I believe it could be a bit of residual stress from the last few months but I had a bit of a melt down today when I did not have any shoe choices.
I’m not one of these people who has a shoe fetish…but I do like to have the right shoe for the right situation. The only shoes I brought with me when we left the house and moved into the hotel were the walking sandals I was wearing for the move. They were ok for yesterday when it was still 28 degrees Celsius but today…not so much. The day started out at 8 degrees and went up a whole degree AND it rained for most of the day. Sandals just don’t work well. At one point I even wore socks with them (because it was so cold)!
We went over the storage locker and went through the first 5 feet of boxes and bins and nada! No shoes. I had started out with the intent to number and label but in our craziness of the last few weeks I did not. Luckily Walter found my crocks in a box with a whole bunch of stuff from the kitchen – which at least allowed me to go to the pool with the correct footwear!
The moral of the story? If I can’t find my additional shoes make do with what I have and be grateful I have shoes – it’s not the end of the world! My observation without opinion: Plan. Be Prepared. Label. Maybe I should have paid attention in Girl Guides.
Over the last few months many people have asked us “Are you excited??!” To which I have mostly answered not yet – there is so much to do. I have not felt like I am that over-the-top-OMG excitement which I thought I should be feeling – what others seem to expect of our situation. In thinking of this today I asked myself why?
Was I waiting for the house to sell? Done. Was I waiting for us to confirm our flights and our accommodation. Done. Was I waiting for the house to close? Done. Am I now waiting to get on the plane? Land? Sleep there? Have our first meal there? Go zip lining?
I realized I was calmly living my dream. I do not need to be over-the-top-OMG to be enjoying what is going on. I have this slow, consistently moving, bubbling brook of happiness. AND it feels so right!
To top off this revelation of my calm ‘excitement’ of our dream being fulfilled I also realized the upside of what transpired yesterday. When the starter went on the vehicle we are leaving here, we were in the midst of leaving our house with the car fully loaded with the last of our stuff for the storage locker. Today I realized, this is the vehicle we are leaving here – the one which will sit in my neighbours drive, and he will start it a time or two each week to make sure it stays in tune. Had this happened a few weeks later, we would be out of the country and he would have been stuck with a non-starting car in his drive. We are blessed this transpired when it did.
This morning I received a text from my friend and fellow Master Key Guide – she had her baby. A few hours later a picture arrived. Her daughter is absolutely beautiful. I felt this immense joy – but again a calm version of this emotion. To share a piece of her day – to see her dream come to fruition. This ability to connect and revel in others happiness – pure unfiltered joy!
A blessed day – filled with observations. I am most grateful!
One of my favourite expressions lately is “Happy Dance” as it relates to when someone else has had a high-five moment and I feel like we need to do the happy dance. In googling it, I came across the above. It combined two of my ‘loud smile’ moments – Snoopy and the song HAPPY.
We closed on our house today. If you read yesterday’s post about the storage locker…oh my, you should see it now! We will most likely spend a good portion of our time between now and when we fly, purging further and hopefully organizing what is left in a bit more logical fashion.
After a fun filled day of work interspersed with packing and cleaning, we heard from the lawyer’s office that we had closed – 4:50 in the afternoon. We were still in clean and last minute stuff and go mode. We were all packed up and just about to hit the road when the car would not start. Turns out the starter is gone. Interesting that the started is gone and we were not.
Our neighbour helped us reload all the stuff for the storage locker into his truck, drove us to the storage unit, allowed us to remove all our luggage, drove us to the hotel and then helped us in with everything. WOW! How blessed we are. Most grateful for their kindness.
We can now do the Happy Dance! We are one step…albeit a very significant step…closer to our dream. I have to admit though….the dance, it’s not really happening right now. My feet need rest. But the rest of me on the inside, it’s right there with Snoopy and the of the gang.
What you think about grows! So…remember to be very careful what you think about. After we dropped of the first load to the storage facility I commented to Walter how I could not imagine having a storage locker filled haphazardly with stuff. I’ve seen the show on TV – Storage Wars. Supposedly the Canadian equivalent had gone to these units for one of the shows. What they look like when someone opens them…not very organized.
