Ups and Downs

I have been asked often in the past couple of weeks how I like living in New Orleans.  The short answer is, I love it.  I have ingested more live music and good food in the past weeks than I did in a decade living in Memphis.  Dave and I feel like we are living amongst "our people."

The long answer is, change is hard.  I am trying to get things with work settled, and the process is arduous and frustrating.  Money is tight, and that adds extra stress to live.  I cerebrally know it will all work out, but sometimes in the moment I feel incredible stressed.

Breesy, my cat, was also hit by a car on our 3rd day here.  I feel an incredible amount of guilt and sadness over this.  We should have kept her inside longer, especially during the dark hours.   We know it is safer to keep cats indoors from cars, predators, and people.  There is certainly some regret that we feel at this point.  We rescued her as an outdoor cat, and she has lived as an outdoor/indoor cat with us for all of these years.  She stays close to home and to the dogs, and she stays out of the street.  She is not adventurous and likes to come in and out frequently.  If we force her to stay inside, she will just find a way to dart out.  Our new neighborhood is extremely outdoor cat friendly...there is an entire Facebook page set up for the outdoor cats of Algiers Point.  They are EVERYWHERE.  But despite all of this, I found her dead by the curb.  She didn't come when I called, which was incredibly odd.  I knew immediately something was not right.  She stays by the house-usually under it and close to the dogs.  It is hard when you don't know how and why your pet was hurt.  What happened?  It was so out of character.  Who hit my cat and drove off?  Finding her was such a shock and sad moment of my life, and I think about it daily.

Breesy, thank you for being such a loving friend.  I hope you did not suffer, and please know you are very, very loved.  

I was making some inroads on training.  I am incredibly out of shape, and it has been hard to wrap my head around.  But, I found myself waking up early, getting it done, and staying hopeful.  I even had a race calendar pulled up.  Last week I was ready to hit my 5:30 am solo ride, and I put my bike by the front door on the porch and punched the garmin at 5:31.  I walked 5-7 feet inside my house and did not pull the door closed all of the way.  I grabbed my helmet, bike shoes, and phone, and I put it all on.  I walked a few feet back to the front door and my bike was gone.  Literally in 60-90 seconds, my bike had been stolen.  I ran to the street and saw a bike going down the street about a block away, but there was nothing I could do to chase it down in the dark New Orleans morning in my bike shoes.  I called 911 at 5:35.  Literally only 4 minutes passed between rolling my bike out for my ride and calling 911.

Of course I am sad about my bike.  I don't have a second bike, and I don't have the ability to just purchase a new one.  It was like this huge punch to the gut as I am trying to turn things around for myself athletically.  

And more importantly, I was scared.  I was freaked out knowing that someone could have followed me into my house....that someone was right there watching me leave to ride my bike.  I feel lucky and thankful that he just wanted a bike.  

First day with my bike:)  It was such a treat because I had been racing on a road bike the entire time.  I picked out every piece and component to this bike- so much fun!

Current set up minus race wheels...just in case someone spots it....

So, no bike.  In a way it was the last thing I needed as I struggle, struggle, struggle to get back out there and find my inner athlete again- the one that I KNOW is still there- the girl that can ride fast and race hard.

But in another way it was a good thing.  It was time for a new bike, and that is the most positive way to view this all.  It will work out- it always does.

Overall change is good.  Hard...growing pains...bumps in the road...setbacks...   BUT, nothing good happens without the ability to handle change.  Nola is good, and I am still excited to give my best to my new home.

Thanks for reading!