like pebbles on the beach

Well. We're not actually packing at the moment. Teenager Boy is buried in a Sandman comic, and I was finishing off a Teen Wolf AU. (They solve crimes! And are werewolves!)

We've had a great vacation. I'm not sure I can express how novel this whole week has been - I have literally never gone on vacation like this before. My parents gave me one of their time-share weeks; and we've been puttering around the (off season) resort town doing not much of anything. It's been a glorious and much needed break.

FIVE THINGS I'VE LOVED (in no particular order)

• spending time with family  - contrary to the original Time To Myself plan; both kids came with me, my daughter's boyfriend flew in for New Year's, and my parents came down and stayed in their trailer. We cooked and ate supper and went to the aquarium and it was terrific. Especially the time with my girl - she travels so much now, I rarely see her.
• heated outdoor pools - I went swimming almost every day, and the pool was right beside the ocean, with a bubbling jet spa too. The weather's been really cool while we've been here, and the warm pools just feel like the height of luxury. And it felt great to swim lengths again - something I'll look into doing when we get home.
• unstructured time - the last few months have been crazy hectic with buying/selling houses, moving, getting ready to switch jobs - I'm so grateful for this restorative time
• the beach - our condo faces down the shoreline, and I walked way down to the next pier one afternoon. The tides go in and out, and I've seen dolphins and sandpipers and have a few tiny shells to take home with me.
• the aquarium - sharks, rays, catfish, an octopus - we had an amazing afternoon looking at everything

Tomorrow morning we pack up and head home - 2 full days of driving, with an overnight in a motel somewhere along the way. Back to the snow; to my last 3 weeks with my churches, to pick up the dog and start on the new routines in the new places in the new year. The intention I'm bringing home with me is to be more intentional - to be mindful of what needs doing right now; setting intentions for the day or the moment, and letting go, as possible, of lingering anxiety. 

And in that spirit - having done what needed doing 20 minutes ago (starting this post); I'll move onto what needs doing in this moment (starting to pack). Blessings to you, and send safe travel thoughts and prayers our way. 

Taking a few moments for myself before launching into the day's tasks. Yesterday I cleaned and decluttered all the way to the back of my closet, and the hall closet. The teenager started on his room, so that while it's still a disaster, at least the floor has some space to walk on without stepping on clothing or God knows what. Hilariously - he found my testamur certificate in that room - no idea how it got there. (Like a graduation certificate - it's the piece of paper that says, yes I really am a minister). It's a little bit crinkled, but rescued. He almost threw out the envelope without looking - thank goodness he didn't.

Other found treasures? Some loonies and toonies on the floor of my closet. The poem I posted yesterday, scrawled on a piece of paper in the sunroom.

Mostly, though - I find space. I find things that I can let go of, stuff that should have been thrown away, given away, released some years ago. I find my courage to let go, to open my hands. I find my faith that if I throw away the threadbare towels, and I find I need new towels, I will have the resources to acquire new ones. I find that time has passed - that my bookshelves are still packed with kids books that my kids have outgrown. I find acceptance of who I am now - and keep the yoga mat, knitting needles and aquariums; start looking for new homes for the piano and sailboat.  

On Saturday afternoon, I promised myself that if I got a reasonable amount crossed off the chore list, I could drive into the city and watch Lawless. I think I had forgotten how much I like Prohibition era gangster movies. I definitely forgot that Tom Hardy could actually carve out a piece of my soul and build a home there.

( SPOILERS )

( SPOILERS )

 

1. I have reached that blissed out vacation state when I actually have no idea what day it is. Blissful, except for the moments of panic, when I have to figure out when to pick up my kid from summer camp, or whether my theatre/supper plans are tonight or tomorrow. 
2. Sunday I spent the WHOLE DAY in my pyjamas. Including going to the grocery store and walking the dog.
3. Trip into the city yesterday included meeting a twitter acquaintance for lunch - quite lovely.
4.  The longer I stay undecided on whether to repaint the downstairs, the less likely repainting becomes. I think I'm okay with that. 
5. I've been enjoying dog walks, and yoga practice and bike rides - I hope I can carry some of that activity into my schedule when I'm back at work. 

1. A thing I love about being on vacation is the feeling of being able to devote swathes of time to something utterly non-productive. Like reading Teen Wolf fic. Or downloading the audio of Tom Hardy's "Find Your Greatness" voiceovers, and setting it as my morning alarm on my phone.  

Yay! On holidays again.

The younger teen is at summer camp this week, and the eldest is back in Canada, and has been home quite a bit.

I've been rereading Rennie Airth's mystery novels, which are fantastic.

Monday I caught up on the weeding in the garden. My cherry tomatoes are ripe and sweet. I'm still losing my kale and parsley to the local groundhog, though. Miss Dog is not earning her kibble.

Yesterday I remembered I had painting projects to do. We had ripped the awful grey carpeting off the stairs earlier this summer, leaving me with a banged up wooden staircase. Yesterday I got the risers painted white. The treads are stil problematic, but I'm going to touch them up with black paint, and call it a day. My mantra for that project is "Not letting my perfectionism get in the way".

I also repainted the bathroom! Previously, on Lass's Old House, the bathroom walls were beige/grey tiled about 2/3's, with pepto bismol pink on top. And a kind of sunset bronze/gold shower curtain. Shut up. It wasn't as bad as it sounds. 

Anyway, Yesterday I painted the pink part of the walls white. I'd already replaced the shower curtain with a white terry 'hotel style' one. And having moved out the antique pine hutch to paint, I'm keeping it out - the bathroom is so tiny, I'm deciding to purge and reduce what we're keeping in there and use a much smaller shelf thing instead. 

Eldest helped me sort through all the stuff we had in the bathroom, and we tossed a lot. 

After I swapped out the quirky folk art for a framed black and white fish photo from the living room - it looks amazing. When the boy gets home from camp, we'll probably tackle replacing the cracked floor tiles with stick down vinyl flooring. 

Now. What shall I tackle today???

The NFB informs me that it is Paul Gross's birthday today. So happy birthday, sir. In celebration, an NFB short - and even if you're not a Paul Gross fan, worth watching I think; for the ways in which he speaks about writing and creativity - about setting ego aside so it doesn't get in the way of a story. The last few phrases, when he talks about the courage of soldiers in WWI (this must have been made when Gross made Passhendaele) - reminds me not of military war, but the other, more domestic and gendered violences so many of us endure and survive.

Kid and I watched The Secret of the Kells tonight.  Have you seen it? It's amazing, we were riveted. As in, neither the teenager or I touched our tablets/smartphones/laptops/knitting during the whole thing. Which is pretty much unheard of in our house. As the opening credits rolled, the boy asked me what it was about, and I'm pretty sure he thought I was crazy when I replied "A monk and a bible"; but wow. 

In parts the animation reminded me of Samurai Jack, and that's not a coincidence, apparently. It's gorgeous to watch, and the conficts and tension is incredibly well done. 

I loved it. And if you haven't seen it, you really should. When it was over, kidlet booted up his netbook, and the next thing I knew, he was googling the real Book of Kells. Pretty cool.

I was looking for something else, and I found this. And wanted to share it.