Random Laundromat Thoughts...

Here I am…again at the laundromat, that also brings me eggs, toast and hashbrowns. Mmmmm…it comes on a styrofoam plate that usually has melt marks on it when the food is all gone…but it still hits the spot! Plus it has WIFI which I do NOT have at home and That fact alone is really starting to irk me. ;op And the fact that all we have at home is iron water which puts rust into the water that comes into the house causing all things that can soak up water to turn orange. Not fully orange…but you will find rust spots all over your laundry. All I do at home is darks and underwear that I don't care if it has rust spots on it. (I will treat Clint & I to fresh undies when we move outta there…a getting out of da country and into the town present to ourselves!) I like that there is a laundry line though. Yesterday I washed Larry's van seat blanket while I was giving the van the "treatment"…rinse, wash and chamois of the exterior plus the hubcaps, and a full interior clean with vacuum and windex and those cleaning wipe things. It took no time for everything to dry up nice…the van and the blanket. Super sunny hot day with a good wind…perfect for outdoor drying. The van is…was spotless. I have to drive 7 ams up that friggin' gravel road to get anywhere…ugh! All that work…5 hours I spent on Windy the Windstar. She almost looks like I never even washed her. Seriously…we REALLY need to get out of that place. Too bad. The country really is so very lovely. I open the door and all I will ever hear are crickets or birds or moos from the cows across the street. I like it when I can hear the cranes flying across the pasture. It was pretty insane when I realized that the odd shriek like sound I kept hearing were big old birds. They are amazing birds…just like the blue heron but they are more creamy grey coloured. I will miss seeing them when we leave the country. Ohhh…and my barn swallow family that I watched hatch and grow up and get flying lessons from their mom and dad and I think an auntie and uncle maybe too with their little ones. I felt like sometimes they were even showing off to me their fabulous flying skills. I know I am strange that way…but I really feel like Snow White sometimes! lol Animals always seem to like me and I will talk to them and watch them and they get used to me and hang out. They haven't sewn any dresses or swept my home yet for me…one day. ;o) I am pretty darn sure that the animal kingdom are just like us but more wild and untamed…yet compared to some people they are the socialized ones! They feel joy and pain and sorrow…but I feel that they also get over it. They live completely in the moment. Joy is more of an overall sensation they have as they have zero stress. Until of course a stressful moment happens…like a predator chasing them or a big storm that is threatening their home. But when it's over…if they live through it they don't relive that moment over and over and allow it to affect their mood for days, weeks, months or years. They live through it and just keep on keeping on. That must feel nice…to never play the "oh, woe is me" game. It gets so old, yet we all do it. I am sure there are some of us who never complain or feel sorry for themselves…but that takes mucho strength. You have to be a Buddhist monk and in constant meditation! My mind is far too busy to get there…maybe one day. Enlightenment. ;o)
Anyhow…it's another beautiful day in the neighbourhood. Sun is shining, cool clouds are pure white and are float float floating around. The mornings and evenings have taken a turn…they have that fall chill. The days are still getting quite hot. I had to sit in the ice cold water that I filled into my blow up pool yesterday after the epic van detailing job. Then I took Larry on a walk to our camp site home…we walked pretty far and it was so hot and beautiful. I had to jump in the wavy water. And it felt delightful. Oh how I love to be in the waves…I just love the water so much. Nice to be on the lake…my prairie ocean. In a few months that "ocean" will be frozen over and I will be ski-cooing all over it! So strange that the same body of water that feels so warm in the middle of August will actually freeze for 4-6 months and then become warm enough within weeks of thaw to swim in. Amazing if you think about it! I might want to try ice fishing this winter. I really don't like to fish cause it makes me kind of sad. But if I am going to eat meat I really ought to catch it myself…otherwise I am a hypocrite, I have been told. That too makes sense to me. Perhaps I should just not eat meat. Or maybe only fish…become a pescitarian! 
Oh my…these two cute old ladies just walked in with mounds and mounds of laundry! They are too cute. Little Icelandic women speaking together. What a strange language it is…sounds so very different to me. There really are no words that I can ever pick out to get any sense at all what they are talking about. But I love to listen to the conversation. Although presently, the weird guys laundry is in spin mode and he is using the triple loader so it is causing quite the deafening sound. And he keeps reading something on the machine that is in Spanish and saying the spinning of the laundry is so romantic. What!?! I just want my laundry to dry already so that I can get out of here and take Larry on a nice walk somewhere. I also have to fold the two loads…ugh. I hate folding laundry in front of people. They love to watch me in their peripheral (like as if I can't notice them doing this.) to see how I do it with only one arm. Of course I must look strange as I do it because I use my chin to hold a t-shirt whilst folding and towels too...I must look almost comical at times. So I kind of play this game in my head that I am teaching them whilst paying little to no attention to them. But still…I find it quite embarrassing. I work as fast as I can with looking like that is just the way I am...efficient! ;op Will I ever get over myself? I will be 99 years old and still self conscious…oh brother, I hope not! lol
Well, weird guy keeps wanting to talk to me and I keep typing furiously so that he thinks that I am deep in my novel that will be a NYT bestseller! ha ha ha ha ha! He grosses me out too…but I shouldn't say those kinds of things because that is not nice. Even though the only reason I now see him as creepy is largely due to the vibe he is giving me...with his greasy hair, John Lennon glasses, army jacket on a warm sunny morning and his moronic tone of voice. ew. But doesn't he see that I am wearing a wedding ring??? I am actually holding my hand in front of my face periodically in a way that it is like a target that you just can't miss. Sooooo annoying. Why can't people notice these things and then back off. Obviously I am not really interested. But it is hard for me to not engage when I am being spoke too. Phew. He just left. As he walked out the door he was saying something about enjoying my laundry time and then said good-bye…adding "you will probably be gone before I get back, eh?" Like YEAH!!!! Too funny. Mine must almost be dry his will take at least half an hour. I gots to get a move on it. ;o)
I'm coming Larry...

