“Downsizing”

Sixty-one years have been condensed down into what you see here…half of which are photos and ephemera from the family archives. Had I spent the last three winters scanning documents and pictures, my load would be lighter. My biggest accomplishments were whittling down my massive collection of books to one Rubbermaid tub and getting kitchen essentials down to two dishpacks. I feel good about what I have kept, although I am pretty sure as I live in my trailer for awhile, I’ll get rid of more. This has been the singular most liberating thing I have done in my life. I am pared down to only those things I love and that are useful to me. I am amazed sitting here on the step of the landing, looking at my empty house, and I am genuinely so excited I’m giddy! I will never have to be a slave to a box again. Fourteen years ago I was scared to death at the thought of not owning my own home. I was newly separated after having been a doctor’s wife for 21 years. I was pretty “advantaged”. I have grown so much in those fourteen years but It’s the lessons I’ve learned in the last year and a half that will get me through. Life is so amazing and big and full and juicy!!! <3

“My Bliss”

My view out the kitchen window of TOW-Wanda…in between rain showers today. While I should be inside wiping down baseboards and vacuuming, I am taking a much needed break this morning…tucked into TOW-Wanda, listening to the rain on the roof, catching up with correspondence, journaling, enjoying the views out the windows of a neighborhood I truly enjoyed living in, and letting the joyful memories wash over me. This is just as important as the cleaning and packing. This is my bliss. <3

“I hate when I think I’m buying organic vegetables and when I get home I discover they’re just regular donuts.”

I need the donut fairy to go to SWEET COLORADOUGH​ to buy me sweets and a latte!

Got tons done yesterday: two more trips to the thrift store, organized boxes, two people came to get their furniture, the switch broke on the washer. I’m not fixing it but part of the agreement is working appliances so I have to give the buyers a credit at closing. At this point, I don’t care. I just want to experience the events in the moment then let them go.

“Inside the big trailer.”

Here are three pictures of the interior of the new trailer. Honestly, this feels like a mansion after living in 16’ all summer! I love the kitchen. It has a three burner stove with an oven, an 8 cu ft fridge, microwave, sleeps six comfortably.

Remember, we’re having a “Name the Trailer” contest. You have till Sunday evening to submit your ideas and the winner will be announced on Wednesday morning, the day of the closing on my house. And the day i pick up the trailer. The winner gets a dozen Cowboy Cookies from Buffalo Baking Co.!!!!

The Big Trailer!

A NAME THE NEW TRAILER CONTEST!!!!

I have outgrown my baby. TOW-Wanda was perfect this last year and a half. She was my haven, my place to run and hide. Lightweight, fun, sporty…but pretty darned tiny. I’ve been essentially living in her since the middle of June and that bathroom is REALLY tiny and the only place to sit is on the bed.

“When it rains, it pours!”

Ok, kids….after sitting around for months, after having the ups and downs of contract/no contract/contract, after coming back with requests for a new water heater and money off for other repairs (which I refused)…the buyers have not only agreed to everything, but now they want to move the closing up from 10/8 to 9/24!!!! That’s, like….a week from today!!! Holy cats!!!! Soooooo….I’m not sure I’m going to be on here much in the next few days. I’m really, really glad I’ve been sorting and purging and packing all along because there’s really not all that much left to go through. Still…holy cats!!! Pretty excited though!!!! <3

“Drama doesn’t just walk into your life our of nowhere…you either create it, invite it, or associate with people that bring it…”

I have an addictive personality. I’ve over indulged in a lot of things in my life, not the least of which was drama. I created enough drama in my second marriage/divorce to make Shakespeare roll over in his grave. Just ask my second ex-husband. Ok, it takes two to tango but honestly, I was the best at it because I had an excellent foil. Children of alcoholics notoriously create drama as a diversionary tactic. And what is ingrained in childhood follows you throughout your life unless you learn to recognize and correct the behaviors.

“Labels”

For a long time I was in search of a label. When I was in high school, I wanted to be “popular”. When I was a young wife and mother, I wanted to be “perfect”. When I was struggling with the mental health issues of depression, I wanted a “diagnosis”. I needed a compartment…a box that I could easily fit into that would define who I was because I had no clue.

“Mr. Virgo’s Grave”

Two weeks after Mr. Virgo died, I bought TOW-Wanda…my little travel trailer. For those of you who are relatively new here, you may not know, my husband, aka Mr. Virgo, and I were standing in a travel trailer picking one out when he had a heart attack and died in March 2013. I needed to put something joyful in front of me or I wasn’t going to make it. TOW-Wanda to the rescue! Once the weather warmed up, I took off for three months and traveled alone to start walking through my grief journey. Everywhere I went, I picked up a rock to bring home to place around Mr. Virgo’s grave. When I got home, I took them up to the cemetery and told him about the places I had seen and what I had done and placed each rock next to the one before.

“Me!”

A Christian, first. A Bohemian. A gypsy. A free spirit. A writer. A traveler. A liver. A lover. A mom. A Nana! A sister. An aunt. A cousin. A niece. A friend. An artist. A thinker. A maker. A princess. An enigma. A doer. A joker. A baker. A dreamer. A widow. An ex-wife. An explorer. An adventurer. A poet.

Who are you?