Today, I set up flood lights in the front yard to light up our 12-foot skeleton. I did this because it was something I could change.

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

I learned the Serenity Prayer early in life. I think that and the Golden Rule can get you pretty far in life.

I’ve been on furlough for a month now. Can’t change that. A week into the furlough, our house flooded. Can’t change that, either. The night before last, the exhaust vent fan in Morgan’s apartment short circuited and started a fire. The fire damage was limited to the bathroom ceiling. Pretty much everything in the bathroom was ruined. She’s not sure about her clothes yet. They were in the closet next to the bathroom with the door open, so she’ll have to run them through the wash a few times to see if she can get the smell out of if they’re ruined.

Our home owner’s insurance and the contractors performing the repairs on our house spent nearly a week haggling over the cost. Our bedroom, primary closet, and my office are all missing carpet. Multiple areas are missing patches of drywall and insulation. Can’t change any of that, either.

So.

Tomorrow, on Halloween, Morgan, her boyfriend, and Susan will be boxing up all of their stuff, as they’re being moved to a new apartment. Susan’s hired some movers to move all the boxes down stairs, across the street, and up stairs. We can control that.

I’ve spent the past week emptying out my home office, preparing for repairs and eventually carpet replacement. I hurt my back moving furniture around during the flood (I have an MRI scheduled next week) and so I’m using a rolling cart and just moving a little at a time. I can control that.

Habitat for Humanity arrived earlier this week and hauled off our bedroom furniture. I moved some socks and underwear into one of those rolling plastic drawer things. Susan’s clothes are in a bunch of fabric cubes we just bought at Dollar General. For nightstands, we’re using TV trays. That’s all stuff we could do.

To quote Forrest Gump, “shit happens.” There truly is a peace that comes from mentally sorting things into piles of things you can control and things you can’t. October has been one heck of a month, but letting go of the things we can’t change and controlling the parts we can makes it easier to deal with.

And so, tonight, I installed flood lights in the front yard.