Dumps in review: Rose-Thorn-Bud
I told a reader that my goal was to accomplish two dumps in December.
a year in review
just a regular-Sam musing on life with links.
An SEO expert told me the dream length for a blog post was a floor of 450 and a ceiling of 1500—this will about 1,000.
She also told me that readers like BULLET POINTS.
What follows is a reflection tool I’ve used for years, and I find it helpful when trying to reflect on what was and imagine what will be.
Three Roses: Good Things!
We bought a house in Minneapolis.
I’ve covered this elsewhere, so I won’t get into it again. (SEO expert told me it’s good to link back to previous things you’ve written). I just want to make some points about homeownership that I’ve thought about recently.
Thermostats: Trying to figure out what temperature I need to set the three thermostats has been challenging. I have not found the balance between “spending too much money on heat” and “being too cold” yet. The previous owners left the Nest on a schedule, but I can’t tell what a reasonable time of day to turn my upstairs heat off is. What if I want to nap, but it’s freezing up there? Also a fun wrinkle? We’ve got the thermostats set to Celsius. So it may be 25 F but inside, I am keeping it a steady 20C.
Recycling. In Qatar, it was easy to say: we’re not going to recycle. It all ended up in the same place. I saw it. Recycling hasn’t taken off in some parts of the world. But here, we still do it. So I am playing the game. Breaking down my boxes and storing them in the garage and stomping on my cans, and hauling them all out on Tuesday morning minutes before the truck comes.
Artwork. We have a lot of walls. I need to improve my confidence with a hammer. I am currently afraid that if I put a nail in the living room wall, it will split and shatter, leaving us exposed to the winter elements. And so, the wall remains empty. I did buy some Mixtiles recently to decorate a stairwell—review pending. I like the idea of sticking something. No nail needed.
We left Qatar
It was touch and go there for a bit. After resigning in basically October of 2019, we had to hope that USCIS got their act together and approved Leen's immigration visa for an early 2020 summer departure. Despite some promising signs in January and February of 2020, things came to a screeching halt in March. Having already backed out of Qatar's employment and housing options, we really needed the powers that be to greenlight the green card. A month-long Covid19-induced delay slowed things down, but eventually, we got the approvals we needed and bought our tickets home. In the process of selling all my non-ship-home-able items via the Facebook marketplace, I only had one person get truly angry with me. He wanted my Nespresso machine and was upset that I was selling at close to purchase cost. He accused me of price gouging and taking advantage of people in a pandemic. Then he told me he would not buy a ventilator from me if his lungs were close to failing. Thankfully it didn't come to that. Otherwise, lots of hallways hangs as people bought my lamps, assorted baby goods and dishware. Leaving Qatar was a long time coming. I moved there in 2012 and expected to stay two years, tops. Two turned to three and three turned to eight. At some point in there, Qatar became home and so moving was difficult, albeit necessary. I am sure Leen didn’t expect that her move to Qatar would lead to a move to Minnesota, but I think speak for both of us when I say we are happy about the way everything played out. Travel, friendships, experiences, memories, marriage, a child. All things that came from our time in Qatar. Good work Qatar. We appreciate you.
Eliot and Leen time
It’s hard to overstate how much more time I’ve spent with Eliot than I would’ve if not for the global pandemic. If one is supposed to find silver linings in shitty years, then getting stuck inside with Leen and Eliot is about as good of one as you can hope for. Admittedly, last night I said to Leen: I wonder what it would have been like to have been stuck with like-minded roommates sans obligations for the past nine months. I bet that could’ve been fun. But ultimately. I am incredibly pleased that I was around for every day of Eliot’s first year. I watched as he morphed from a long baby to a tall toddler. I commented daily on his hair growing from adorable to, “is it a mullet now?” I heard him discover his voice going from gentle coos to practicing his loud wails and blabbering repeated syllables. All potentially missed if stuck at work or in a commute. As for time with Leen, we definitely are in that “finishing each other’s sentences” stage of a relationship. She knows where I put the thing I lost before I’ve even realized it’s missing, and I know when she wants me to get her a snack just by the tone she uses to start a sentence. I think those things were probably true before the pandemic, but 2020 has solidified our methods, even as we flew across the world, moved multiple times and wrestled with parenthood.
Two Thorns: Bad things
Pandemic
Feel like you get this one. Moving on.
Elbow-gate 2020
A few days before Thanksgiving, I noticed elbow pain. I’ve had some injuries over the years:
Two blown ACLs.
Countless subluxated shoulders (and subsequent surgeries).
Lost tooth in freak handlebar incident
A brutal ankle injury in Bali and another walking to get milk in Doha.
Never though, had my elbow failed me. I did some stretches, assuming I picked up a case of tennis or golfer’s elbow. The pain remained. No stretch offered relief. I tried ice, but it still hurt and felt hot. Finally, I decided to check it out in the mirror and realized this was not a ligament injury but instead some sort of wound that had swollen and turned very hot and very red. I think all injuries force you to take stock in parts of your body you take for granted. I rarely think about my elbow. Now, gripping the steering wheel hurt, crawling on the floor after Eliot was impossible and sleeping comfortably remained elusive. Thankfully I got a hold of a doctor via ZOOM pretty quickly, and he prescribed me something that, ten days after the fact, seems to have cleared up the ailment. I was in a dark place, trying to keep my elbow elevated and immobile. I am thankful for all the support I received on the socials about my condition. Sometimes it takes something as small as an arm would to make you feel alive. Here is where I say that my elbow pain was nothing in comparison to a woman giving birth. You are all heroes, superhumans, legends. I, with my feeble elbow and arm discomfort, am a mere mortal. It’s two different sports. And you’re the MVPs of yours. But seriously though, take care of your elbow and your skin, and if you get a wound, don’t pick at it with potentially dirty fingers because I guess that’s how you spread disease.
One Bud: Something to look forward to
Seeing friends and family again
Can’t really over-state this. It would be nice to break bread with people in their home, or ours and not worry about spreading or contracting something that might kill any one of us, or at least knock us on our ass for a few days. It seems like we are closer now to a new normal than previously expected; however, I will remain cautiously optimistic. 2020 has been weird. I want Eliot to make friends and Leen to meet people in Minnesota. I would like to explore stores and sit down at restaurants. I get that masks and distancing are probably necessary even post-vaccine, but let’s hope that it allows for some more good times in person and fewer Zooms. If you read this, I probably like you and would love to see what’s up, in person, in the future.
Here’s hoping I see some of your smiles in 2021.
Feel like if you made it this far, it’s important to note that this was just a 1,000 word vehicle so I could talk about how much my elbow hurt. Wanted to really go on the record about that again. Wow. So much pain.