Ode to Isolation

(Well...to be honest I ain't entirely sure on the definition of what an "Ode" actually consists of...lines/verse/prose...what have you. It's just pretty much my feelings at the moment wrapped up in a neat little easy to read platform. All is good of course...just my way of letting it out of me so that I can move on.) 

My eyes usually open before I am done my dreams
I get out of bed in a lucid state and a sweaty body
Am I home or not is usually the first question I ask myself
I feel this is home…well this province WAS my birthplace
This "home" we are living in is just a house to live in
Life doesn't feel real these past few months…as though in a dream
Is this the reason for my constant lucid awakenings…am I asleep
Each day is the same as the 24 hours just gone by the 24 hours previous to that
I break from typing to scratch the new mosquito bite on my left calf…itchy
Each morning I walk out the front door as I let Larry to chill outside
There really is no chilling, per se…it is hotter than the gates of hell on that deck
But I breathe in that thick, hot air and listen to the cranes flying over the pasture
I hear all of the chirping of various sweet little birdies…I love their tunes
I love the way the crickets and grasshoppers accompany the music in my ears
I love that big, blue with fluffy white cloud sky that surrounds my upper peripheral
Encompassing me each moment I am outdoors…not too many tall trees around
Not too many anything around these parts out here in the middle of no man's land
I take back the words "I don't mind isolation"…for I really had no clue
Spending time alone is something I crave each day…I like the silence
But…when all you have is yourself, the alone becomes your shackle
Tying you to yourself, your thoughts, your identity, your longing for friendships
I am not a hermit…I admit being wrong…I am a vibrantly coloured social butterfly
The colours are fading along with my zeal for happiness
How could this be? This is not me…I'm no longer free…This I now see
My sadness comes out in lashes…oh poor Clint…I know you hate it too
Hard to be the "optimistic one" when you just want to run back home
The home I loved for the past 6 years…I left my friends there…stupid me
I was searching for health to bring me happiness…screw my health
I want to live in pain if it means I live with peace in my heart
Daily greetings with smiles and hugs to fill my day
My heart is torn…here: family love…there: friend love
More than just friend love…nature love, ocean love, island love
My love that I wanted everyone else to experience in visits to see us
Family makes my heart sing like a mezzo soprano to a full house at the concert hall
The smiles and warm hugs of my sweetie ones take my breath away
Oh joy joy joy joy bliss…it streams right out of them into my heart
If only that strong sensation took away my pain
Whine, sob, wallow in the mire of that very same pain
The pain envelopes me more than the prairie sky in an open harvested field
I need to locate a great sunflower field STAT…run through the yellow towers
Find some joy and laughter throughout that sun drenched field of beauty
Something has to save me…save me from my misery
I'll try to keep smiling…for Clint…he is my greatest love…my true passion
"We got to get out of this place…if it's the last thing we ever do"
Confusing having two homes in separate places
Which place do you choose…do you only get the one choice
The choice was made…plan set in motion…that's ancient history
Well…for now it is what it is…we are where we are
We've got to keep on keeping on
With a smile on our faces of course…even if just for show
CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZE!!!

