tick tock...

...ten days left!

We had a big garage sale over the weekend and sold a lot of bits 'n pieces though none of the bigger things.  We do have some people interested in different pieces, and are waiting to hear back from them.  If we hear nothing within the next few days, then we'll put them on consignment somewhere. 

Sometimes after a sale I experience a little tinge of sadness, grief maybe, for some particular things I have sold.  I actually don't feel that at all this time.  I parted with some things that I'd had since I was a teenager, and I am happy that they have gone to other people.  It just all felt right, and so good to release those things.

Today we are going to start moving things into our new storage unit.  I think once the boxes that are ready to go, are out of here, it won't look so chaotic in here and it will help me focus on what still needs to be packed or donated.

I sat outside in the beautiful winter sunshine yesterday and looked through a guide to the campgrounds for this state that we'll be travelling in, very very soon!  We are currently in the subtropics, which has beautiful days, but the nights are chilly.  We're not fond of the cold so we are heading north for the tropical, dry winter.  Super excited!!  So many places are pet friendly too! 

We are so ready for this!  Well, mentally...physically we have lots to do still so I should get going...!

me n my gal..

I love having a daughter!  I love sharing the girly things in life with her.  She is usually the one making me a little more girly and I kinda like that.  She loves to try on clothes, look at jewelry and paint toe nails.  She adds a softness to the male energy in the house.  She helps out in so many ways around the house, from the practical things that need doing, to helping me stay balanced when I start to feel a little overwhelmed. 

She can be sweet and gentle, or loud and fiery.  She is very much her own person and does everything in her own way and her own time.  That may not look like a lot of other kids, but that is what makes her so unique.  She is aware that she is living her life, her way, on her timetable.  We are so grateful that we have the opportunity for her to live her life this way, unfolding in her own way.

Being my oldest child, she has also been on the receiving end of my entire parenting journey - the great moments, and the times I'm not proud of.  She has been my best teacher in patience, and trust and unconditional love.

She is very generous and she has been giving away a lot of her childhood toys in the past year.  Slowly moving into a new phase of her life.  Sometimes she cries because she does not want to grow up, other times she is excited thinking of the time left before she can drive. She is observant of others and will often play with the younger children at our different groups, to make sure they are included.

I am so honoured that she chose me as her mama.  I am so grateful for her love and depth.

This moment...

I am making the most of living here, in this area and in this house.  Every sunny day lately, we have been going to the beach.  It's the thing I am going to miss the most about this place.  If we didn't have Gypsy, then we would just go back to the caravan park down the road next to the creek and across the road from the beach.  But we can't go there and this area is very limited on pet-friendly caravan parks.  Other areas are very welcoming and I know we will find other beachy places where Gypsy is welcome.  For now though, we will be a bit further away, maybe a 20 minute drive to the beach instead of a 10 minute stroll.

I'm enjoying the space inside on the rainy days, spreading out and baking breads and cookies and making soups.  Kicking back on the big couch watching movies on the big screen.  I remember rainy days in our old camper and how we would often go out for the day to the library or a museum or a mall to explore the gadget shops and watch the different kinds of people in the different areas.  At night time we'd watch movies or play games, feeling close and warm.  Both are good and the most important thing is to just be making the most of wherever we are by being present, letting our attention be there in that moment, enjoying what is.

One more month...

Somehow, it's all coming together.  It always does.  The apparent chaos is taking a little more order and the process is unfolding in a natural way.  I don't do 'to-do' lists like I used to.  Most of the work required here is obvious, I don't need to write it down to remind me.  I no longer need that satisfaction of 'crossing things off the list'.  I do write down the things that I may not remember, so my to-do lists these days are very short, if at all.

I'm slowly emptying cupboards and I have boxes stacked in sections to either go to storage, go to the camper, or to be sold.  I'm really impressed with how much Nicholas has released.  He is very sure of his decisions and is looking forward to making "lots of money" selling off the things he has finished with.  The storage and camper piles are neatly inside of the house.  The sell stuff is randomly placed on the back patio.  When I have finished inside the house, I need to go through that and organise it and donate some of it.

Summer has also released a lot of things, mainly clothes.  She loves clothes and has been loving experimenting with different styles and themes, well, she's been doing that from the time she could dress herself!  She has decided that she wants all of her clothes to be "earthy", so out with the hot pink hair, and the bright blue poncho!  If the clothes aren't earthy or hippy, they were gone!  She has been slowly giving away some of her childhood toys over the last year.  When other children would come over, she often offered them things she thought they would like. 

I think our children have been to enough yard sales and op-shops to know that there is an abundance of toys and clothes in the world, and at really good prices too!  AJ has some really cool toys and gadgets and books.  He has always loved books about real things.  Even when he was one year old, he preferred looking at books of the internal workings of an airplane, and books with real photos of animal (not drawings).  He's not into reading novels, but he will read fact books all day.  He loves doing word puzzles with me (we're currently into an iPhone app called '7 Little Words').  He will listen to me reading a story, and he will read stories to Nicholas, but not usually for himself.  With the exception of the Usborne puzzle adventure stories, where you have lots of clues and have to figure out the puzzle within the story.  He also loves tech stuff and is longing to have his own computer. 

It's the first day of winter here...a cool, rainy day.  A good soup day!  In one month, we will be living in our camper, all of the 'stuff' in the house will be sorted and we will have closed the front door for the last time.  One more month.  The children are all very excited, as am I.  I feel very calm within at the moment.  I know there is a lot to do in the month ahead, including a birthday to celebrate for a very excited little man, and it's all going to be great...it already is!