Thanks, sorella. I may hit you up offline at some point, if you don't mind.

Erika, which book?

Any time.

It's called (checks Kindle) The Saturday night Widows by Becky Aikman...it was a good book. A lot to offer about resiliency and stuff.(Also, Ms. Aikman and I have both been kicked out of support groups.)

That's what I thought. I have it, just haven't read the whole thing yet. Thanks!

Maria, I think you've done an amazing job of embracing life anew and facing down the hard parts.

Maria, I think you've done an amazing job of embracing life anew and facing down the hard parts.

So very much this. Maria, you have been kicking ass and making the tough decisions, you should be proud of yourself.

Maria, I think you've done an amazing job of embracing life anew and facing down the hard parts.

So very much this. Maria, you have been kicking ass and making the tough decisions, you should be proud of yourself.

What Burrell and sj said!

This has been the week of MANY THINGS, but for the first time I am feeling...accomplished! My last day of school was yesterday, and ND and I have been working our tails off to get the house re-roganized and cleaned for the arrival of his cousin (2nd cousin once removed, but who's counting?) Chloe to arrive from Ireland tomorrow night. She's 20 and studying sound as her undergrad focus, and she's coming out to spend 3.5 months interning with ND's company.

The bulk of the work we've been doing is converting our guest room into a functional long-term bedroom since she will be staying with us. Thank the good gods for IKEA. New dresser, bed frame, and bookshelf, ahoy. We love Chloe and are really excited about her arrival, but I admit to being a little apprehensive about the house-sharing. We haven't done it in a long time. But still! Exciting. And since I'm now on break, I'm looking forward to having time to grocery shop and cook and such. The fact that she has a cute Irish accent won't hurt, either.

In other news, for those who aren't on FB, I'm training for a half marathon in August. My longest run to date is only five miles, so I have a long way to go to reach 13.1. I'm making progress, though, and I'm finding that running can indeed be an incredible stress-reliever. I've also lost a little weight and gained a little muscle, which is nice. I started running at the beginning of March, and I'm trying to average at least 12-15 (preferably closer to 20) miles per week. For someone who absolutely hated running and swore up and down she could never do it for exercise, I've come a long way.

So there. News! I feel like I haven't had time to do more than skim and respond in ages.

I think I got most of what I need at Wegman's. I should be cleaning and organizing now, but I'm watching Teen Wolf instead.

My life is good. I know this. But it is not the life I expected to lead.

Even a good life, it's not the life you once planned or hoped to have and you deserve to mourn that fact.

Which was kind of cool and kind of ew that's my mom! at the same time. It was such a non thing for him to jump to that relationship conclusion based on how we talked to each other.

Barring how alike we look, I think it's cool when people think Mom and I are lesbian wives and not Mom and daughter. Not that going too far into that rabbit hole isn't all kinds of eww, but just that the possibility exists to more people in the world now that people partner same sex and that's okay is good.

I get to go visit my uncle and uncle-in-law tomorrow and my other uncle (sans my favorite uncle-in-law) is visiting from Oregon. Really glad to get to see them. Sadly, it'll be a short visit.

Saturday night we are doing a birthday dinner for me and celebrating Father's Day. As bad as I thought things were last year, I never expected it would be the last year I had my Dad.

Oh Cass, many hugs to you. I want to say happy birthday, but I realize that it will be a bittersweet one. Over time, the holidays get easier.