REMEMBER WHEN I DOWNSIZED?

I wrote a blog post some time ago about downsizing or rightsizing and I'm here to tell you we did the right thing and right-sized. Now my husband and I can communicate without yelling across the multiple rooms although we still do yell at times. Everybody does. LOL And we have close neighbors so we have to keep it to a minimum which we have not had a problem with since neither of us are confrontational.

We have a fantastic view of the lake with a water fountain in the middle and all of the rooms face the lake so we have great views from all our rooms. The biggest decision we had to make was where to put everything from the large house. After a large moving sale and a hefty donation to the Red Cross we brought what was left and fit it in. Had another Goodwill donation and we are all set.

It's a close and intimate feeling when the verticals are closed for the evening but we've adjusted to it--it wasn't very hard. When I'm in the kitchen and the phone rings its four steps to pick it up. Doing laundry is the easiest. The laundry room is outside the bedroom door so I usually sort everything into piles in the bedroom and then carry the individual loads to the washer. In a matter of hours, all-small-loads laundry is completed.

Two bedrooms and two baths accommodates all our needs and then some. In the 2nd bedroom which we dubbed the 'den' we have a corner for travel. It's helped us decide on what we really wanted to keep. Two bookcases full of books and photo albums, a credenza loaded down with electronics and a large desk. We take turns using the desk and it's worked out great.

Because we're in closer proximity to each other we've become closer to each other. It's been kind of like a second honeymoon when we shared all our dreams and wishes. So many of them have been filled or come true, i.e. two children, moving into a bigger house, etc. that we've had to make new ones and the dreaming and wishing for the rest of our lives has taken on a whole new meaning. We've decided we want to travel and our goals have changed.

We no longer want to update the kitchen at the older house, we already have it in the smaller place. We want to save any and all extra money for a trip of our lifetime. Another goal, wish or dream that will come true.

LOVE IN BLOOM

We live on a lake with a water fountain that runs all the time. It is great to hear it first thing in the morning with the first cup of coffee, but after awhile, like mid day, we are so over it. But we love to listen to the ducks that claim this lake their own.

Their "quack, quack, quack" every now and then sounds like someone laughing and it's brings a smile to our faces. The other day we were sitting out on the screened in patio listening to the birds and ducks, and watching squirrels scurry from tree to tree when we noticed that  there are only eight ducks in the lake, four couples swimming along in different directions. Usually there are many more.

We were reminded that it is finally spring and with spring brings new births, not just for plants and animals but for us as well. Hopefully, we'll be renewed in our love of life this spring and it will continue throughout a joyful summer, fall, and winter again.

Finally our visit to Sponge Docks

After living in Florida, in the same county for 33 years, we finally made a visit to Tarpon Springs Sponge docks. It was a great day with friends on Saturday and a great adventure. We walked where many have walked in the past along the docks and all the shops. We were even able to do some Easter shopping avoiding a trip to the Mall.

We got our grandson, Caden, a shirt with a pirate and crossed swords embroidered on the front. When you put it on and go out in the sun the entire shirt is covered, front and back, with skulls and crossed swords, the pirates emblem or logo. It was a big hit.

We got our grand-daughter, Alexis, a really cute multifaceted glass stoned bracelet with all the right colors. It also was a big hit and she wore it all day.

We had a great Easter day on Sunday at our son's; a big ham dinner with all the trimmings, pineapple upside down cake and cheesecake for dessert and then the Easter egg hunt. It was so relaxing and fun to watch everybody forget their troubles for a short span of time and really have some fun.

Grief-Catching Up With Me

I come from a relatively large family with seven aunts and uncles on both my mothers side and my fathers side of the family and too many cousins to remember. They are all beginning to age and I live approximately 2000 miles away from them enjoying the Florida mild winters and sunshine while they continue to suffer the northeast's brutal winter cold and snow.

Shortly before Thanksgiving I was notified that one of my favorite aunt's had passed away. She was favorite for a number of reasons one of which was that she was my Dad's sister married to my Mom's brother. My mother's brother passed away a couple days before Christmas 30 some years ago from Hodgkins Disease and my aunt never remarried. They had five children together, two girls and three boys. The two girls look a lot like my sisters and me. The boys not so much. I have great memories from long ago of staying at their house overnight on a Saturday night while our Dad's went to the car races. We would play dress up and games and eat popcorn. I still keep in touch with my cousins but more so since their mother died a few days before Thanksgiving. The holidays are a terrible time to grieve, more so than any other time it seems, especially for this family.

Another favorite aunt was laid to rest today and due to distance and expense I could not attend the formalities that go along with death. She was always a favorite because she was the oldest on my Dad's side of the family and everyone called her "Sis'. If you wanted to know anything about another family member you would call Aunt Sis and she would always know and let you know what to do. She was married three times, fifty years to her second husband and only four years to her last one. She and her second husband would always take me to the out of town or 'away' high school football games until I got my license and could drive myself and some friends. My uncle always had a quarter for me no matter how old I got. My aunt would tell me all kinds of childhood stories about my Dad. I remember the one about my Dad trying to fly off the chicken coop, fell and broke his little finger. His finger never did straighten out after that short fall.

On March 11 my Dad's been gone ten years already. I think of him everyday and all his idiosyncrasies that were his alone. I can's say I grieve for him, I've passed that stage, but I grieve for everyone who still has to go through the grieving process for a parent or a child or any loved one.

The loss of a loved one is something you never get over, you just figure out a way to go on without that person in your life, and remembering the many  good times.