Sorry I’ve been absent for a bit. I kind of hit the ground running when I returned from my writing sabbatical in March. My husband and I had an absolutely fantastic drive back from Washington together through the gorgeous states of Idaho and Utah (and of course WA and AZ). It’s well worth the road trip if you ever get that way.

I don’t think I’d have made that drive by myself as there are miles and miles of uninhabited territory, which is fine when you’re with a companion but kinda scary driving alone. We had such a great time as we always do on our road trips, listening to music and singing in the car and of course long talks. I thought about introducing him to the podcast Serial during our three day drive but then realized there really is no space for anyone else talking in the car between the two of us.

I hit the ground running when I got home between deciding to recarpet most of my upstairs (and stairs) which is a major project I’d been avoiding for a decade number of years. One of my cats, in her stressed behavior when I was gone for prolonged periods, had taken to peeing all over my bedroom. It was not pretty at all. Plus the carpet was likely 20 years old and disgusting in its own right. Once we arrived in Tempe, John and I ran over to Home Depot and picked it out together. As we’ve never created our own marital home jointly, and have been living out of the three homes we already had prior to getting married, this had been a very touching, and important, project to do together. He’s been involved every single step of the way as we create this new, gorgeous, space together. Same for Sedona which we have completely revamped in the past few months, relocating bedrooms, moving furniture and the like.

 

 

Aside from just wanting to see my husband again, I asked him to come out for a quick visit in early April to help me with some of this. When I say this, I mean the archeological dig from my bedroom, layered with crap from over fifteen years that I needed to sort and dismantle, and pull out so that every single thing could be removed for the carpet–that’s the part I’d been avoiding. Simultaneously, I started a 10 day Purium cleanse again and although not intentional, realized I was doing the same process both inside and out. That’s how we Scorpios like to roll–all at once.

omg thought they would not get it up those stairs!

Last year sometime, John and I realized we were sleeping in Queen and full beds in our homes yet when we stayed in hotels had the luxury of a spacious King size bed. I don’t know about the rest of you peri-menopausal ladies but I’ve learned to sprawl, kick off covers and basically hog an entire bed through my nights of hot flashes and insomnia. Poor John. 😦 So the bed upgrade was decided first, then the carpet. I mean there was no way I was putting this gorgeous linen sleigh bed on that nasty flooring.

see what I mean?

It has been a demanding and completely rewarding process. During John’s last visit, we dismantled my Queen bed, squeezed it into the guest room (along with all of the CRAP I was pulling out of the Master), picked out an incredible mattress at Mattress Overstock (we got a $2899 Stearns and Foster pillow top Cal King for $895 including box springs!), ordered our new bed, grabbed In and Out drive through (his first) and were on the road to Sedona by noon! We rock and roll together. We also managed to do our joint taxes for the first time that trip and basically have the great fun we always do together.

Last week it all came together and I’ve spent the weekend carefully choosing what makes the cut back into this gorgeous suite we’ve created. I’ve donated or given away at least half of what was in here–books, clothes, purses, shoes–it feels SO GOOD to be letting go. Concurrently, I’m on Day 9 of my cleanse right now (and craving pizza dammit!) so it’s all happening.

In the midst of all of this unearthing, a letter from Cindy emerged. She wrote it to me from her Freshman year in college while I was a senior in high school still at home. I was struggling and she took the time from studying to write me a lengthy letter (8 pages both sides) about all of the things I was dealing with–family, friends, boys. So interesting those themes are ones I struggled with my whole life and are so prevalant in the book–and it found its way back to me now.  Such a treasure and I’m so thankful to my 17 year old self for saving it all these years. It was just the connection I needed. I have one of my miracle stories to write about that but will save it for another entry as this one is getting so jammed.

The very same day I found that letter, my current favorite client said to me as he walked out of my office “bye Cindy”. He knows nothing about my personal life like that. A message from Heaven. She is close now, I can feel it. And she’s cheering me on.

As you can imagine, the book has been on a kind of hold for the moment. That’s how I roll though–I work on it in immersive ways and I do have a plan, don’t worry. It will be completed. I just needed a little break.

last weekend in Sedona where I started the Purium cleanse

Hope you are all enjoying your Spring. I’m completely psyched about attending the Agape Revelation Conference in LA this weekend with Michael Beckwith and crew. Then a quick turnaround to PA and into our FIRST ANNIVERSARY TRIP! Back to the scene of the crime in Niagara Falls–one of my favorite places on Earth. More on that later! Life is great and being married is off the charts amazing…better than I’d ever imagined for myself.

Finally, a sign off to Prince. Having just seen Purple Rain last night on a big screen, remembering seeing it in the theatre with Cindy in Minneapolis, I’m still feeling this loss deeply. Rest in the groove Beautiful One.