I’m here! After what seems like a forever break.  Elizabeth had been here since Friday and well, when she comes to town, life as I know it just seems to cease as it is traded for girl talk, and catching up, and dreams, and that ever-ending wonder of what on earth lies ahead for us?  Actually when she’s here, it means 1:00 – 2:00am bed times, and sleeping till 8:00 or so, running, eating……………and just trying to catch up with all those things we use to do every day when we worked together and were always together.

Life is soon to change for her, again.  As a new job looms for her hubby where there are a few locations he may light.  It doesn’t matter where because all of them are so much further from me.  However, if Florida would become an option…………well, how many times have I said I would in a heartbeat move?  *laughs*  We will see, as none of us know what tomorrow may hold.

So my weekend has been a huge weekend.  I guess it sort of began Thursday since I had a 4-day weekend to begin with. Thursday was spent cleaning, as I use to clean for showings when the house was for sale.  With Elizabeth, that by far isn’t necessary, but in a way it is because it’s a great excuse to really get the house clean. And I did!  All day Thursday, and a little bit on Friday.

But Friday was a busy day as Jane and I did our lunch thing on Friday, not Thursday because of her work schedule.  After lunch it was back to Dell’s hometown and to our newest favorite country/rustic store where I once again spent way too much money! (Would someone please slap my hand!)  After wards Jane went to the store with me so I could buy the food for Elizabeth’s and G’s visit.  Then I had to rush home, and get ready! All of us were meeting at Red Lobster. It was SO awesome!  All the girls, Donna, Sydney and Linn changed all their plans to join us for dinner because Elizabeth was coming to town so the 5 of us could make it old times! I was SO, SO excited!  Until………………..

Linn called. I must have been vacuuming and didn’t hear my cell phone.  Right as I was getting ready to go pick Sydney up as she lives close to me, I grabbed my cell phone to notice one missed call. I had talked to Linn earlier about something else when she said she had to go her daughter was on the other line and it was an emergency.  It was.  Her daughter had been in a car wreck.  Linn assured me in her message she was okay, but they were taking her in to get checked anyway. Anytime your 17-year old daughter is in a wreck and you get one of “those” calls you bet you need to have them checked out.  When I picked Sydney up I told her what had happened and she was shocked!  She’d just watched the news and had seen there’d been a bad wreck right around where Linn lives.  And yes! It was the same wreck!  Apparently a family with 2 small children all ended up going to the hospital.  It was then I wanted to go help Linn or something, but I knew that she had assured me her daughter was okay.  It sure put a damper on the evening.  Not only because we would miss Linn, but because we were all concerned. I told everyone I would call Linn after we ate.  And I did where we got the report that everything checked out and even the family turned out to be okay.  What a relief.

Dinner was fun. We laughed, got caught up.  We were all SO happy Elizabeth was here!  We know our days are numbered that she will be as close as 4 hours from here.  Life is change, I know this, but sometimes………………………

We closed Red Lobster once again, only this time it was a Friday night so they are opened till 11:00.  It meant Elizabeth and I didn’t get home till after midnight by the time all was said and done.  Are we wild or what? *laughs*

Saturday was filled too!  We managed to sleep till about 9:00. Then we just lounged around while I prepared a “continental” breakfast. I even made homemade cinnamon rolls.  Then it was off about an hour from here to meet up with Elizabeth’s daughter.  This was the first time they would meet her fiancée’s family and we were invited to be a part of this celebration.  “It’s what sisters do!”  Elizabeth informed me when she first told me of this date.  I was thrilled as I had never gotten to meet Shelby, and that was hard as I feel so close to Sarah, Elizabeth’s daughter. 

We met at an exclusive restaurant about an hour from here.  My first impression?  I absolutely LOVED Shelby!  He’s crazy about Sarah, no doubt!  His family was AWESOME!  There were 11 of us total and I had the best time!  One of his little sisters, 16-years old “feels things.”  This conversation came because “G” announced to the table that I had special powers!  (Yes, he still swears he wants to take me to Ocean City, MD and put me in a gypsy outfit to tell fortunes, that I’d make a fortune for him!)  I guess it was an ice-breaker, but the thing is, this girl really has been looking for someone to talk to about certain things that have happened to her.  With 11 people sitting at a table, most of whom have never experienced visions, or a knowing that can’t be explained, or the feeling someone is in the room with you and yet your eyes can’t see anyone, how do you try to explain it?  Everyone wants to make fun of you as if you are some sort of goof ball or something.  It was obvious she knew she wouldn’t be taken serious if she tried to explain it to me, and of course everyone would interrupt to sort of make light of what she was saying, but me.  I could see it in her face, in her eyes, she truly does have a gift and at 16, who do you go to with hopes they understand?  To say the least, we hit it off and from time to time I’d try to throw encouraging comments her way.  What was really funny was when “G” announced to the table after telling them I had “powers” that I had even been on a radio program in Virginia doing dream interpretation.  Yes, that was a true story as many who read here remember when I did that a couple summers ago.  Of course this got people started asking me stuff, but this wasn’t a “Sunshine” event. This was a Sarah and Shelby event and the whole evening needed to be about them. I simply said,  “Yes, I have on occasion done some dream interpretation if God gives me meanings……………but I really don’t want to talk about this now because I’m not as out there as I sound!”  And I looked at my new friend and said, “See!  It’s a gift, and you can’t expect most people to understand.”  She smiled at me, she got it.  And with that someone changed the subject.  But unbeknownst to me the waitress had heard the exchange. She walked by me, bent over, whispered in my ear,  “I personally think it’s cool.”  I laughed.  I guess sometimes we don’t know who is listening, do we.

