has maintained a rustic look to in the interior. He leans towards different stained paneling hung horizontally which gives each room an individual look. He gutted the room with it's very dark and chinked paneling to accommodate the changes I wanted. I chose a bead board paneling (both ceiling and vertically on the walls) which will be painted white. He has already completed the ceiling and it looks great. He will rebuild the window sills and door jambs and even the interior room door panels to fit the old look to the room that I wanted. As it isn't an overly large room (12' X 10') along the top of the walls will run a shelf to put pictures, smaller antiques, and bric-a-brac that I don't want to give up. I have chosen a steel blue (my better half thinks it is gray) carpeting, which will go very well with my fondness for blue that comes out in the furniture I'll bring and the curtains that will hang on the windows. This will be the brightest room in the house when done and with it's eastern exposure will be an ideal place to house a few plants and make a peaceful setting to drink my coffee in the morning while reading the paper in my chair by the window. I am thrilled that my better half is making this happen for me, although I think he has an ulterior motive in which by creating a room for me his manly house won't acquire some serious feminine overtones. But that is all good, as I like his house that he basically remodeled himself and I don't feel the need to change it or him in the process of moving in. Having my own space is enough.
As to the rest of my furnishings that won't go with me, based upon what my oldest son wants and needs they'll either go the way of a yard sale or stay for him to use. I won't need any of it when I move permanently. But it is so nice to know that what I cherish will have a place to go. The plans are that when the room is finished I'll begin to relocate my things. As to the changes, I am looking forward to being able to feel more at home wherever I am. When you are the only female in a male dominated environment, having a feminine retreat is priceless.
(All open trackback post links MUST be reciprocated by a link to this site within your original post - it's only good manners, ya know...)
posted by Is It Just Me? at 8:31 AM
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