Before leaving Canada…the last two weeks had flown by. Pretty much I became jobless, actually, not pretty much, it really happened.
So, priorities were to max out benefits with massages and chiro and sunglasses and orthotics and anything else I could get my hands on. Get my hair cut and have day after night after day of “going away” parties, gatherings, lunches, dinners and the occasional full-on binge.
Which meant up to approx 1 day prior to Mike leaving (remember, Mike was leaving one week before the girls and I) I polluted and pampered myself.
Yup, full on! Cause I didn’t have anything else to do….except pack up my entire house….but why would I do anything ahead of time.
If you were following Mike on Facebook LIVE, it would be noted that he began packing his bags (boxes) the NIGHT before leaving… we make a great team of getting sh*t done with seconds to spare.
Mike wanted to make sure my final week at home was stress-free…but my procrastination took over, as always.
So once Mike left, all the “just leave it for me, Mike” jobs that needed to get done – were my responsibility.
No problem, I got this.
I DON’T GOT THIS!
All of a sudden it hit me what that hell we were doing!
Then I looked around at my entire house full of everything (except for large pieces of furniture that we put in storage)….and when the kids went to bed, I would try to motivate myself to get to work…
Oops…I just got distracted, I’m on the airplane and my prosecco just spilled all over the table and onto my leg. My initial reaction to lick the table dry was quickly overcome when Arya asked me if I could pass her the colouring book…*mental note*..must set a good example for children and not lick table! So I let the prosecco absorb into my pant leg (ahh, topical prosecco…and fear not, I 100% ordered another one!).
Ok, back to the story – long story short. I cried. A lot!
Fear, panic, anxiety, overwhelmed, tired, sleep deprived (I’m a borderline narcoleptic but have developed some insomnia over the past few weeks…fun).
Worries about money…that’s a big one…Everything all just set in.
The only way to be talked off the ledge…was to be talked off the ledge – just an outside perspective can mean the world so once I came back from the ledge – I scribbled down my own words of encouragement and stuck it to the fridge.
“We still have a house, a job, family & friends.
It’s only money. You can make money. You can’t make time”.
Wow, right?! I wrote that. (In hindsight, the order should be different, but at that moment, money was the thorn in my side)
I took the girls for ice cream because I wanted to binge eat something to make me feel better – Puffy faced, swollen eyes (praise to Kate Spade for oversized sunglasses…worn at 6pm)… we went for ice cream, and while smashing some pumpkin spiced gelato, dripping down my face, staining the collar of my tank top….a lady and her son came up to us and started talking to me about how excited they were about our adventure – they read it in the local paper (there was a 3 page article written on our travel plans…so we were actually getting noticed in town – which is humbling…and crazy!)
Trying to keep my composure and ice cream in my mouth, I began answering her questions to which she responded about how she would love to do something like this but would never have the nerve. For most people, it would be a dream – but we are actually turning a dream into reality and are giving our kids (and ourselves) an opportunity, an adventure, a wanderlust that many would never, ever, ever have.
And just like that…there was hope again!
So the to-do lists began.
A lot of them. Handwritten. I’m old fashioned that way. Just like I’m old fashioned with telephoning my friends….you want to make someone you normally text uncomfortable? Call them!
Well. Everything got done. The house is empty (except for the spice drawer…TOTALLY forgot about that).
4 x 49lbs bags (weight limit is 50lbs) are packed, 5 carry-on bags are ready for the girls and I to carry which means I will obviously carry all of them at some point in time…and it’s time to say our good-byes.
I had friends drop by, call, text, call again, text again, stop by again.
It was also my birthday (obviously I was turning 25 for the 11th time) so I had even more love shed my way (ya, I cried majority of the day…I was so hormonal I thought I needed to take a pregnancy test)
We said our good-byes (or see you laters as we liked to put it ) to my family members and shed so many tears. SO MANY.
Cry, baby, cry!
With promises to Facetime, Skype, Slack, Insta DM, SnapChat, WhatsApp, email, text, snail mail postcards (did I miss any?)……away we went to the airport hotel for an overnighter in prep for our flight to Grenada leaving at 08:20 am the next morning…..The adventure has begun.
I was going to stop there….but here’s a hypothetical situation – Is there anything more invigorating and uplifting, making you feel like you own this, you got this, that you are ready, then preparing for a 5 hour flight with ipads charged, movies downloaded, music downloaded, headphones charged, 5 hours of snacks, drinks, journals, activity books so the kids (and I) will have the smoothest flight possible. You have packed and repacked the carry on bags for easy access to everything. That feeling that you are actually prepared. Strutting to your gate carrying (obviously) all 5 carry on bags – #momsouttherekillingit.
Until, UNTIL…you are ready to take off, at the runway (still #killingit) and there is an engine issue causing you to go back to the gate and sit on the airplane for two hours while they figure out the problem. #passtheprosecco #thisisgonnabealongday
Grenada, here we come xo