A Life Altered Yet Again

HOLY COW.

Well, since I last wrote, my life has completely undergone yet another change.

No, I'm not pregnant.

In late June, on the LAST day of school, Kent found a listing for a job in Redding, California, on Craigslist of all places. He called to query, and 9 days later he was hired and we were in the middle of a transcontinental move back home.

The reason for the move: our entire family--brothers, sisters, parents, aunties, uncles, cousins, and grandparents--are within 3 hours of our new home town. We had no family in Maine, and the girls were missing out. So were the grandparents.

So what has this been like? Imagine, if you will, taking one of those snowglobes and flipping it upside down, then shaking it like mad. That was what it felt like, but it was our life that was the snowglobe. We have taken to calling it the "Snowglobe Effect". We had 2 1/2 weeks to completely pack our entire house, and then another week to get to California. Maddy flew with her grandparents; baby Kara drove with us. We made it in 6 days flat, from Kennebunkport Maine to Redding.

So here we are. Back in California. My ENTIRE house is packed and in storage in Portland, Maine. My home is NOT selling (surprise surprise), and I'm living with my sister and her two girls.

To say this has been a "big change" is putting it mildly.

The worst part is that Redding is not exactly a good place to run in the afternoons. The temperatures mid-day, when I usually would go out, range from the 90s to up to 112, as it was last week. I can't take the baby out in that, unfortunately. Today is a glorious day, very breezy, so I could have gone out, but I spent the day on the phone dealing with about a billion little details, like pediatrician bill mistakes and arranging for car windshield wiper repairs (ours got recalled, so not a big thing, just it takes time). The baby is sound asleep, and when she gets up, Kent will be home and it's off to open a bank account.

I've been looking at clubs in the area, and found one I like. It has some neat amenities, and I need to clear it with Kent. But I need to start running. I haven't run in a month or more, and the last thing I did was 8 days ago--walking in San Francisco!

So to say I'm out of shape is an understatement, compared at least to what I was when I did the PolarBear triathlon. I still fit into my clothes, but I haven't got the stamina, I'm sure.

The depressing part is that in late May, I ran 20 miles for the first time ever. I did a four-loop run past Walker Point (President Bush Senior's compound) in Kennebunkport--my last time, coincidentally, but I didn't know I'd never run that loop again as a Mainer. I was so excited--I KNEW I could have run 6 miles more, if I had been asked. I was peaking perfectly for the San Francisco Marathon on August 3.

Then the bottom dropped out, our lives flipped upside down, and August 3 saw me in Eureka, walking with the baby but not much else. So much for San Francisco.

So in the next week or so, I hope that everything will finally settle down, and I can get back into a routine. Kent and Maddy have gone back to school, so Kara and I are settled to our usual at-home routine. Not much is different there anyway. She thrives on routine; so do I.

I cannot WAIT to get back into running. It turns out that California has about a thousand (ok, somewhat less than that) triathlons. One is in two weeks. I can't do that one, I don't have a bike and I haven't run, so I'm really not ready. I could always do it just to get my feet wet (ha ha) and meet people here, but I could also do that by going to volunteer as a body marker or something.

I need a Maine Triathlon shirt. That'd get some attention and I'd meet people that way.

The good news is that there are a lot of people at Kent's new school who run. They meet weekly in the evenings. The bad news is that I can't meet them easily in that neighborhood because, without our house selling in Maine, we can't buy one here. We may actually need to rent the house out, and rent one here, and hope that it sells in a year or two.

Insane.

So there you go. Life intervenes, and it all gets very weird!

Take care, have fun, get out there and do something...and cross your fingers for me. I need it!!

-- Karina, uprooted and homesick, but glad to be back among family in California once again!

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Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor. However, I am a teacher certified in both California and Maine to teach science curriculum, including the human body (and health/nutrition) to kids in grades K-8. This blog is my attempt to wade through the current thinking on weight loss, and to present it in a way that makes sense to everyone. As a woman who is successfully recovering from obesity herself, I feel it's even more important to help others understand what I did to lose the weight; what worked, what didn't, and what the struggle has been like as I went from morbid obesity to fitness. It doesn't mean that I have all the answers, however. If you want to lose weight, by all means, read my blog--I think I can provide some help and clarity. BUT, please know that I am NOT a medical expert, and you should most definitely consult with your own doctor or family physician before undertaking any weight loss efforts yourself. Weight loss is a personal journey. I'm making mine visible to the world, but each of us has to take our own steps with our own doctor's guidance; please make sure you check in with yours before you try to do anything I have done. Good luck and God bless!