The Longest Month

Wow am I glad May is finally over! For a while there it seemed like it might go on forever. Now the question is, where to begin?

I guess I'll start with the pool. This is my 3rd summer being the pool manager for AACC. Last spring the club changed ownership, but it wasn't until the end of the summer that the new ownership decided to take over the operation of the club from the Board of Directors (members). Needless to say, it has been a HUGE transition. The new owner had no experience running a club before and so it has been quite the learning curve. Through the winter he seemed to figure out a lot, but the pool was obviously still closed and thus not much could be learned. Well, after several weeks of trying to get a hold of the owner this spring, I finally did at the beginning of May. This meant we were about 2-4 weeks behind schedule, YIKES! Luckily, the new general manager had already begun on some of the steps I had outlined and so we weren't as far behind as I had originally thought. However, our pool lies in a very unique place, essentially there is a river under it, and this causes a LOT of problems. The new owners not understanding pools or our unique set of circumstances had a hard time wrapping their brains around getting the pool ready for inspection rather than just getting it looking good. I'm all for getting things looking great, but if the mechanics of the pool aren't working properly then the inspection won't be passed and it won't matter how clean the chairs are or how much more shade the new umbrellas provide. As the month went on and they saw me working late at night - until 2am once - they started to get it. With a lot of hard work and some help from our old and new fix it guys, I was able to get the pool going just in time and we passed our inspection 2 days before opening, YAY! And so now the real fun begins, maintaining the pool and keeping on the staff so that the pool stays open AND looking great. I think it's going to be an interesting summer and I have to say that I'm glad it will be my last. I love running the pool and my staff is great, but the lack of knowledge and communication issues from the owners is already starting to wear me out. Hopefully it gets better soon or its going to be a long summer!

And now for my grandmother, Bamma. 10 years ago while in the hospital for knee surgery they found a spot on a chest x-ray that turned out to be cancer. It was really dumb luck that they found it, but they did and it was early so they were able to get all of it in surgery. About six months ago the spot was back and it was later confirmed that it was cancer. Since she was 87 years old there really wasn't much they could do that would prolong her life and keep her quality of life the same. They didn't know how aggressive it was so there was really no predicting a time frame. In the spring it became clear that is wasn't going to be long and we called in hospice for additional care. On May 17th, Bamma, celebrated her 88th birthday. She had always said so wanted to live as long as her mom who died when she was 88. On that day we also had her moved to a new facility that would provide better around the clock care. It seemed that her birthday was her final rally. For the next few days she was surrounded by family and others that she loved and loved her. She died 4 days later with her four children at her side. They all said it was very peaceful and you could feel her soul move on as the wind picked up and the birds began chirping and singing. I was so blessed to have such a wonderful grandmother and to be able to enjoy her for nearly 33 years. I'm happy that she didn't suffer and is now back with the love of her life, my grandfather Pops, that passed away 15 years ago. I know that she is watching over our entire family now and she will be missed by all of us. She was such a wonderful woman, wife, mother, and grandmother and will not be forgotten.

So as many of you know, we are planning to move to Cincinnati as soon as we are able to sell our house. Over the past month I have been working to get the house in tip top shape to be able to put it on the market. I have been busy with LOTS of cleaning, painting, fixing little things, and getting quotes for other jobs that I am not able to do my self - side note, it is a lot harder to find a handyman than I would have thought! So now we are almost ready, we just need to get the master bathroom painted and a piece of tile fixed. Our realtor has told us that things look good in our area and that houses are selling so hopefully we'll be able to get it done quickly. Chris and I are headed down to Cinci next week to look at some homes and get a better feel for the area. I can't believe how quickly its coming, but I am definitely looking forward to a new chapter for our family.

And last, while driving home on Sunday from my Aunt's house a large piece of metal shot out from the car in front of me and ripped up the underside of my car. I'm waiting to hear back from the body shop today to see how long its going to take to fix. Luckily, no one was hurt and the damage will be covered by my insurance. It did seem like the appropriate end to an endless month though :)

And now the summer begins. Jake is done with school June 10th, I will begin traveling and coaching more for meets on June 17th, and I'm sure I will be plenty busy with pool and house stuff. Here's hoping for a fun, warm, and easy summer!