I shared how I could not imagine this. Walter reminded me that we do it, just not on such a large scale at once. If we were to look around the house prior to the purge, we would have had 6 or 8 boxes filled with a dump and run clean up for when someone was coming over to visit. The mess you’ve allowed to accumulate must be cleaned up and in some cases there just is not enough time to do this properly. So….we stuff it all in a box and put it in the crawl space.
These storage lockers are just a bigger version of what we’ve been doing. I explained I still did not understand. He then explained a few scenarios which may help me to see how someone could drop and run with stuff in a haphazard way.
Low and behold, this morning arrived and I was not ready with another trailer load of stuff to move to our storage unit. I texted my brother’s wife to explain he may need to come a bit later in the day, then I just went to work (almost) throwing stuff into bins and stacking them. Turns out I only needed an extra hour.
BUT then this evening it hit us hard. Tomorrow was our last day. We need to be done this evening…Where are the bins? Quickly and carefully start throwing things into the bin and hope to remember what’s in there once it goes into storage.
The interesting thing is, our storage locker may look organized, but the stuff inside…not so much!
Last week when everything was coming to a head and we were giving Mya up to the rescue organization and my roller coaster just seemed too much for me, I gave a call to my friend in Scotland. As is typical I did not reach her directly (very busy lady) but she called me back today.
This woman is someone I connected with at work about 15 years ago. We got to hang out in England when I was there on business and we worked for the same company – that was in 2001. We did not see each other again until 2008 and I am hoping to see her this year – when she comes to visit in September. It’s amazing how I feel connected to someone I only see every 7 years!
In sharing all our news, she commented that by stripping ourselves of our personal belongings it is taking away what we believe to be our personality – what makes us who we are. However, once stripped, we become more of who we really are.
I told her I did not wish to arrive in Costa Rica naked – to which she laughed of course! But I get where she is going with this. It’s like Walter’s analogy of anchors. We need to release the things which hold us or restricts us – in order to allow ourselves to be truly revealed.
What I realized is that our son does not have the same attachments and we could do well by emulating him. He was in his room, no furniture, his clothes in a plastic drawer stand, his mattress on the floor, his computer set on a folding TV tray and he was sitting on a footstool – all the while singing along with his music. Now THISis someone who has been strippped of all his belongings – his anhcors – and each morning he rises with the same enthusiasm as usual.
I have been waking up earlier and earlier each of the last few days. It started last week when I woke up before the alarms, then 5;30 and 5, yesterday was 4:30 and this morning it was 3. Once I wake, my mind starts spinning on all the stuff which needs to be sorted or packed – and then there is the business reports with came through in droves all due within a short period of time – while I still needed to do other stuff around the house.
Since there are only 24 hours in a day – I’ve gotten up!
It’s amazing how much more productive I’ve felt – being able to get either the sorting/packing or my work done before anyone else is even out of bed. I like this routine. I’ve even enjoyed a bit of coffee the last few days (makes me feel zippy!). The only ‘not so nice’ part is my eyes start to get droopy around 8 or 9pm. After we ate dinner tonight, I was falling asleep in my chair!
This too shall pass!
We are on a roll. Today my brother came over with his trailer, loaded all the bins we had packed and moved them into our storage locker. Everyone keeps asking me if I’m getting excited and today I felt a bit of that excitement – when I stood in front of the 5x10x8 locker (yes, we had to upgrade from our intended 5x5x8) looking at our stuff – realizing this stuff was a representation of our life – what we felt we needed to keep. Everything else – no more anchors holding us down!
The count down is getting a bit scary…no exciting…scary…exciting! I remember being coached during the Master Key on reviewing the feelings within my core whenever I felt scared versus excited and the amazing recognition that they each feel just about the same. Recently, each time I have felt what I used to call “scary” (the unknown we are jumping into with all 6 of our feet) I have immediately told myself it is not scary, I’m just “excited”.
Bottom line is we ALL have the ability to choose what we label these feelings. I’ve recognized this ability and am working on it – it just may take a bit of time to totally adjust within my subconscious mind. BUT…it is possible.
