Moving Days and Calendar Checks

Alaska, you can be funny sometimes!  More on that in a minute...

But first...We got a place to live!  Yay!  We moved about half in today and will hopefully have the rest done on Saturday with tomorrow being used to load up and clean up out of the house sitting job.  I am hoping.  With both of us having to work, it's kind of difficult to see it through as quickly as we hoped.  But you never know.  If things get done faster than I think tomorrow, we just might be done and I can go home after work.  That's a possibility if Mister has help during the day.  Possible but not probable.  Saturday is looking good for getting everything done.  Sunday for cleaning and one last walk through here at the house we are watching.  They'll be home a couple of days after that so great timing all in all.  All of the boxes we had stored (and yes a fair amount had pictures and theocratic books) got soaked due to a leaky trailer roof we had no idea was happening the past few weeks.  So it remains to be seen just how much we are able to save.  They are still boxed up in the house right now.  There has been no time to unpack them yet.  I am thinking of getting some nice totes or something to put them in so that this doesn't happen again for storage and easy locating what we are able to salvage.  No bookshelves = nowhere to display them.  And to be honest, I'm not keen on adding bookshelves to my life right now.  Weird I know.  But it just feels like they don't belong.  It's hard to explain, but I am left with a feeling of clutter and dirt/dust and all that comes with them that I'm not really wanting to take on again.  It's hard to stay up on keeping them clean and not have random objects appear in, around, and on them all the time.  OCD strikes again!  Funny thing is, though, I I'm not nearly as adamant on being clean as I used to be.  I used to not stop until every stitch of laundry was in its place  Ironed.  Hung up.  Folded.  Put away.  But the last few weeks, I'm fortunate if I'm not folding last weeks' laundry while washing the current weeks'.   Just no motivation.  Perhaps that will change in this place.  As I tidy up and organize, I am sure that I'll want it to stay that way.  Small places thrive on proper organization.  It is our home after all.  It's hard to put your heart into cleaning and organizing a temporary residence like a house sitting job.  Oh and when moving some boxes in today, I broke a few dishes already when I dropped a box.  But oh well.  These things happen.  At least I'm the one that dropped it.  No harm done.  These things can be replaced.

Now back to the ever entertaining Alaska.  They (the DMV) have extended the removal date for studded snow tires to Mid-May to allow for....gasp...winter storm advisory this weekend here.  It is May, right?  Right?  And May usually means Spring/early Summer.  At least it always has before.  On the upside, it has been a fabulous couple of days up till now weather wise and I have been enjoying it so much.  The extended daylight does a soul good.  And  when the Auroras come out, it's even better.  But the unmistakable chill in the air tonight says that they've probably got that winter storm warning just about right.  Sigh.  Good thing the studs are still on the Jeep.

Well, better get my rest.  We've got a very busy few weeks ahead of us with getting settled, changing congregations due to the move, circuit overseer visit with current congregation, two day Circuit Assembly, and then circuit overseer visit with new congregation.  Phew!  Can't wait.  Here's to a happy summer for all and sunshine and warmth your way.

Oh, and to answer the question I know is going through your mind...No...the new place is not an igloo.  Glad we got that cleared up!

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Spring came but got lost
in the snow falling on the cedars
perhaps it had other plans

Are you here yet Spring? It's me, Tawnya.

Oh my what a winter.  So long.  So dark and overcast.  So, well just not anything I am liking.  I cannot wait for the spring and summer seasons to arrive.  Here in Alaska, I don't quite know what that is yet.  The summer before last was incredible.  But last summer was awful.  Nothing to lift your spirits over.  I cannot wait until I smell the barbecue cooking in the air and hear the lawnmowers running with the wonderful lilts of the freshly cut grass greeting my senses.  Ah spring.  I cannot wait for you to join us.  It's been awhile.  I hope you aren't running late.

Three little words

I am so thankful today.  And upset at the same time.  My mind races with how to reconcile the two.

To say that it was a bad day at work would be a gross understatement.  It was a disaster.  A truly epic failure.

I wanted to just come home and crawl up and stew.  But my husband wouldn't let me.  I called him from the gym to garner some perspective as he always provides.  And he did not let me down.  He told me to not worry about things and to have a good workout.  And then the three words that can change any day into a perfect one.  "I love you!"

With those words, he let me know that he will always and has always been at my side.  Not always taking my side as I am not always right and he is good about helping me improve by being honest.  But even then he truly is on my side cheering me on.   So off I went and had a great workout with a smile on my face and joy in my heart and thankful for the loyal support of a loving husband.

So what turned out to be a difficult day was made better with his love.  I love him for that.

"Apparently there is nothing that cannot happen today"

Some of my favorite quotes (including the title of this post and the title for my blog) come from Mark Twain.  I just love the way he sees things. Today I thought I'd post a few of my favorite "Twain-isms" - Is that a word?  At any rate, on with the post. 

A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read. 

It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt. 

 Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.

 

And my very favorite Mark Twain quote?

 

Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. 

I've been assimilated

After avoiding Skype all these years, I finally signed up to allow us to talk with our friends while they are visiting Costa Rica.  Searching for others I know, I found a few people I'd love to "see" and cannot wait to connect with them.

This could become an addiction - especially since it doesn't cost.  Oh no~!

No matter how many times it happens....

Being human, to a degree, means making mistakes.  It means forgetting.  It means being absorbed in oneself. And then a lesson comes along, for the umpteenth time and reminds you just what matters most.

I just found out that a very very dear friend lost her father in death recently.  So dear to me is she that I call her simply "Mama."  

Here I am worried about things that can be fixed, are daily worries that will never go away, and most certainly are transient.  And there she is mourning the loss of her father.  A loss that hurts like no other.

I wish so much I could just be with her right now and reach out and give her big hugs and kisses and tell her it will be alright.  I wish I weren't so blasted far away.  I wish I weren't so wrapped up in my own world that it took me so long to find out what she has been struggling with all these days since his death. 

Mama, I am sorry.  I am sorry for your loss and also sorry for being so busy I couldn't check in more often just to tell you I love you and if everything is okay.  

This follows a severe injury to a wonderfully unique friend that is so special to me that I respect fewer men more.  He was injured while working in his garage by an exploding aerosol can.  He is alive and making remarkable strides in healing but will be forever different.  Physically and mentally.  I will not elaborate further.  Those who know him know all they need to already.  Speedy healing, Timmy Bob.  We love you!! 

I have learned this lesson - the frailty of life and what is truly important - many times in my life.  And then daily life takes over and the lesson gets filed into the "Important but I will think about it later" file in the back of my very cluttered head.

Today I had that file reopened and what a blessing it was to have my eyes opened to look past my recent "troubles" into the face of real problems.

I am moving on a bit lighter for that.  Mama, I miss you and love you and I am with you heart and soul forever more - Love Pee Wee.