Livin' in the Sticks!

The sun shines bright and hot each and every morning…the heat punches you (softly) in the face when you walk out the front door. Some mornings the herd of cows are across the street in the pasture…mooing and grazing and hiding in the patch of trees searching for shade, reprieve from the sun. Their tails constantly swishing the flies away. They are pretty darn cute I must say. There are about 60 of them…including about 20 little calves. I cross the empty gravel road in hopes that perhaps this morning they will come to the fence and greet me…my voice must be starting to sound familiar. As I approach the gate they walk away…sometimes the little ones will run. Like what do they think I am going to do to them? I speak in a soft, calming and loving tone…don't they see me holding delicious greens in my hand? Some of them are dark brown, some light brown and there are a few that are tan coloured…they are my favourite! (never seen cows that colouring before…unique and beautiful)

Today is a breezy morning. I have not heard the cows across the road…they must be up pasture, near the creek. The line of poplars surrounding the 3 acres that our home is on are swaying with the cool breeze that last nights storm brought in. I hear their leaves rustling in the wind and I watch the sun dance on the beautiful lime green "feathers" on each branch. The sky is a soft blue and the big fluffy puffy white clouds are just streaming by. Is that a big fat duck in the sky? Maybe a mushroom? The cloud in the prairies are the mountains here…but they are ever changing their shapes and colour. Pure white, grey, dark grey and looming…sometimes they look like sand ripples in the sky. And they just go on and on and on. You can see them forever. I love that. It is so beautiful to me. Reminds me of childhood…lying in the freshly mowed soft green grass in my backyard…staring up into the wild blue yonder watching all the animals and ships and strange shapes float on by. Happiness.

The skunk and the fox that live in the area are pretty cute too. Foxes are such lonely sad creatures…I never knew this. He…or she is always crying and just roaming between our property and our neighbours (the real farmer). The first morning that I heard him I was worried that one of the farmers cats had been attacked by the pack of coyotes that I hear some nights out in the fields. I heard this strange wailing sound…it was 6 am. I got out of bed and stood on the back deck scanning the area for where the sound was coming from. That's when I saw the cartoon like red tail with white tip running around that flower bed…a fox! So cute! He must be also wanting to get a taste for one of the farmers feral cats.  I know Larry loves to chase the cats from next door. They are far too quick for him though…thankfully. I do not know what Larry would even do if he did catch them. I feel like he is just chasing them out of HIS yard. He is protective of his property. He just loves it here. I can't stop him when he chases the cats…he ignores my calls. But when he starts after the fox or the skunk…he seems to get why my voice is a bit more shrill in my call. One…I do not want to deal with the hurt a fox could put on him, plus the vet bill! ;op Secondly…I am not into bathing dogs in tomato juice to rid of the obnoxious "perfume" the skunk will spray out on his cute face. Skunks are funny creatures too. She is young, quite small still. Walks into the yard only following the perimeter of the house then runs across the yard to the garage where she then again follows the perimeter of that building to the fence then all along the fence. She was within 6 feet of Larry and I and never once looked up to pay notice to either of us. I was calmly telling Larry to keep back while she just sniffed her way to where she was heading. She too is VERY cute! Larry seems to understand that her and the little fox are different animals…he must smell their "wild". That is definitely a VERY good thing!

