Running Through Time: A Little Fun, A lot of Work

Zane has been very busy in preparation for the upcoming deployment and has been gone a lot. He has been limited in his outings due to his restricted schedule and unfortunately he was not able to make it to the Running family reunion that was held this year at the lake. However, we didn't want Cally to miss out on the opportunity to see and hang out with all her cousins therefore we decided that I would take both kids without him. A week before we left, I received notice that our tenants in Florida needed to move out due to the inability to pay so my fun family reunion trip turned into a "business" trip. I knew the house needed alot of work and with Zane not being around, I was a bit concerned about how I was going to do it all, so I called my parents and they volunteered my brother Danny to fly out and help me. My flight to Tennessee went without a hitch and both kids did wonderfully. Danny arrived the following day and we spent a day at the lake before heading down to Florida to go work on the house. I left Cally in Tennessee and took Hunter with us. I anticipated some work, but when we got there, I was immediately overwhelmed with the disaster I walked into. The house wreaked of smoke, there was trash everywhere and the garage had been converted into two separate rooms. There were door knobs missing, rooms painted every color in the rainbow, missing appliances, holes in walls, overgrown grass/weeds, and many more "issues." With the help of Danny, we took down the two rooms in the garage, hauled out tons of trash and construction debris to the dump and painted the entire house.

Danny working hard

It's finally down!

Danny left 3 days later and I stayed another 4 days to finish up the house and get it rented. Among the many mishaps and "bumps" along the way was an emergency room trip. I had been planting flowers earlier and was bit by an ant on my left ring finger. I did not notice the swelling until the numbness started to kick in and by that point my ring was impossible to remove. After trying many ways to get my ring off without success, I had to rush to the emergency room at 10:30 pm at night with Hunter and have my ring cut off.

I was able to finish working on the house a few days later and luckily for us, once I put it on the market, we had tons of inquiries and interest and I was able to rent it in less than 24 hours. It was a ton of work and I did things I never thought I'd do, but I have learned a lot throughout the way. It was definitely an experience!

**Danny, thank you so much for coming out and working so hard! I could not have done it without you!**

I headed back to Tennessee a day before everyone left and had a chance to see and hang out with the family. It was wonderful to see them all and had a great time with them. Hopefully next year we will be able to be there the whole time and Zane will be there with us!

Hunter entertained by a flying pig