Over the past 5.5 months we’ve experienced what I’ve repeatedly referred to as the rollercoaster. Other options Walter and I have used to describe this are sine waves and the EKG machine which tracks your heart beats. I still prefer the rollercoaster since climbing to the top can seem like it takes forever but once you are there, the drop and roll to the next peak can be so very quick.
As we wrap up the house stuff and get ready for our stint at the hotel, I have been considering all sorts of surprises for the family in order to make this next step the adventure it should be. For Gregory we’ve got his friends lined up for a surprise early birthday pool / water slide party, we’ve arranged for family and friends to join us at the Mandarin (Gregory’s favourite “Chinese Buffet”) and yesterday I purchased tickets to the local amusement park – Canada’s Wonderland. AND guess what the main attractions are??
ROLLERCOASTERS!
I look forward to solidifying my relabeling of the “rollercoaster” feelings – excitement, excitement, excitement!
Happy Dance! Can you hear the song…”99 blogs left on the site, 99 blogs left on the site, If I write one more blog on this site, how many are left to be wrote?”
This constant movement towards something reminds me of what Gregory declared during a conversation he had with Walter this evening – repeated for my benefit so I may “DoWoo” about it.
“There is no such thing as the present because by the time you think of it, it is the past.” He went on to explain that“there is a lot of past but even more future and very little present.” It appears our son has been listening to us. Time is ever evolving.
Walter counsels that in order to have your best life, you only need to do one thing….make every moment the best it can be. All life is, is a cumulation of individual moments. We need to make it count.
How did I make today count?
Today I started the day drinking coffee (a few sips just so I said I did) whilst sitting in the big comfy leather couch, while my men slept in. I proceeded to make pancake breakfast once they were up – our last in the house. We cheered our last Sunday family breakfast here.
Today I moved forward towards our dream. It feels good to make each moment in the present count for your most memorable past, charging towards our future.
Woke up at about 4:30 this morning envisioning all we had on our plate today. One of the things which has kept me reasonably sane through everything we’ve done these past few months is to remind myself “eating an elephant is just one bite at a time”.
Yesterday, today seemed daunting.
Today however, started with me laying in bed, mapping it out in my mind, stacking things which were ready to be moved into one area – leaving only what still required sorting into what would visually appear as a smaller more manageable pile. Yesterday we had gone to the storage unit, and while I knew it was 5x5x8, seeing it allowed me to visualize it spatially. Once I moved all the stuff not required in the front room, I was able to set aside a space which I marked off with green masking tape as a 5×5 space. This way I could start stacking into this space and visually know how things are coming along. When Walter saw what I had done he smiled and said “I love you!”
As far back as I can remember I’ve been a visual person. I love the kind of math where you can visually draw what you are trying to solve. I love a good book where I can see the movie. I love being able to shop for items which I can see all together in one room before they are placed there. Auditory works only when I can take what I hear and somehow translate that onto paper for review. Love spreadsheets – especially the colour coded ones.
Green tape bottom left corner
So once I had that tape on the floor, representing a space I had stood in, I was able to stack and emotionally feel like we were getting somewhere. AND we are! We have more than 1/2 of what we are storing sorted, packed and stacked. We have a pile for donation and another for garbage. AND we have another section, much smaller than it was yesterday, which includes only what still needs to be sorted.
Walter worked outside preparing the yard and cleaning up. Gregory helped by being “Vac-Man” – vacuuming the entire crawl space and the rest of the house. THEN to make it even more special we had the buyers over for our last “pizza night”, creating a special soon-to-be-your-home moment while sitting around the fire in the yard and chatting, with the final finishing touch being Walter, Gregory and I having a cuddle on the laydown swing once our visitors had left.
A wonderful, productive, enjoyable, visual, sociable day. The last moment however, priceless.
Received a call from the Carter’s Forever Rescue Organization who we released Mya to yesterday. After a bit of catch up on how we were doing and how Mya was doing – turns out they already have someone special coming out to see her tomorrow – we got to the reason for her call. Turns out we did not fill in the form for releasing Mya into their care.
