Hello.
Is it me you’re looking for?
I’ve been thinking about you all summer and wondering what kind of summer fun you were up to. My hot summer weather started late but it has lasted a long time. It has been a super hot and rainy season and the trees and grass are still very green, not fall-like at all. Although a couple of the trees in our new digs are sticklers for routine so they have dropped some leaves despite what their peers are doing.
This was the summer that we made a move toward a new home and a new adventure. One that would bring me closer to my bubble map of dreams, including starting my Awkward Bird Country Shoppe.
Panic. Excitement. Fear. Giddy. Panic. Disbelief. Thankfulness. Wow. Pinch me. Panic. Right on track. A lot of work.
Just a few of the feelings that crop up at any given moment during the day.
You may have noticed that the menu up top looks like you might have the option to shop. “Perhaps, just maybe, did she open her online shoppe finally after all that yakking about it?”
No, not yet. But…I was playing around with a feature that is available to me and my old website here wondering if that might be the answer.
I need more research and at this point, I am thinking of leaving it to the pros so that I can be sure I am offering a secure and wonderful shopping experience. Baby steps but they’re steps.
Yes, there are still packing boxes in my world. I was planning to be done with them by now but our adventures went in directions we had not planned on so I do not see untangling myself from that relationship any time soon, and some days, I feel like we may never part ways. We decided to rent for many reasons, so that puts us in a temporary state of living for an undetermined length of time until our “forever home” surfaces. Until then, I’m sorting through boxes to find the things we need to exist and we will store the rest. That just means the boxes are hanging out in their own rental waiting for me. Forgotten but not gone.
Scary.
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Our move was full of blog-worthy content but I’ll save that story for another moment. I can’t relive it right now, it’s just too fresh. Various issues with movers, crazy hot humid weather, multiple road trips and a week long visit from the food poisoning fairy are just a few of the moments that joined us on our move adventure. Being that I am still trying to settle in and make a home, even a temporary one, I find myself craving a bit of a reprieve from “the move”. What I really want is to eat more bon-bons.
All of my children are now in school full-time and I had planned on taking the first few moments of that change of season to do everything else but work. Instead, I cried, and then began unpacking, shuffling things around and created the giant to-do list that comes with a move. It’s been ten years that I have had a wee one by my side most of the day so this is a bittersweet change and a big change for many reasons. Once my country shoppe dream begins, I will be a super busy gal again navigating a completely foreign world.
It’s time for a bon-bon.
I know that whatever season of life you are in, the back to September routine changes for most people and it includes structure and expectations that we were able to let go of over the summer months. You will have your own to-do list that is much larger than you care to think about.
Let’s escape and eat bon-bons together. There’s nothing like the pleasure of “putting your feet up” and doing whatever pleases you to avoid your to-do list for a while. It’s a way to ensure that you make moments that matter every day, which will add years to your life and a smile to your face every day. Really.
I have been able to add an almost daily walk to my routine because one of the promises to myself with my kid-less time was to get back to a regular exercise routine that often went by the wayside when I needed to fit it in at night while my kids slept. I’m pooped at night! On my walks, I daydream about the kinds of bon-bons I want to eat instead of working on my to-do list.
When I open my box of bon-bons, the biggest one that is covered with all sorts of goodness, is a whole day of nothing work-related. I’ll need to work up to that one because there is just too much to do right now. But, I’ve discovered that there is a sweet pleasure in the teeny bon-bons that we can sneak in, maybe even more pleasure than having a whole day to goof off.
Ooooo, look at that one! I want the vanilla bon-bon with some delicious nuts just waiting for me to take a bite. That’s me and my books sitting outside on these end of summer and early fall days just taking in whatever nature sends my way while I get lost in the words on the pages in front of me. That’s a staple bon-bon and one I need more often than I allow.
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The smooth and creamy hazelnut bon-bon in the corner of my bon-bon box is me doing one of my favorite art hobbies like drawing or painting. Creating a picture for a new note card or fabric design is delicious!
See that deep dark chocolate bon-bon over there? It’s coffee-flavored with an espresso bean tucked inside. That bon-bon is a moment spent savoring some chicken wings and other “bad for you” snacks while watching the TV shows that make me happy – Fixer Upper and The Pioneer Woman.
Tucked right in the middle of my bon-bon box is a pretty treat rolled in sprinkles. A few hours spent meandering around a cute little village to look in all of the cozy mom and pop shoppes can send me to the moon. It’s also a wonderful way to spy some great presents for my gifting list because these shoppes often have gifts that you don’t see in every store. Fabulous! There’s probably a little cafe or diner right around the corner too when I find myself famished from all of my shopping adventures and ready to nosh.
One of my most favorite bon-bons (have I said that already?) is to go to the movies solo and tuck myself up in a seat with a respectably-sized bucket of extra buttery popcorn and a Diet Pepsi. Maybe some pizza or a hot dog too if I feel so inclined. Napkins are optional. My favorite movies are usually kid-related, probably because of my youthful age and demeanor…ahem, and the one on my radar right now is The House With A Clock In It’s Walls.
Okay, now I really need a bon-bon. There are just a few more things to complete on my to-do list in order to free up a moment for me to hang around eating bon-bons. You need to make room for some bon-bons in your days as well. You know what they say…”All work and no play makes an awkward bird dull.”
What’s in your box of bon-bons?
