Nothing leads to the very best Something

Oh, hi guys!  Remember how I used to blog here all the time?  I thought it might be nice to pop in and say hello and share what’s been going on over in our neck of the woods.

Summer 2018 was really low-key but wonderful. For several reasons we just decided to lay low this year. We enjoyed an awesome getaway to Tucson Arizona right before school let out, and we are planning a trip to Oahu (more on that later) in November, so we thought we could handle a summer vacation without a big far away trip.  We’ve also spent the last several summers working through projects that were both expensive and time consuming.  We were simply exhausted from the ‘busy’ that life had become.  We enjoyed several lazy Saturdays, a couple day trips, a couple date nights, and more or less; nothing to write home about.

As the great philosopher Winnie the Pooh has been known to say; “Nothing often leads to the very best Something.”, and you guys, it really did.

Breathing room and the opportunity to reflect were probably the biggest blessings of this summer.  Our mode of operation for a very long time was that of a lot of people, keep moving and you really don’t have time to process relationships, feelings, etc. To be fair, some busy-ness is necessary, but we found that editing out what was really just busy work was a breath of fresh air.

“‘Crazy Busy’ is great armor, it’s a great way for numbing. What a lot of us do, is stay so busy, and so out in the front of our life, that the truth of how we are feeling and what we really need can’t catch up with us.” Brene Brown

…..I also read and listened to a lot of Brene Brown books this summer.

Harry and I both started drawing again.  This was in part, due to the encouragement by a therapist more than a year ago. Neither of us are in ongoing therapy, but we found it wise to take advantage of the benefits we have through work. Neither of us are too proud to ask for help emotionally, the therapist he visited for a while suggested doing something he loved that wasn’t work or house project related. He thought I might enjoy the same advice. We did.  Both of us have art degrees, but in all that busy-ness, neither of us really gave art much time for a very long time.  He would still draw now and again, not as often as he would like, but we would see glimpses of his talent come to the surface every once in a while.  I hadn’t drawn since before my oldest daughter was born. If we hadn’t slowed down on house projects and side hustles to pay for them, we simply wouldn’t have had the time to pick up a pencil.  Is sitting around drawing perhaps self indulgent rather than the noble task of extra work? Yes, and I am sure that for some, that is a problem.

There was so much music this summer. Harry played a lot more guitar this summer than he had in many, many summers.  One of the few projects Harry did this summer (if you could call it a project), was hanging up his guitars on the walls in our living room and office.  More space in the closet, free decor, and easy access made it a huge win.  All three kids have been learning piano through free lessons on YouTube.  My daughter and I have been singing more, she was in a play and studied at a local drama camp.  My son was gifted an electric piano by one of my favorite high school friend’s mother and he has even begun composing his own songs.  Some may say that we wasted a lot of time, that in those squandered moments we could have improved our house…. I dare say this improved it more.

We spent some time in Los Angeles, my favorite.  I went on one press trip, it was short and sweet and included Winnie the Pooh, so basically the best.  We also visited Homeboy Industries and The La Brea Tar Pits as a family which were epic in their own right.  I’ve shared a bit about Christopher Robin, maybe I will get around to sharing about the others eventually too.  In case I don’t, consider this our endorsement – both were incredible for our family as a whole.

We found that cutting back on house projects and not traveling (even when it is work related and comped) is a fantastic way to save money. Hence, the trip to Hawaii planned in the fall. It’s more or less unsponsored, but we plan on sharing here anyway because Hawaii is awesome and we will probably have some fun tips one family fun in Oahu when we get back.

We are back to school now and I am back to blogging (a little anyway), but the balance we found this summer was a gift!

Anyway, that is what we have been up to.  Not a lot. Which I highly suggest.

“I’m busy, busy, busy doing nothing
Doing nothing, that’s the life for me
Oh, when I’m doing nothing
I’m busy doing something
Something that suits me to a T”