Taking Inventory

I find that once in a while it's a worthwhile exercise to pause for a moment and take stock of where you are in life, where you want to be and what you want to change.

During my blog-cation (vacation from my blog) a lot changed in my life. My address and my relationship status, most notably. I have moved from my long-time home of Brantford to my new home of Hamilton. I was actually quite surprised how emotional I became at leaving the town I honestly felt no huge connection to other than, most importantly, my children and where they were born. But they are grown now (physically and in every other way) and on their own paths so that attachment, I thought, would be easier to severe.

Man, was I wrong. I would tear up at the thought of not being a "Brantfordite." I began to realize how much I had invested in that community and how much it had influenced who I had become and I was grateful for all of it. But time moves on, things change and off I went, away from the town I had called home longer than any other. One night before the big move I was out with my best girlfriends bemoaning that "I'm Sal from Brantford... I don't know how well I'll do being Sal from Hamilton" when my wise friend told me, "No, you're just Sal. Where you're from doesn't matter."

I have such smart girlfriends.

So I moved and moved on. And there is so much I love about my new home. And there is so much I miss about my old one. And all of that is ok by me.

As for that "relationship status" change... Well that's a blog and a half worth of what's new. But it, too, is all good. And there is a lot to consider there. I have my boys (I know... they're older but as I have always said and will always say, they are my boys and that, my friend, is that) and he has his clan of three girls and one boy (I refer to his children as girls and boys the same way as I refer to my boys... FYI) and two grandkids. Yup. You heard me. Oh my that's a whole new ballgame. It's not like it's "Yours, Mine & Ours" (the cool 1968 one with Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball not the so un-cool one with Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo) but it is a mix that I have no experience with and I find always interesting and sometimes challenging.

But what's life if not interesting and challenging?

As for work (although I'd like to, I can't ignore work), it has it's ups and downs like everything in life. But I'm on the upside right now for sure. I am preparing for a fantastic trip to Paris and London that I earned through a sales incentive. Excited? That doesn't even begin to cover it. So suffice to say, I'm totally ok with work right now.

So at this particular moment... all is all good. Inventory complete and abundant.

Change of Pace

So, one of the things that I like about being a real adult (as opposed to the adult I imagined myself as growing up to be, although I think that adult indulged in complete self-absorbtion totally absent of income, responsibility or consequence) is that on occasion, when required or requested, I can alter the pace of my life just a bit for just a while.

And that's what I did today.

Today, I did almost nothing... short of eating (naturally), making a list of items to pack for my upcoming trip (lots more about that in future correspondence) and enjoying a couple of glasses of wine (oh my... in the middle of the day, no less).

And this I love. Nothing special is sometimes just a special as something special, if that makes sense. Yesterday I spent the day hanging out with my best girlfriends, laughing and talking and reminiscning and enjoying each other and today I am extending that luxury to another day of out-of-the-ordinary behaviour. Tomorrow, I will get back to work and from what I can see coming so far, things will be a little crazy for a little while.

But today, there is none of that. Today, there is just the sound of music in the background, pages of my favourite magazine turning and the unusual sound of what... what could that be???

The sound of squirrels duelling (or chatting or flirting) on my balcony.

I kid you not... How's that for a change of pace?

Calling out...

Remember me? It's been a long time... a really long time and I have to say I've missed you. So much has happened in the past almost-year that it would take up too much time (and you'd probably nod off after only a few minutes) so I'll spare you the details. For now.

But why, you might be asking, am I back now? What brought me back?

Was it seeing Julie & Julia at the movies and thinking, "Hey, if I blog about meeting Brad Pitt, do you think he'd read it and call me up? Or at least comment about me to some random journalist? Or what if I wrote about Angelina Jolie? Or both... Now there's a win/win." No... that wasn't it.

Was it the remarkable, odd, you-had-to-be-there-to-believe-it, like-nothing-I've-ever-seen-before couple dancing at the jazz club I was at on Saturday... He dancing like some strange cross between a penguin and marionette and she like a 50+ cheerleader dancing to a song in her head that had nothing to do with the song the band was playing... No, not that either although that would make a great blog.

It was that I honestly, truly missed doing this. I missed sharing my experiences with all of you (or both of you... or just you and you know who you are) and hearing your thoughts come back to me.

I have so much to share with you my friends. I hope you're still out there and I hope we'll talk again soon.

Until then, good thoughts are going out from me to you.