Living out in the sticks is quiet, peaceful, exciting at times, lovely and just plain perfect in so many ways…but it's also isolating and lonely too. I felt that Gabriola was a rural place to live. Compared to here it is an island metropolis…events and functions, a bustling downtown and people everywhere that know my name and I know theirs. And if I didn't want to be around people or events…I could easily hide too…the hermit Pami inside of me does like solitude also. Here…well, we are 7 kms down a dusty gravel road (that I suspect is killing the integrity of our van) from the town of Fraserwood. A rural Manitoba town. The one store is the "General Store"…selling food staples, wine, liquor, meat, the post office is in there, they have a gas pump too. Across the street from there is the "Tourist Hotel" ($25 a night for a room!!) which has a nice little cafe and a pub on the ground level. The first Friday of each month is Karaoke…so you know where to find me those nights!! lol We went July 5th…what a hoot! It happened to be the one night of the year that the Cadet camp kids come to the bar…so they packed the joint. (I swear some of them must've been about 16…they looked like babies! hee hee) The locals came out too which was fun…a woman who sang just like Patsy Cline, real cowboys wearing their hats and one dude even had his spurs on. It was VERY interesting to say the least. I rocked the house of course…and I am sure I shocked the heck out of them as the "singing one armed woman!" It does seem like a nice community…but I never see any of them living way out here in the sticks. I may not be the "rural" woman that I thought I could be. I think I am more of just a small community woman…I don't want the city, but I do need people. So…a move will happen sooner than later I am sure! Ugh. Ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaaaaa!!

Oh wait…I didn't mention the Buffalo that live up the road from us. I like them too! Although…the one day that we passed them and they were hanging out near the fence, I made Clint pull over so I could get a good photo. As I approached them they all moved away about 30 feet and all started to defecate. Yup…I made them all poo and pee their pants!! ha ha! I am clearly not the Buffalo Whisperer! ;o)

But, for now I am Farmer Pam. Just Living in the Sticks!

Trails, Trials and Tribulations...

What a journey the last few months have been…preparing and then leaving home where we were incredibly happy but with it's share of physical problems making the move out east the decision to be made. Going away parties…tears, laughter, love and many many hugs and kisses were had during the time of "leaving". Knowing for 6 months that you are leaving home is a long set of goodbyes and heartache…like ripping a very sticky Elasto-Plast band aid super slowly off. It was hard, heart breaking and stressful to say the very least. I was in a constant feeling of complete overwhelming mental and emotional breakdown status…like somebody hospitalize me quickly before I lose my mind, kind of deal. Not to mention the fact that each time I gave something away to a friend and explained where and why I got it in the first place...it felt as though I were doling out my worldly possessions before I leave to enter the after life. Very strange feeling indeed. But we got through it all, with all of the love and support from our Gabriola family and left our little paradise island on May 27th. The trek out east was epic, to say the least. We stayed with family and friends and the Country Inn in Regina (I would actually recommend this hotel if you have to stay in Regina…it was nice and clean and incredibly comfortable.) all along the way. We landed at Camp Morton campground on June 1st. (Marilyn Munroe and Syder the cat's b-day) It was a sunny and beautiful day. Our friend Ken loaned us his tent trailer so that we could have a "temporary home" instead of just a tent…I don't think I could have handled the tent situation. A tent trailer is pretty chic for camping I must say. We don't have power or water or anything…but we have four walls that for the last 24 hours have kept us high and dry in the Manitoba Spring rain.

