Off I go to South Africa

It's been months since I blogged on this site. My life has been in such turmoil that I haven't written anything, haven't used my camera much. All signs that things are not clicking in my world.

But last week, my dear friend Janet talked some sense into me, urging me to get away from the stress and turbulence that has surrounded me for the last year. Things like losing my job, the market crashing so no new jobs around, divorce in January, a house to sell in a down market, the man who has been in my life for 24 years gone. And to top it all I turned 60 and got audited! And as Chris is gone, this last one fell on me. So it has not been fun.

Tuesday evening, I sat with Janet in her little recycled house in the woods, and when I realized there is nothing keeping me here but myself and my over inflated sense of responsibility, I thought, what the hell, I'm out of here. The credit cards are almost maxed out, what's a bit more on them?


My biggest issue was my kitties, Hinckley and Buddy. They are so used to having me or someone around all the time, I couldn't just leave them to be fed by a neighbor for almost two months. So I put out the word for a house sitter. And boom, Larry and Sandy who live in Poulsbo across the Hood Canal Bridge, are going to stay here. The Bridge is closed for repairs from May 1 - June 16 and they were dreading the commute with water shuttles and buses. So that worked perfectly. Then I booked my flight and made the decision to leave next Thursday as the flight went up $500 May 1. The house will remain on the market - any calls will be forwarded to my magicjack phone number that I take with me and Susan and Janet will handle any unrepresented buyers.


As I sat here looking at the flight and all my info and credit card number typed in, waiting for me to click on the submit button, I had doubts and second thoughts and wondered what I was doing being so irresponsible. But then I noticed how sore my shoulders and neck were and how tightly I was wound up and went - Click, Submit.

So it is done. I have so much still to do, not the least is finishing up on the Dockside stuff I do have (just a small part time job that I can do from anywhere) and sorting out the house, buying enough kitty food, packing up my personal stuff, planting out my seedlings so I will have a growing garden when I get back. Sandy loves to garden so she will water and keep things going for me.

What is amazing is how all the bits have come together. Right down to me picking up the final papers required for the tax audit and finding a St Joseph statue in the MLS office. I took him home and buried him at my front door under the blooming hyacinths, said a prayer and asked him to bring me a qualified buyer for the house. And I will continue to ask for that. I know it is weird but people swear by this. And there have been so many coincidences recently around me leaving.

And I don't believe in coincidences!

I am planning to keep this updated and will link to Facebook. I will also post a link to pictures - so here I come South Africa. Just five more sleeps.