Whew… After a fantastic Christmas and New Years, filled with fantastic fun & an insane amount of yummy food & treats, our nest is empty!

I always have mixed feelings when the house first becomes empty. It’s bittersweet. We love to have everyone here. To wake up with the bustle and activity of our full house. But I’ll admit that it’s nice to get back to our routine. The quiet becomes welcoming and usual – not immediately but we’ve been to this rodeo before and know it’s coming. 

This means that the holidays are over. Whew, it’s been a long(and short) three weeks.

This year brought gifts beyond the material. But every year does if you pay attention. Right?
First, having both guys here for both Thanksgiving and Christmas was the best gift of all. Being together happens less often these days. While it does my heart good that their dreams involve exploring outside the boundaries of our community, it makes coming together especially treasured.
Second, the medical issues have been discovered, investigated and are in work. I’ll share some of the details of youngest, to make it a one-reeler the longest run-on sentence ever… A perfect storm of medical issues, possibly/probably rooted in the physical trauma of running 13.1 miles, (… without a real strong training program – because at 22 you can brute force a half right? ) and Porter’s fantastic Google-Interwebs skills unearthed a monster DVT & small pulmonary embolism combined with crazy low blood panels. After time & tests (& trauma/fear/etc) the clots are probably rooted in a genetic mutation, factor five leiden; the low blood panel hopefully from severe b-12 deficiency, also possibly a genetic problem he didn’t know he had. The end result is hopefully things that can be dealt with but as the hematologist was quick to point out – not life ending in themselves. Whew… much better than the scare they handed out at first. We all have something, it’s just a matter of what. There’s a post or two in the works, look for them over the coming weeks. We’re not done, rather in a workable place. The word relief is accurate and lacking. We are thankful. lucky and blessed. Our empty nest this year is again positive, uplifting and hopeful. 

Now…
OMG, it’s time for a detox. We’re blessed to enjoy what we do but… it’s time to clean out, to get working and taking care.
This week, no grocery shopping. We have a full freezer and pantry that need to be looked at. If it’s not here, we’re not eating it. 
Training will begin. The target is the Buffalo Half, Memorial Day weekend. It’s time to get my fabulous foot (and the rest of me) back in the run of things. 19 weeks out. Perfect! Little running, little yoga, little strength… OK lot of running. Skiing Jan, Feb and hopefully a little March.

Our nest is empty… again. We’re off, let the festivities begin!