This is a most gorgeous place to be situated I must say. We are right on the banks of the western shore of Lake Winnipeg…perfect for watching the beautiful sun rise over the lake! Sun comes up about 4:50am…at least it did the other morning when I woke up in time to walk down to the waters edge and gaze upon the beauty that was before me. During the week we have the whole campground to ourselves (besides some fishermen that park and go down to the beach to catch pickerel and whitefish) ad enjoy the peace and quiet and tranquility of the lake. We are surrounded by Oak and Birch trees…many different birds; Yellow Finch, Purple Martin, other little songbirds, Seagulls, Eagles, Pelicans and Crows. And yeah, I tell the crows to get lost when they are trying to snatch the baby birds from their parents. The birds are digging my help..I know it! ;o) There are cool trails of soft green grass and lime coloured fresh leaves on the Birch trees above head. Walks along the beach that could take you weeks to go up the shore line…Lake Winnipeg is approximately 25,000 square kilometres…it's big! We walk up the beach for about and hour and find beach glass and cool rocks and stones and even a fossil or two. I am really enjoying the nature part of this new adventure…that is for sure. So much to enjoy and love. And it is all so very nostalgic to the both of us. Childhood memories of mind and olfactory senses play a big role in day to day life here. We love it!

I enjoy camping…think it is great fun and just love being outdoors. But the fact that I have no idea when it will end as we have nowhere to go home too is starting to weigh VERY heavily on my heart and mind. I went to bed crying last night and woke up the same way. We are essentially homeless…it is not a good feeling at all. I sure am glad that I have always been friendly and loving towards the homeless on the streets. This is a lonely and isolating experience. We have each other and of course Larry and Wensday too…and that makes it easier just to have our little family all together. Enduring the same struggle day to day. I feel bad for Clint desperately looking for work. At 41 it's hard to be unemployed and feeling like you are not able to contribute financially to life. I have faith in him…I know he will find something good and will be great at it. He has a great work ethic and does the very best he can…just hoping there are some doors that will open soon for him too. I can not even imagine the stress that he is feeling right now. And there is nothing I can do but support him and love him the best I can.

I know that things will fall into place eventually…but when you are at rock bottom, as they say…it's hard to look up and see the light. It seems like the doors and windows have been closed on us and no light can come in to help us live and grow. But that is just the "woe is me" girl in me speaking. It's the depression of leaving everything behind, feeling regretful about doing so and then feeling as though we are completely alone. I know this is all not true. I just keep reminding myself of that as to not be sent to Selkirk to the asylum! For there are days when I feel I may actually lose my mind.

I have been uplifted twice by visits from my family…nieces and nephews and siblings. Thank you guys for making the effort and taking the time to drive up here to see us and welcome us home. It really means the world to us…in ways you may not even comprehend. Just to feel loved and welcomed right now goes a long way. Playing in the water this past weekend with the kids was rejuvenating and wonderful. The sun so hot…the water refreshing…the sand warm under our feet and malleable to make our sand mermaid. What a fun day that was.

So…here's to the future…our future in Manitoba. May you be bright, warm and open up for us to come in and become part of this world once again. 

To Be Overwhelmed or Not To Be...

You know when there are millions of things in your brain that you must accomplish or tackle or prepare or whatever...those times when you wish your brain could just be silent for a few moments...but it can't...or it won't. Whatever the case may be, it is so easy to get lost in all of that and lose focus and become incredibly overwhelmed. Now, take that brain chaos and add in a little bit of emotional turmoil and there you have the beginnings of what could be a breakdown...mental and emotional. I guess you also have to combine the fast paced world we live in that just keeps spinning out of control...ugh. No wonder people lose their minds and go off the deep end. I am teetering on that diving board right now...and it's freaking me out. (even though I LOVE to swim!)