We proceeded to go through this together, with me responding to each of the questions – being able to paint the picture with words rather than what I may have wrote down on a form with specific sized area for answers. I was able to be verbose when I felt a need to elaborate – to allow Wendy to see how things were when interacting with Mya.
After what may have been over an hour…Let me check the phone log, oh my, it was almost an hour and a half we spoke…I had spoken so fondly of all the amazing moments we had with Mya, describing her character. One of the things I noticed was, for the most part, what I shared were more observant rather than opinionated. Instead of saying she was “needy”, I explained that she just always wanted to be wherever the people are. This was also one of only a few consistent times for her to bark. If my people are inside – bark“let me in” and if my people are outside – bark “let me out”.
I realize this was not the intended way for the organization to receive all this detail. It was to have been completed prior to the release of Mya into their care. However, as I sit here all I can think about is how grateful I am. It was truly a blessing to have all these great visuals remembered, back to back, allowing me to revel in the good times we have had, all that we have done together as a family.
Gregory came home this morning from school, claiming to have a stomach ache, and he felt like he wanted to throw up. Concluding it may be that he was missing her, Walter reminded Gregory that both he (Walter) and I had cried, that this is a sad time – even though it was the right thing – it is still OK to feel whatever we are feeling.
Gregory looks over at me and says “I’m remembering the poem your sister read at your mom’s funeral…that we are to ‘remember (her) with smiles, not tears.” and that’s what I’m trying to do.” Well my little man…you are my blessing. I just spent over an hour talking fondly of our time with Mya – what she did with us, what she did for us – sharing the humour of our 2 years with her. It was truly the most cathartic experience. I remembered her with smiles, not tears.
Gracias Wendy! You and Brenda are amazing at what you do. Thank you to you both! I will do whatever I can to support what you are doing here – helping not only ourselves and Mya but others, who – like us – really do care.
Today was one of the hardest days we have experienced thus far in our current journey. As I explained to Gregory….sometimes the right thing is not what is the easiest or feels the best.
Having lived on a roller coaster these past few months – as it relates to taking our dog Mya with us on this next chapter – confirming her being on an American Airlines flight and purchasing Walter a ticket at twice the price of the other airlines in order to to get her accompanied, then to finding out she could not go on the airline or to this particular airport, then finding out not even in cargo, to finding a pet carrier who said they could do it as they found a solution, only to find out they had missed the key factor I had clearly explained – it needed to be an extra large kennel, so now she could not go again, to finding one carrier that said they would take her only to find out from another source that she would not…..whew! are you as exhausted as we are?
I was seriously trying to come up with logical reasoning to share with Walter about spending $4,000 for a pet transportation company when he brought me back to reality.
We had a very warm day and Mya was not active at all, panting and lethargic with the heat and humidity. This would be every day in Costa Rica. THEN, he pointed out that after we had boarded her at a pet resort for 3 days, she was never the same – it had a traumatic effect on her personality. He asked me to think about how she would be after 12 to 24 hours on a plane in a crate, not being let out – only to arrive in a place which was hot and humid?? THEN when the pet carrier started explaining that the Costa Rican import process could be challenging – and if the paperwork was not perfect they could either ship her back to Canada immediately or euthanize her right there. None of these options sounded remotely good.
Once we took away what we wanted and concentrated on what Mya needed…I kept coming back to her needing us to keep her safe – not putting her well being at risk. She deserves a family who do right by her – making she is is comfortable, happy and well cared for. This meant we needed to give her up.
We dropped Mya off with the dog rescue organization today. They are an amazing group who truly care for their charges. They have a wooded oasis in Muskoka. AND there is already a person who may be fostering her and is seriously considering adopting – she has 2 Belgian shepherds and the 3 got to meet each other and got along so well.
The best part was seeing how quickly she adjusted to where she was – checking everything out, the garden, the yard, the other dogs – she even wandered off by herself and explored the back yard – and when we called she came trotting from the back – ears up – happy. This is when we knew she would be just fine.
