Words Matter

Well, for some of us spring is here! So many people are still getting snow here in the U.S. Which one you ticked off that groundhog?! lol

It's been a while since I've written because we made a big move from Arizona to California. Downsizing from a house full of all the crap you've collected over 18+ years into a condo was not easy! Bye bye pool table! :( Although it went to a great home so I'm happy.

In fact a lot of our stuff, 4 truck & trailer loads went to Hospice of Yuma, Az. At first I wasn't so sure about this downsizing. I mean, I had a lot of stuff! Much of which I thought I couldn't live without, or felt was too sentimental to toss out, most of which I'd forgotten I even had.

There is a lot of truth in the saying: If you haven't had a need to use it for three years, chuck it. Take pictures of the sentimental stuff, kids paintings, letters from grandparents, and even stuffed animals. Put them up in the cloud and visit them there. Maybe it's not the same, but it's a lot better than hanging onto stuff you probably won't ever look at again. Especially in our case where we just plain don't have the room for boxes of photo albums. Speaking of which, those are next to be digitalized. That means five 'small' Home Depot boxes will be gone freeing up almost 50% of our storage space int he 'shed'. I call it the shed, but it's really just a couple stacks of shelves in a closet at the end of the hall we share with the other residents on our floor.

When we started loading up the donation trucks and all my precious collections over the last two decades were being driven away I felt sad. Real sad. An end of an era. My mother in-law, who we absolutely adored, passed away last August. Her passing marked another end of an era. So you can imagine that between the two emotions were running strong. Then one of the guys who was loading the Hospice of Yuma truck with our stuff said to me, "You're going to help a lot of people with all this." I had to go inside and cry. Not tears of sadness this time, but tears of joy. There's a certain peace that falls over you when you find out that what seems so difficult for you is going to be making the lives of those in need better.

The sadness turned to joy and I couldn't give away enough after what he said. Words matter, use them wisely.

I've moved 20-odd times in my life. And no, changing dorm rooms doesn't count. I'm done moving. I'm done packing and unpacking. Breaking and losing. The only way you're getting me out of this condo is tits-up.

It is weird adjusting to living somewhere permanent. I planted seeds the other day realizing I will be here to tend them instead of having to leave them every 2-3 weeks for 2-3 weeks. I've lost a lot of plants this way. It's been a solid month without the back and forth, and I'm still in the mindset of cleaning the condo for our return.

Speaking of cleaning, that's another thing! Going form living in a house with a yard to a condo with a patio is a lot easier and faster to clean! It took me a couple days to clean what I can do in half a day now. Which is great because we bought kayaks. I am officially addicted to kayaking on our bay. It's so relaxing I could float around out there all day.

Well, that's enough for a Monday morning. I'll try to write more often now that things are settling down. Hope everyone had a great spring break. We're having some friends come visit starting this weekend. I can't wait!!

Cheers! -Reese Madison