Life is so crazy...pretty much all of the time. Crazy good, crazy bad, crazy scary, crazy happy, crazy sad, crazy hilarious...you get the point. I love the crazy. I really do. I am sure life would be quite boring without all of that added into the mix. Keeps our minds working and lessons a learnin'. I am not sure yet of the lessons that I am going to learn from these past few and coming months...but it'd better be good! ha ha ha! Seriously. A few times in my life I have had to make some pretty huge life decisions in relationships or work or where I live...and they have all turned out to be the right ones in the long run. As hard and hurty as they may have been to make, they all served their purpose in who I have grown up to be. For instance, leaving Manitoba nearly 14 years ago was an intensely tough move...family and friends to be left behind. But having lived on the West Coast has definitely changed me in ways I feel so blessed about. I broke out of a cocoon and grew my real big purple wings and became more of who Pami always was. Then of course there was the move to the little island in the Pacific Ocean...imagine that...a prairie girl on an island! Oh...this place. It's absolute paradise and allowed me to centre myself being amongst the beauty of nature and the animals and the most precious thing...an amazing community...my West Coast Family. :o) I will be eternally grateful for having lived here.

But it's all going to change...

Five years ago we made the move from Vancouver to Paradise Island. We knew no one...had no job to come to...we had a cabin to rent, and that was where we started. That decision was made for health reasons...my health. I have been suffering for 10 years with chronic pain of overuse in my arm. Wrist and elbow tendinitis, rotator cuff problems, thoracic outlet syndrome, shoulder arthritis and blah blah blah blaaaaah! It's been a struggle, to say the least...but I also am a fighter and a liver (loving life...not an organ), so I maintain sanity...somewhat! ;o) Living in the city became tough for me...there were so many things to do that I could not participate in any longer due to my pain. And I just couldn't ever settle my brain...the city was too much. I slept an average of 3 hours a night for 2 years!! The very first night we slept on Gabriola I was down for 8 hours...only woke up because our friends had came over with us to help with the move. That morning as I woke up and the sun was shining, the birds were chirping (The Towies getting their shriek on) and there was absolute stillness in the air...I knew we were finally home. This was going to be our final resting place. And it just kept getting better and better. Not only is Gabriola a most beautiful paradise of nature and wildlife and sea life...it is a big old family where everyone knows you and loves you (or hates, just like family) and you love them too. I have never felt more at peace with myself and my surroundings since childhood. Gabriola makes my heart feel good...no, it makes my heart feel spectacular beyond belief!! We were set...we are home.

But wouldn't you know it...it's damper here than Vancouver. And that damp seeps through the skin and burrows itself into muscle and bone making you achy and creaky (if you have issues with those things...otherwise you're fine...just cold.). Wah! That simple little fact about the damp is the biggest deal to me. I have become accustomed to this grey, wet weather. It took a few years to not let depression get to me on the dark days of winter. Living on Gabriola has made that way easier than the city. To have the ability, to everyday get out of the house and take a stroll on the beach or in a mossy green forest is supremo good for the soul. And it has made me feel strong and good and it has centred me in ways I never knew possible. Even on rainy days I take the dogs for a walk at the beach and it fills my soul with happiness and peace. But, it tortures my body...physically it just ruins me. And this winter really has been the worst so far. That in itself is a most overwhelming situation in my brain. And now, because of this turmoil to my body, we have made the hardest decision of our lives...so far. We are leaving. :O( waaaah...(oh man...here come the waterworks!) I can't even stand those words as they fall off my lips...leaving. My brain simply can not compute that information. Why oh why would we leave paradise?

To have better health is of the utmost importance to me. To be able to wake up daily and not feel like I can't even get out of bed would feel so amazing. And, well...winters out east are mighty cold, but they are dry. My pain level decreases every time I go east to visit the fam in the winter. And let me tell you...THAT is amazing! To feel more functional is a treat, to say the least. I need more quality of life. WE need more quality of life. What kind of wife am I when  can't even cook meals or be able to keep a clean home (I am anal about cleaning...so watching my house get messy drives me nuts!). I do what I can, when I can...but that ain't the point. (most of the time I do it when I can't because I can't let it get out of control even if my pain is out of control itself. I am always in a catch 22 and it makes me bonkers)  I know that I will still have my problems with pain...but it will be better and that makes this decision to move feel better in the end. So it is what it is. You gotta do what you gotta do. And besides the weather being softer on me...my family is there. I will have their support...which right now, I really miss. Just all aspects of the move make sense. And thankfully we also now have family here, so we will always come back for reunions!! (there is no way I could ever stay away.)

