Sometime ago I picked up a journal with a picture of Curious George on it. Mainly used it to jot down books I was reading or movies I wanted to watch. Then it transitioned into a book where my husband and I would have a beer at a pub and write down on random pages every so many years -"Exciting Activities We Want to Do in Our Life". I've determined this book started before kids because there is mention of a desire to bike ride across France for 3-4 months in '99 (maybe 3-4 months was pushing it with our corporate jobs in the dot com hiatus before all knew it would bust) but we did squeak out a month each time in 1998 (ahead of schedule ;+}) and 2000. Then I noticed somewhere along the way there was a break. Nothing written or dated. Ooops - twins arrived in 2001 - they say the first 3 years are the toughest - imagine that - the next entry when I put the year in was 2004!
All kind of visions, dreams, ideas and such were scribed - of which included living abroad, learning more French, house swapping, bathroom remodel, kitchen remodel, researching/buying triple bicycle for local transport, sending kids to local French immersion school, hire organizing consultant to help out on occasion to make our house feel big again when it starts to feel small - we live in a 2 bed/1 bath house (so no matter the size - you know how "stuff" can collect), fixing things that need attention with more than electrical tape - it's been a fluid, fun and enlightening list that has seen items get checked off (accomplished! - like wow we really did that), discarded (no longer that interesting or worth pursuing), or moved onto the next list (intriguing but not there yet). In flipping through I found more entries in 2007 and 2009. There was mention of "at 20 years at my company time to say goodbye" - well that happened at 15 years (no complaints - the opportunity presented itself sooner) - but there was no bullet for starting a soap company! I guess I had to leave first to clear my mind and let my creative juices start to flow.
Now we are at 2011 and while we've had the pleasure of making those house exchanges happen - (France for a month as a family - in Nantes and Toulouse) the one 'theme' that was maintaining itself through and through was this "live abroad" a step past house exchanging - where or what we meant was actually never detailed out but it kept making it from one year to the next - always just a bullet point in a list - perhaps for a reason unknown to us? And now our 'vision' is a reality (serendipitously so - another blog post I guess?) and the one thing that dawned on me - while perhaps I thought it would be France the compass has pointed us to Africa - the home of Curious George!
What's on your list and what dots have you connected in your life?
All kind of visions, dreams, ideas and such were scribed - of which included living abroad, learning more French, house swapping, bathroom remodel, kitchen remodel, researching/buying triple bicycle for local transport, sending kids to local French immersion school, hire organizing consultant to help out on occasion to make our house feel big again when it starts to feel small - we live in a 2 bed/1 bath house (so no matter the size - you know how "stuff" can collect), fixing things that need attention with more than electrical tape - it's been a fluid, fun and enlightening list that has seen items get checked off (accomplished! - like wow we really did that), discarded (no longer that interesting or worth pursuing), or moved onto the next list (intriguing but not there yet). In flipping through I found more entries in 2007 and 2009. There was mention of "at 20 years at my company time to say goodbye" - well that happened at 15 years (no complaints - the opportunity presented itself sooner) - but there was no bullet for starting a soap company! I guess I had to leave first to clear my mind and let my creative juices start to flow.
Now we are at 2011 and while we've had the pleasure of making those house exchanges happen - (France for a month as a family - in Nantes and Toulouse) the one 'theme' that was maintaining itself through and through was this "live abroad" a step past house exchanging - where or what we meant was actually never detailed out but it kept making it from one year to the next - always just a bullet point in a list - perhaps for a reason unknown to us? And now our 'vision' is a reality (serendipitously so - another blog post I guess?) and the one thing that dawned on me - while perhaps I thought it would be France the compass has pointed us to Africa - the home of Curious George!
What's on your list and what dots have you connected in your life?
I too am a fan of Curious George. He is curious like we all were once. Don't stop dreaming, planning, doing. Great Blog. I read it all top to bottom. What an adventure. You're kids are so lucky. Take care, have fun, be safe.
ReplyDeleteThanks Craig. So glad to have enjoyed Yosemite with you and your family - and to have shared our plans with you - and now you are following along. I look forward to a blog you and Debbie create one day soon enough on a country Curious George sends you!
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