I cried. Walter cried. Gregory did not but he said he was sad. He’s doing his best to look at both sides of the coin in this matter and explained some areas we will miss and other areas (like her butt in his face in the back seat of the car) … not so much!
Last night I decided to record our play time. Here is Mya….being Mya!
“Once you make up your mind, Carolynn, and start something. Once you commit to it, say “Yes!” and never look back. Do you have any doubt that I won’t rush to your side? That legions won’t be summoned? That players won’t be drawn to help, assist, and fall in love? That connections won’t be made? Circumstances won’t be crafted? Dots won’t be connected? That the course of history won’t be irrevocably changed? Good, I didn’t think so. I’d say you’re ready, The Universe”
This has been a running message from a variety of sources during the last week while I have been second guessing myself and the journey we have begun. Each subsequent ‘similar’ message was meant to hit over the head with the message that I need to be all that I know I am within – strong, confident, tenacious, adventurous, spontaneous…with just a touch of the crazy thrown in to keep it interesting. Wow! I kind of like that description.
The journey we have started is a “Yes” and I should not be looking back. I AM all of these things when I allow myself to just “be”. When I worry and consider all the permutations of what “could” happen, I am literally wasting my precious time as well as waving a finger at The Universe claiming it does not have my back! AND it does!
So why not embrace with faith the underlying message from all of these self help sessions, improve yourself courses, become all that you can be coaching? The Universe is going to move everything to help you to complete your quest. All you have to do is allow it to. As a parent, I want the world for Gregory. And if I had the ability to have his back no matter what direction he went on….why would The Universe – our source – feel any different about us?
We are in receipt of a multitude of small blessings from the Universe and I am most grateful.
We have 12 days from closing until we fly out. I decided to check my Marriott Rewards and voila! I had enough for 8 out of the 10 days we need to be in town. And the kind service rep on the phone maximized this to cover the more expensive dates so our overall cost was at a minimum.
When we were all stressed out about not taking Mya – we had a slew of responses to the ad we posted and one of them was a rescue organization who are wiling to work on her few quirks and make sure she is well cared for until they find her her next home – her forever family.
A friend of mine – someone I connected with exponentially less than a year ago – just happens to be an intuitive animal counselor. She spoke with Mya and explained what was going on with the move – and that we need to ensure she is safe and taken care of, that we still love her and want to ensure she is happy. She provided a sense of connection with our family member whom we have to leave behind.
We’ve had 2 garage sales scheduled during the last few weeks and both times they called for chance of rain. Both times we had sun, blue skies and warmth. It was truly amazing!
Walter and I spent the day yesterday doing yard work and he broke up all the empty boxes from our garage sale, sorted the garbage and the yard waste which resulted in more than our weekly allowance for household debris. This morning he went on line to check with the city about the dates they allow for unlimited – voila! This week and next are considered the spring clean up time when they allow unlimited.
I believe we are in the ‘groove’ as some would say. Maybe we are in the ‘vortex’ as my Yogi refers to as the ‘groove’ of synchronicity. No matter what we choose to label it as, I observe that we are being well cared for and I am most grateful.
Today I considered the option of purchasing sheets for our rental beds. The owner has linen but suggested we bring our own – commenting some people find it more comfortable to use their own. And if we choose to wait and decide to purchase there – supposedly the available options for good bed linen are not many. Purchasing something specifically to bring was not on our plan but the more I thought about it, I decided to look into this further.
Our landlord also explained that with the humidity the sheets can sometimes feel damp and therefore cold. She purchased the electric mattress heaters which she suggests we turn on about 15 minutes before bed and then everything feels better.
My search began on line and within only a few sights I found one set of sheets which sounded interesting – bamboo and cotton. I figure since bamboo is from rain forests, this may be something to consider. Then I read the reviews and they were all 4 and 5 stars. One of the reviews said they purchased the product for their place in Panama – due to the dampness and humidity – and they were fantastic!
We have a winner!
Now….while I AM getting rid of the majority of what I own…I still appreciate a good shop now and again. I especially love getting either a good deal or something extraordinary. I promise to come back to you on how they turn out.