So what is so overwhelming? Hmmmm...let's see here. Like I just said...leaving here really, is the last thing that we want to do. It breaks my heart each and every day these past few months knowing that my time is almost done here. I won't be going to my favourite beaches to play with the dogs and collect beach glass and look in tide pools and find crazy ocean stuff. I won't be walking through dense forests of moss and trees and creeks and deer and birdies. I won't have my daily dose of deer with the momma and her babies visiting me anymore...I will miss that family. I won't be getting into the car and heading to the Village and run into just about everyone I know and love...chat in the dairy section about the "snarl" that we read in that weeks Sounder News. I won't be taken out on a cool party boat filled with my friends and taken out to a quiet Bay of another island to anchor in and party hardy...annoying the people in their cottages too of course. :o) There just are so many "I won't be's" that it is hurting my heart. (I know that Manitoba will be awesome too...I love it there and look forward to life there...it just doesn't make this any easier though.)

That is only the emotional stress...cause oh boy, there is quite a bit of mental stress along with it.
We have a lot of "stuff"...I like stuff. I see cute or pretty little knick knacks in thrift shops or the GIRO and I MUST buy them. Well, I buy the ones that speak to my heart. The ones that give me that nostalgic rush to my heart and soul...those things that I look at that make me smile each and every time. I also always seem to find cool and cheaply priced furniture items...so yeah, I buy those too! But always for a bargain you see...I am cheap! lol Anyways, there is quite a lot of "stuff" to get rid of...selling or giving away...it must be done. We can not take all of our possessions...and that is crazy to me. But...it is also sooooooo good. I have already given away and sold a few things and it really does feel good to purge. I hope to let go of at least 50% of our things...moving it all is just waaaaaay too expensive across the country. :o( It really is a good thing for me to do. If I didn't, I might end up on the show "Hoarders" or something. (my house looks NOTHING like those people's...but you never know, I could go crazier and really stockpile!) And, of course everything that we keep needs to get packed...ugh! There is just SO much to do! (plus, I need to mention that Clint has gone up to Whistler to work to make money to make this move even happen...so I am doing it alone. And that's fine too...it's just a hard time to not have my best friend at my side.)

The last part of this whole process of leaving home to go home that I find overwhelming is that I have to talk about it too much. There is always someone who hasn't heard and runs into me and I have to explain it. Which is fine, really...but each time I need to tell someone why we are leaving paradise and their faces have shocked and quizzical looks wash over them...it hurts my heart. It hurts my heart even more when a person says..."Why would you move to Manitoba? What is there? Do you like mosquitoes and cold weather? It's just flat and ugly there." (usually this will come from someone who has never even been further east than Alberta!!) Even if they honestly feel that in their heart...why the heck would you say that to me??? I am going there for the dry winters that don't take me down 5 notches. I am going to be near family because I need them. And besides all that...Manitoba is freakin' gorgeous! I am from there...it is my home and native land. Why would anyone dog me for going there? Do they think that bashing where I need to go will make me feel happy? It makes me feel pretty upset actually. I really don't want to leave...but it is 150% the right decision...and it's going to be great. I love wherever I live. There is beauty everywhere in the world, if your eyes are open. And I am so looking forward to the lakes, big skies, sunflower fields, festivals, snow activities that have nothing to do with being a skier or snowboarder (2 things I have never done) and being together with my friends and family that I have missed dearly in the past 14 years. 

It's just hard. That is the simplest way to put it. Leaving here is REALLY hard...it's overwhelming to my heart and soul and mind. But we are not leaving forever. The nice thing about the highway system in this country, is that you can get into your vehicle and drive to any destination. And Gabriola will definitely be a common travel destination for us in our future. So, I am just looking to find peace right now in my tumultuous brain and heart. (before I have a nervous breakdown or heart attack!) Guess I'll go for a beach walk now...c'mon doggies! ;o)