Peterson Family Update, #687-C

Hey, all!  It's been a busy kind of time, which means another listicle.

• Paperwork is rolling forward still with the house (see final picture of this blog post!).  Andy is a beast in the best ways getting all of these details squared away.  Barring unforeseen disasters, we should be closing at the end of April.
• A few people have reacted to our happy news of our first house purchase with a wink, suggesting that we needed the extra room for a family.  Please stop this and/or resist the urge.  It's not okay.  See this older blog post for details.
• This is the first time in my life I've had complete control over what the walls look like and the freedom to make any changes we want--I'm honestly paralyzed by the number of options, which is honestly better for our wallets at this point.
• I'm so excited for Andy to have a dedicated music space.  It does my heart a happy (and his, for that matter).
• Work has me slated for several onsites coming up already, including a couple of sites in Texas, San Antonio and Austin areas, specifically.  As per usual, there'll be a couple in Chicagoland at some point, too.  These are before the summer busy season even kicks off.  I have a feeling summer is going to FLY.
• The Roys went on an adventure in Florida last weekend, going to Universal Studios.  It's been a long while since we've had a family vacation.  
  
  
  

  

  Epic Superhero-Landing is Epic

  
  
• Physically, the trip was definitely a triumph--I could not have been able to keep up with anyone just a year or two ago.  That's some lovely validation.
• We had some good laughs, formed some fun memories, and were plenty sore by the time we made it back home.  There were moments of hangry and tired, but definitely glad we could spend some time together.  
• Andy managed to acquire two more unicorns, winning them in a crane game at Universal, no less.  Our "collection" is getting out of hand in some adorable ways. 
  
• Andy's job still suits him very well, naturally with its own joys and frustrations.  But coming up on a year in this position, he knows what he's about and can have some better perspective on the impact he's having.
• With the house hunting and a few other mitigating factors, I've been emotionally eating like woah recently.  On some elements, it's been very freeing to look at a menu and consider what I feel like eating today rather than what I'll have to fudge to fit my macros.  I can still make some choices within those confines that are better but without piling the guilt terribly high.  That freedom and grace toward myself has been a welcome break.  And that's the way I'm framing it mentally, per my brother's wording:  "you haven't fallen off the wagon; you're just taking a break."  Well, with vacation time over, it's time to get back to work.  
• I'm taking a Medical Terminology course currently.  This class has the science aspect AND the wordy-nerdy aspect.  I'm enjoying it immensely and affirm again how nice it is to have a structured academic activity as part of my routine again.  Eyeing taking a nutrition class in the fall and seeing my habits through a new lens.  
• Found out what happens if I don't cycle out my ostomy supplies in the car often enough--one of my bags basically melted together.  On the one hand, better to find out through the way I did, which was trying to cycle it out at home.  On the other, I'm a bit anxious to think back on how unprepared I was if there had been a real emergency.  Official emergency supply refresh schedule will now be implemented in earnest.
• Andy and I are taking the opportunity of buying our house to more closely scrutinize our budget--if we want to pay off my student loans faster, what can we decrease or eliminate?  Our mortgage will be less than our rent, once all the moving in parts are complete (and any post-move in "first house purchases" are resolved).  We want to leave room, too, for saving for those inevitable expenses that come up.  It's nice to discuss these components--while I appreciate that Andy trusts me with most of these decisions, this renewed interest and teamwork in that process certainly feels good.  
• Andy and I both got our hair colored to something a bit more red.  I have some purple streaks as well, just as something fun to peak out every now and again.  I'm thinking next time I might go all purple with some red streaks, but we'll see.  With my onsites, my company is okay with me having colored hair and it is more widely accepted as a whole, but I don't want it to be a distraction when I'm trying to come into a site as an authority.  
• Went back in for a check-up on my eyes, post-Lasik.  Seems that we'll need to go in for another swing.  Naturally, I'm part of a very small percentage that needs this, because I can't help but be special, it seems.  I'm not upset by this at all--I would have been furious if they insisted that what I'm at now is "meh, good enough."  Significant improvement, for sure, but there's just a bit more to do yet.  Looking forward to that in another couple months.  A stroke of luck, though, is that my brother's old glasses were in the right ballpark (startlingly so, according to my optometrist), and he has graciously lent them to me for a month or two.

And the world keeps rolling on, folks.