Walter just came in to hear my DoWoo. After reading this, we chatted and then as he was leaving he came over to give me a kiss and saw I was already looking online for sizes and rates. He said “A little bit of retail therapy.” My answer “Ya-ah!” I guess I’m not so ‘recovered’ after-all.
Most of the time I am told people perceive me as being a positive individual. And a good portion of this time it is true. However, sometimes I admit I realign myself on purpose – to point myself in the direction of positivity – even when I don’t feel so inclined. Today was one of those days.
I am reminded of my mother’s words when I was a teen – my highs are really high and my lows are really low and I should really strive for something not so drastic either way. Yesterday I was exhausted but excited – it almost felt like we were taking flight. Today I was exhausted, reflective, anxious, upset, despondent…and generally speaking, the most negative I have been in quite some time.
Why?
In considering what happened today – how it all came crashing down – I recalled how exhilarated I had felt only 48 hours ago…when all the stars were in alignment for us. Today…not so much! How could I be one way one day and so far on the other within such a short period of time?
I imagine that by “evening” out my moods, I could choose to alter both the positive and the negative results…maybe my days could look like this….
or
Walter reminded me of a quote from Robin Sharma “On the other side of your greatest fears lies your biggest growth.” – Our greatest life lies on the other side of our greatest fears! There is so much we must understand in order to fully embrace this reality. We must first obliterate our inner fears before the ability to do the same to our outer fears are possible. It starts within.
Tomorrow morning when I awake I will have come full circle. I am on the adventure of a life time. Why would I willingly choose to waste any time dwelling on all the possible challenges which may arise? Life has it’s ups and downs. Everything is in balance in order to maintain the cosmos…otherwise we would have chaos. I choose magnificent mountains for my highs and sandy ocean beaches for my lows. My struggles are all part of the ride. Without them…how could I possibly appreciate the joy in all it’s glory? All is as it will be – as it was meant to be.
We completed our final garage sale today. Ended up with 2 car loads being dropped off at the donation centre which supports local charities. The balance of our belongings were sold clearing out over 30 bins of “stuff”. I remember bringing all those bins home and filing them with everything we own in order to ‘de-clutter’ the house for selling.
Walter likens our “stuff” – the materialistic aspects of our daily existence – to be small anchors which hold us in place. I have to admit the more “stuff which goes out of this house, the more free-er I am feeling. Anchors appear to be a good analogy and certainly the visual fits.
The best part of the garage sale today was parting with stuff I loved by seeing someone else find joy in it. Watching someone try on a piece of clothing and oooh and ahh at themselves in the mirror. Seeing someone pick something up – and by the light in their eyes it seemed they found something they were looking for. We even had repeat customers from 2 weeks ago.
I observed a significant amount of closure today AND I am grateful beyond anything I could have imagined. We are flying!
Learned a HUGElesson between yesterday’s actions and today’s observations. When you are sorting for packing versus packing to store versus giving away – remember to leave stuff out for the interim.
Gregory was getting ready for school today and there were no underwear, socks, any outside clothes left in his room – only PJs. I had to sort through the give away pile as well as the packing pile until we found clothes he could wear today (high of 14 degrees Celsius). I then realized I had not left anything out for myself.
So…lesson learned. Have a 4th pile within your 3 step process – otherwise you may wind up with no choices whatsoever.
Tomorrow is our 2nd and last ever garage sale here. I believe we’ve had a garage sale every year since I was pregnant with Gregory – so 10 years now! It is a huge amount of work but so much fun. Our bedroom set is being picked up (sold months ago) and tomorrow night we’ll be camping on the floor mat. It’s becoming real. And the most wonderful things is that I’m smiling as I type this. We’re in the last stages of this chapter and I’m starting to truly feel the excitement of this next chapter….the unknown within the known.
Happy Dance – I’m 70% of the way to my goal of 365! Whoo Hoo!
Walter and I had a very exhilarating experience today as we stood in our bedroom….we released clothes from our closet with a good portion going to the garage sale pile, a small amount going into the bin for storage and reconsideration later – AND we managed to get all 3 of our clothes for our trip mostly sorted and organized.
