I haven’t written for a while and I realized today what a soothing thing it is for me to write. I was at camp and did some paper and pen journaling and then a bit on my knitting blog, but right now, in the middle of everything, I feel the need to calm myself down a bit and check in.

Today is the beginning of the end of my parents’ 40 year sojourn in the wilderness of Maryland. Except for our family, it hasn’t been a punishment but a great and nearly inexpressible blessing. I can’t imagine my life if my parents hadn’t come out here in 1970 with their little family of 3. Now that family has grown to nearly 40 people, with the first grandchild about to get married.

And so the need for calming. On this day I’m switching back and forth between helping mom pack, trying to keep my emotions in check, making hotel reservations in California, changing airline flights, finalizing plans for a big multi-family dinner at a restaurant that I only know from the internet and about 15 other things. I hate it when my posts make my life sound so crazy, but I think that I don’t need the act of writing so much when things are quiet.

It will all get done and every phone call that I check off my list brings a little sigh of relief. (hate phone calls in general) They always go better than I think they will (am usually pretty sure I’ll make a fool of myself or make a wrong decision-what if that Holiday Inn Express really is skanky?) and if I do make a mistake, well, I guess I can either live with it or fix it.

Thanks for reading. My heart rate has just gone down about 20 points and I’m breathing again. And just to remind me and have a smile, here’s what it’s all for: