Remnants of a Visit

After a holiday whirlwind, it always feels good to sit down, breathe, and enjoy a bit of nothing. Clean up the house, put things away that were brought out only for the kids, take inventory of the refrigerator, wake up with no particular agenda.

The one thing I haven't put away yet is the doll house. I just haven't been able to bring myself to disrupt the cozy conversation of "brother and sister" having their snack of hot chocolate and banana cake.


See, they had been fussing and arguing for several days and finally went out to the terrace for a snack and some talking. I think I'll give them a few more days and then tell them it's time to come in.

Mission Accomplished

We did it! Just under three hours for 13.1 miles. No pain, lots of gain. A beautiful day in so many ways.

The Power of Encouragement

I don't really know how this happened, but all of a sudden, I have just done 10 miles (run/walk) because I committed to do the Route 66 Half Marathon with my daughter in less than two weeks. It's been a slow build up, and like I said, I don't know how it happened. My feet have complained and begged me to reconsider; my hips practically scream at me every morning, and then I get this little email or text that says "We can do it" and you know what? We can.

Then today I had lunch with a colleague and he says "You need to have ten miles under your belt if you're going to do that run. You can do that. Just do it." And I did.

And don't forget that someone who acts impressed with what you've done. It feels so good.

All I'm saying is that I would have given up or backed out on this deal if I had not had encouragement and motivation from several people. For that, I am grateful. It's such a great feeling to finish something that you had doubts about because people believed in you.

I'm just feeling grateful tonight for the people in my life. You know who you are. Thank you.

Golden Afternoon

I took a break from sifting and sorting, sat on the front porch and watched the wind blow ginko leaves to the ground. Our driveway looks like a path of gold doubloons. These leaves don't crunch yet. They're soft still, and so bright. Lovely.

Day 5

Today, I discovered that Day 4 is really Day 5. Now, that's sad. Still going.

Clutter clearing

Today is day 3 of cleaning and organizing my supply closet. And I really mean Day 3. I have spent two entire days pulling everything out of that closet, sorting, tossing, reorganizing, shaking my head and wondering how and why I can accumulate so much stuff. I now have a path into the room. I made the mistake of not taking a "before" picture, so an "after" picture won't have any impact. Too bad. It would have been impressive.

Of course, when you clean a closet, you don't just clean a closet. It turns into redoing book shelves, reorganizing sewing boxes, categorizing health files, and so on. It turns into new projects such as "I think I'll decoupage that ugly little bookcase." It turns into discoveries of supplies purchased for a great idea, which still seems like a great idea, and means another project. It turns into that beautiful feeling of accomplishment and almost tranquility when you walk into the room and open the closet door.

I am actually getting rid of some things that I cannot even mention for fear of offending someone. I held it (them) in my hand, thought about it, and then carefully put it in a box.

I love the idea of the universe taking care of you to provide you with whatever you need, when you need it, but there's also this feeling of "ah-a" when you have the perfect piece of ribbon, the perfect embellishment, or the perfect piece of paper that you saved not knowing what its intention was. Maybe the universe tells us what to keep if we listen.

Today, the universe and I are going through drawers of paper scraps and miscellaneous treasures to determine which ones are worthy of keeping and may be intentioned for another life.