I like to treat packing as a 3 stage process:
Put everything I think I may want to bring on the bed, sorted into piles of similar items (ie: pants, skirts, shorts, Ts, swimming, etc)
Pull out items from the areas which have excess
Leave it for a day or so and then reconsider, removing more as I know I don’t need all of it!
Occasionally there is a #4 – Leave it for a few more days, reconsider and remove more!
For tonight’s sort we made a list: We had quite a bit of back and forth discussion with the intent of choosing favourites items which were comfy but also as Walter put it “You have to look at me, so it may as well be something you like.”
We’ve rented our storage unit and are looking forward to selling loads of stuff on Saturday. The clock is certainly ticking….we have less than a month before we will be on the ground in Costa Rica.
Last night Walter mentioned there was an email from International Living “Make 2015 Your “Year of Costa Rica””. It was like a “Display Ad from the Universe” reminding us we are doing the right thing!
I want to say Mucho Gracias to everyone who continues to read about our journey of DoWoo. I’m blessed and amazed at the same time.
My mom passed away just over 2 months ago. Today I felt a significant shift – almost like she was here with me. Numerous times today I felt like I wanted to share something with her only to realized I no longer needed to pick up the phone. The same way I’ve been communicating with dad for the last 25 years now exists for mom!
I spoke to her. I thought fondly of her. I found pictures of her. The one which fell out of a huge pile of photographs being sorted was her walking down the stairs at the cottage – holding out my baby blanket. She gave it to me when I was 27 years old. I had no recollection of ever seeing it before. It was a mini sleeping back all covered with elephants. I now had a possible explanation for my ever present love of elephants.
On Saturday morning I stopped and picked up flowers to take with me to her interment later that day. On the way there, with no time to spare, I remembered they were still at the house. Later, when I saw the cemetery associate stuff the flowers from my siblings into the ground with the urn, I thought all things happen for a reason. Coming home to the flowers I bought with mom in mind allowed me to think of her each time I looked at them.
This morning I walked into the kitchen to see the vase of flowers I picked out for mom and the vase of tulips Walter and Gregory picked from our garden on Sunday morning for mother’s day.
The flowers called to me. I looked over and realized the flowers changed my wall sign from Live to Love!
Mom’s message to me today: Imagine your Dream; Create your Happiness: Love your Life.
The wonderful thing about being a mom is that our son brings home all sorts of crafts, pictures he created, rocks he painted, cards he put together….and interestingly he expects me to keep them ALL. I recently had to explain to Gregory that we may need to double our storage rental if I were to have kept everything he ever made or gave us.
A few weeks ago there was something he had drawn and he wanted me to keep it. While I did keep things for years, I’ve been rather brutal recently and have let much of this go. I explained to Gregory we could take a picture of it, that way we will have it with us without it taking up any room. He thought this was a great idea and did not have appear to have any (rear view mirror) issues with it going into the garbage once we digitized it on our camera.
Today we dismantled Gregory’s bunk bed as it was being purchased by someone. Gregory is now sleeping on the last piece of his bedroom set – the bottom mattress where Mya usually sleeps. He asked her to come in and snuggle with him. He called out to me to come see her in his bed with him. I explained my camera battery was low so I would not be able to take a picture with the flash. He replied “Just take a picture with your mind.”I no longer rely on my memory (LOL) so took one without the flash – after turning on the light!
I’m not one of these people who has a shoe fetish…but I do like to have the right shoe for the right situation. The only shoes I brought with me when we left the house and moved into the hotel were the walking sandals I was wearing for the move. They were ok for yesterday when it was still 28 degrees Celsius but today…not so much. The day started out at 8 degrees and went up a whole degree AND it rained for most of the day. Sandals just don’t work well. At one point I even wore socks with them (because it was so cold)! 
We went over the storage locker and went through the first 5 feet of boxes and bins and nada! No shoes. I had started out with the intent to number and label but in our craziness of the last few weeks I did not. Luckily Walter found my crocks in a box with a whole bunch of stuff from the kitchen – which at least allowed me to go to the pool with the correct footwear! 