The rest of the dinner was absolutely fantastic!  We all had such a nice time. This was important for Shelby as he is leaving this coming week for Afghanistan for a year.  This brings emotions on me that I won’t even mention in this blog. I watched him eat his steak dinner with his beautiful bride-to-be next to his side as we ate.  Life is about to change in ways most of us would never understand as he heads out to fight for our country.  My prayers will go with him, as they will be with Sarah, and his family who I would now call new friends.  It such turbulent times for all of them………………….I think we all need to keep focused on when he returns  there will be a wedding and good times will be had by all.

The truth is tho all this war is affecting me in ways I’ve really not known most of my life.  Oh yeah, I lived early years with the Viet Nam war, of which I have few memories thanks to a mom who believed I needed to be sheltered from the evils of the world as a child *thanks her mom* so I can’t really say I understand war.  Now Sarah, who is like a niece to me, her fiancée is leaving, my good friend Vicki’s son is due to return to Iraq next month, my own son-in-law, Chad is leaving for Afghanistan in March, and now my own son Joel is a Chaplin in the Army, attending school even as I write, with the odds of being deployed a strong possibility.  I don’t like to think of it. The truth is for me, this spiritual being that I am, I JUST don’t get it!  Why does there have to be wars?  What makes governments and rulers, and kingdoms rise against one another?  I know it’s an imperfect world, but it’s so against my grain to understand the hatred that is exchanged in this place. *sighs*  Where does that hatred begin?

Speaking of which, when we got home from dinner last night we decided we would go to a late movie.  Aren’t we just the wild bunch?  Elizabeth had heard that “Slumdog Millionaire” was an EXCELLENT movie!  Sarah had just seen it and said it was really good too.  I got on line to see what time the movie started and read the reviews,  “The Boston Globe,  Whatever you’re doing, stop and go see this movie!  It is a must see!!”  That’s all it took, they had me convinced!  And off we go at almost 10:00pm. 

This movie……………..I was subject to things I don’t EVER, EVER want to be subjected to again!  It was HORRIBLE!  It’s about the plight of orphan children in India.  The things they do I won’t even write here.  It was hard to follow, it was violent, I suppose it had a somewhat happy ending, and I would definitely say it was a soul mate movie, once you got through the torture and pain.  I sat watching this movie realizing how blessed of a life I do have.  How do people cope?  How do children cope?  How can this happen?  What can I do to make it better?  It was so very sad.  Even if he finally did end up with his soul mate of which he had known since he and she were little slumdogs. *sighs*  I think Elizabeth said when we left,  “I sure wouldn’t go see that again!”  I replied, “Not only would I not go see it again, I won’t even rent the DVD!”  The 4 of us agreed…………yuck.  And how long has it been since I’ve been to see a movie? I guess I know why.  Hollywood is simply a muck like so many other things in this world these days.

*End of rant*

Which leads me to the end of a very long and beautiful weekend, where as today Dell and I began the process of the latest goals I have for myself.  I made the decision that I am going to turn the trashed out rental into a wood shop for Dell. We will use the rooms for storage as I have WAY too many things that need stored.   Simplify, I have not.  I will do some major remodeling around the house, adding on another bedroom with the hopes of “resale” value, or at the least uping the interest in the property. I plan to build a new master suite and will re-side the house with cedar which will look log-cabin.  Nestled on the edge of the woods as we are, this is the dream setting for this look.  For now, I believe this is what I am meant to do, but as I do this work, I will be working on the book too.  As I was moving things from the garage this afternoon to the new “woodshop”  I kept telling myself this was as my  current job is, “A means to an end.”  I think that means I am making the best of what I can with what I have while I am here.  This may be the place after all I was meant to write and finish the book?  There is much beauty in this place of which I was in SUCH a hurry to go somewhere I overlooked it.  Do I want to stay here?  No, but for now, with no doors opening it must be where I am meant to be.  So if I can’t go to change, I will bring some change here, which will hopefully be a positive asset when the next window period of time seems to appear that it is time to go.  I have set a goal with myself, I am going to try to write one hour everyday on the book.  I have some other goals too, but for now, I believe I am on the right track.  Tomorrow will be here before I know it, and I believe in the tomorrows I am to finally finish that of which I probably was meant to have done a year ago.  I feel very focused now.

When I go back and read the first few chapters of my story and book, I realize how much I have lost the simple message of why Soul Mate was brought into my life.  How did I ever make it so complicated and how did I ever miss the beauty of what I was given?  Oh yeah!  He was brought into my life to teach me those things only he could awaken me to.  Isn’t it amazing how that works?

And I’m here.  Going to be okay because I am living the means to an end or something like that, but mostly, God is taking me places I never dreamed He would.  In so many ways I have been to a lot of those places, but I have a feeling, I’ve still only just begun……………..and I know that I am not to detest the small beginnings.  It’s a journey………………….a very beautiful and challenging journey of faith.

As the faith, love, and light lead me on.

Goodnight,

Sunshine

Goodnight Soul Mate:  I noticed there was a full moon tonight. I remember all those times I’d see a full moon and think of you and dream.  Do you remember the song?  I guess I still do think of you when I see full moons, but I don’t dream anymore. I think I am respecting you and where your life is.  But the beautiful part of it?  I can look at a full moon now and even tho I don’t dream that romantic things I used to, I realize how important you have become to me!  How do I explain it?  I cherish you for what you “are” to me, not what you “aren’t” to me that I’d “hope one day you’d be” for so long.   I go back and read the early beginnings of this journey and it reminds me so much that I got lost along the way of wanting it to be what it wasn’t supposed to be……………………unless one day, but I don’t even think about that because I think what we share is so much more beautiful than one day even.  I know there is meaning in my words, even if they lack the beauty of what it is I know, but if you feel it in your heart too, then words don’t need be spoken.  And I do cherish you.  I send you love and light.  Goodnight, Love, Sunshine