I Had a Wonderful Time

I traveled back to my home town for a funeral last weekend.

Is it awful to say that I had a wonderful time?

My mom's brother, Vernon, passed away at the age of 91 in Vermont.

Both of my sisters also traveled to be there, with Lori coming all the 

way from Alaska.  It was also attended by all 9 of his children, many 

grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and quite a few 

of my cousins, my Aunt Aurora (his wife) and my Uncle Jack.

This was virtually a family reunion.

Each person there knew my uncle in a different way.  

Uncle, father, grandpa, friend, boss, fellow serviceman.

I remember him fondly - always well dressed, always smiling, 

always with a story to tell, and always making me laugh.

In the sharing of stories, I learned a lot about him

that I didn't know. I also disovered things that helped 

me to piece together commonalities in our family history

 - similar traits that span generations - enabling me

to make sense of so much.  It also gave me a sweet sense 

of belonging that has diminished over the many years 

I've lived away from "home" and haven't spent much 

time with my extended family.

My Uncle Vernon was married to Aunt Aurora for 69 years.  She is pictured above with

my uncle early in their marriage, and below at the reception after the

funeral with me, Lori,  and Uncle Jack.

Uncle Jack, above center, is pictured below with Lori (baby) and his wife,

Aunt Connie.  They are Lori's god-parents.

So many memories of my younger years are of time spent

with aunts, uncles and cousins.  Moving away from Vermont

 after college, I regretfully lost touch with most of my cousins.

I would hear news through my parents, but it wasn't the same.

But then again, we were all leading busy lives working and 

raising our families.  This weekend, though, we were able to

reconnect and I was reminded of their value in my life.

Lori and I were able to spend time with Kevin and Debbie (above right)...

who are also pictured here.  Kevin and I are the little ones sitting on

the floor, and Debbie is standing wearing the red dress.  My cousin,

Stevie, is back-row center, and my brother, Paul, is holding Bugs Bunny.

My cousin, Dale is pictured with us above,  and in the center of 

the photo below.  I am the little girl to the right of her on the float.

Almost every weekend in the summer, our families would go camping

together.  We also drove caravan-style to Florida in the winter 

during our winter break from school to camp in the warm weather

and have fun together.

I have so many happy memories of times spent with my cousins. 

Swimming.  Talking.  Laughing.  Sitting around the campfire

at night as my uncles told stories (as only they knew

how to do).  Listening to my Uncle Jack sing Danny Boy.

Giggling as my uncles went skinny dipping in the lake at night.

Thanksgivings. Christmases. Parties.

I wish I had pictures with all of my cousins,

but I was happy with the many conversations we had.

Family is one of the greatest blessings we are given.  They

are a huge part of my sense of identity and sense of belonging.

We share biographies.  

We are so different and yet so much the same.

I'm so grateful for last weekend. 

Not for what brought us all together,

but for spending time together.

I had a wonderful time.

My Bullet Journal

"Good order is the foundation of all things."

~Edmund Burke

The one single thing that 

makes my life easier,

saves time, 

and unburdens me

is being organized.

When my son called yesterday and asked if I could send him a photo

of him dressed as a confederate soldier during the civil war encampment reenactment in 5th grade,  it took less than 5 minutes to complete.

When I need to find a receipt for something we bought 5 years ago,

it's at my fingertips - literally - in 30 seconds.  

Nothing wastes time more than searching.

Another side of organization is keeping track of so many thoughts and ideas that I feel are important to remember.  I do this on random pieces of paper that are handy whenever the important idea

pops into my head.  I also have lots of "lists" on my iPhone.

But these lists often get lost or tossed because they are on the backside of envelopes that came in the mail or sticky notes that "stuck" 

in unintentional places.

In 2016, I'm trying something new to organize these.

A Bullet Journal.

It's not a journal where you write your thoughts in paragraph form.

It's pages are filled with "bullets" instead.  Lists. 

I have to give credit to my daughter, Annie, who recently

showed me her own Bullet Journal over Christmas break.

It was very intriguing and I did some investigating on

Pinterest and Instagram. 

(search #bulletjournal and you can

find thousands of page ideas)

I began by finding a journal that I love.

I chose the yellow one.

The pages are dotted instead of lined to allow for 

 artwork, but still provide a guide to keep writing straight.

