It is done.

We are officially out of the house! I must say it took a great number of people hours and hours to get us ready in time, but here we are, staying with friends now while we take care of some small but important things before we can leave the valley.

I am grateful for the people who came to help, especially Sara and Eu de la Guardia and Cindy and Jeremy Ollis, the Bohmans, Mary Sharp and Emily Gehring. They saved me at the last minute when it didn't seem like there was so much to do and I kept finding cabinets and rooms with more stuff.

My nemesis, it seems for this move, was cleaning supplies. I kept finding more cleaning supplies! And with the condition of the house, you would think I never used them. :P I threw out much of the bottles and cans and various containers of cleaners, but when the container is full, how can you just throw it away? Every time I turned around, there were more cleaning supplies! And when we come back next year for all our stuff, there will be at least five boxes of nothing but cleaning supplies!

I keep thinking I'm going to dream about cleaning supplies. And as it turned out, I only used a handful of my favorite cleaning supplies to clean the entire house. What a perspective shift. It has caused me to re-evaluate my compulsion to buy the latest and greatest newest cleaning item whether I needed it or not. In my new house, you will not see shelves of multiple brands of the same type of cleanser. There will be only one of exactly what I use and I plan to use them more often than I have in the past.

By the time we left the house today, it was clean and the people moving in were so anxious to get settled, I felt so grateful even to them that they are the ones renting the house. I know they will take care of it. I'm anxious myself to get on the road. The closer I get to the coast, the closer I get to Bruce and Amy.

And so it begins. The adventure really started some time ago, but for me, leaving the house was the first major step to getting there. Hawaii, here we come!

Aloha!

The Things You Find When You are Cleaning Out

Desiderata:

"Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive him to be, and whatever your labours and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy."

Found in Old St. Paul's Church, Baltimore, dated 1692.

Isn't it amazing how applicable it is even today, 318 years later.

"It is not the critic that counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcomings. Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even through checkered by failure than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat." --Theodore Roosevelt

I am proud to be married to the strong man; doer of deeds; who dares mighty things...

My last day of work

Today was my last day working for Volocron. I am hoping it is my last day working outside my home for some time to come. A few years ago, when I worked for the school, I worked from home and my time was very flexible. I always had holidays off and at least a week during the summer and a week during the winter. If I wanted to run to the store or run a load of laundry, work didn't get in the way. Once I started with Volocron, I was much more tied down since I worked in their offices, not from home. It was a difficult adjustment and after being there for a year and a half, I am quite glad not to be so tied down. I will always be glad of the things I learned there. Each job has given me new education into the accounting/bookkeeping field.

But now I would like to leave bookkeeping behind me and focus on my art. I may need to do some part time bookkeeping to help that to happen and that's okay. I just don't want to be working so many hours that I don't have time to do things at home and work on my art. I'm looking forward to painting hibiscus, plumeria, and other native Hawaiian flowers, as well as fish. I have some fun ideas for painting fish and I can't wait to get started.

While I've been cleaning out the office, I've also run across several stories that I've written. One is mostly done; one is in the editing stage; one is started; and the last one is only outlined. I really need to get back to my writing. That's another goal of mine once we are settled in Hawaii.

Every day I get closer to the time when I get to go out there. Everyday something gets done. Once we have a new car, I won't be quite so uptight. I'm sorry the Grand Prix was totaled from the accident. I'm just grateful no one was hurt and it wasn't my fault. I count the days off the calendar. We're about half way there from the time Bruce left. There is much to do, but I feel mostly calm about all we are doing. Maybe I'm getting so used to eating elephant that it just comes natural now.

I keep looking at my suitcases and thinking that when I leave here, that's all I'm taking with me. Bruce said the boxes we shipped earlier arrived today. It's hard to believe that everything I will need for the next year at least is gone and I still have a full house to pack up and/or sell. The garage sale is slated for May 22nd. I'll be glad to have all the garage sale stuff gone.

Now I enter a new phase of our journey. Here I come!