I'm in the process of setting up my pages,

which are a canvas for creativity too.

Here are my pages so far.

This page is to record my weight on a weekly basis.

Hopefully it will serve as a reality check so the 

20 pounds that I lost will not creep back on.

This page is to keep track of books I've read and maybe jot down

a few thoughts about each of them.

I believe greatly in remembering all you are

thankful for.  These pages will be filled by year-end.

Here I will list everything that I need to let go of, 

both emotional and physical.

I would like to blog more often this year.  This will be a place

to store ideas.

I am a lover of learning.  There are always things

I would like to explore in more depth, but they slip

my mind if I don't write them down.

When I'm on Facebook,  I often see beautiful pictures of places 

that I would like to visit someday.  If I keep track of them,

maybe someday I will.

Another change I want to make this year is to take at least one

photo every day.  There are so many times I am somewhere and wish I had my camera. Or I see a photograph that I would like to try to take myself.  This list will hopefully force me to expand my abilities

as a photographer.

Do you have projects that are so big, so time-consuming

that you put them off and they never get done?  Seeing

them here will hopefully remind me to keep chipping away 

at them. 

I am a lover of quotes.  When someone gets an idea across in a way that makes you stop and reflect on its truth in your own life, it is worth

remembering.

I have a problem with allergies.  I am allergic to sulfites and red dye.

But there are many times lately (like last night) when my nose just turns on like a faucet and I go through an entire box of kleenex.

Only Benadryl turns it off.   Here I will keep track of triggers

that are possible, probable or definite.

What gets tracked is more likely to get done.  It's a fact.

I set up a page to keep track of things I would like to do 

more often or on a regular basis.  Each month I will

set my goals and track their frequency.

This is a cool idea I found on Pinterest.  It uses small sticky

notes to set weekly goals!

That's it so far!  Some people use the Bullet Journal technique

to track daily to-do lists or shopping lists, but I decided to 

give mine a much broader focus.  As I design my pages,

I find it also forces me to use a part of the brain that I don't

get a chance to use very often anymore.  I really enjoy the 

hands-on artistic challenge of creating interesting lettering and 

page decorations - things that used to come easily to me

in my younger days that are a bit rusty now.

More pages are yet to come, but I wanted to show you

what I'm doing because I am very excited about it! 

 I believe it will make a big

difference in my life in 2016!

A Very Special Visitor

We had a very special first-time visitor to our home last week.  

I was a little nervous because I wasn't sure how he would be 

received by the rest of the family.  He's lived an isolated life,

with very few friends, and has never traveled away from home.

To be totally honest,   I didn't know if he would even venture out 

of his bedroom!

His flight went well, even though he was a little nervous

going through security at the airport.  He flew into

Laguardia airport with Kerry.  Vance picked them up

and brought them home.

Just as I expected, he spent the first day in his room,

and he was very nervous.  We respected that

and visited him there, trying not to overwhelm him.

One more thing.  While he was here,  

I was often referred to as

"Grandma Gayle".

It's Fletcher!  Kerry's cat!

The reason I was so uncertain of his visit was 

because he had never been around dogs before.

And I didn't think my cats would welcome another feline

into the house.  At least not without a fight.

We let him out of Kerry's room when the other animals were outside.

But they spotted him.

And he spotted them.

We introduced him to each of the dogs by bringing them

into the bedroom where he was comfortable.

He was curious and appropriately afraid, but he

got close enough to sniff them.  The dogs were

very well behaved.

But in the end,  that's as close as they got.  We decided to keep 

the animals separated for the entire week he was here.

We took him for a walk outside on his leash (he's an indoor cat).

He looked very handsome!

It was a very cold, windy day.  He was shivering but that didn't

stop him from exploring.  He loved chasing the leaves

being tossed around by the gusty wind.

Mel drove over to see him (and us).

I very much enjoyed taking his picture while he was here.

He didn't mind at all.

Momo was clueless that Fletcher was even in the house.

(Way to go, Momo!)

We brought them back to the airport on Sunday morning.

He is a very good traveler!

He needed to stay in his carrier on the plane,

but he just slept the whole way home to Nashville.

We love Fletcher, and we look forward to spending much more time

with him soon. Possibly, in the near future, his mom may

relocate back home to CT. 

Oh yes,  and we look forward to seeing much more of Kerry too!