(written on the 20th from notes taken previously)
Woke up again wide awake after a night’s sleep that was far too short for me to be waking up wide awake at the time that I am. 🙃
Started going through my morning routine, my little brain exercise app to get my brain going, then listening to some uplifting music, and chatting with the Big Guy.
Then I spent some time recording one of my more profound spiritual experiences, having written it down prior, but recording myself reading the experience, so I can listen to it when I’m doing other things.
Texted my oldest sister. I’m heading her way next once I leave here.
Ate breakfast and chatted a bit and then helped my sister in her new straw-bale garden. My job was to cut holes in the straw to put dirt in for seeds to be able to be planted and start growing.
Chatted with Craig about river rafting and kayaking for a bit while sorting my laundry (they kindly offered to let me do my laundry there 😊).
Chatted with my nephew for a while about the business he’s building, everything that he’s working on, and how it’s all going.
Went with my sister and brother-in-law to Lowe’s and to Costco and to grab parts for deer protection for the garden and food and whatnot.
They bought me a case of shelf stable oat milk, which is fabulous. I had totally forgotten such a thing existed. Definitely a bonus in a vehicle that has yet to have an electric cooler.
I’m going to try and get one in Seattle before I head East again. Pretty good chance I’m going to skip Canada this year, not because of the ammunition thing, but because I don’t really have anyone to enjoy it with, and I’m… tired of being alone. I love seeing the beautiful world that I live in, but it loses so much of its draw without someone to share it with.
My physical health is another big reason to cut things shorter than I might otherwise. Physically, I’m also in pretty bad shape, so I need to make sure I get myself to medical people sooner rather than later. Lots of issues with my teeth, probably going to need a root canal and several fillings. Should have gotten stuff done last year, but… 😕
So after I leave Seattle, there’s probably a pretty good chance I’m going to head relatively quickly over to South Dakota, though I’ll likely take a different route than I have before, just to try something new.
After we got back from all the shopping, my sister headed right back out to a different store, and I headed to a local grocery store with my brother-in-law to grab a few last-second things for dinner.
Talked and talked during dinner prep. Talked a good bit more during dinner itself, their friend joining us for dinner as well.
Then we played a board game that I forget exactly what’s called, but it’s about dragons and caves, and you’re trying to excavate caves and get dragons in them, and get eggs and all sorts of other things.
Complicated game for a first-timer, especially one like me with an incredible ability to completely zone out the moment someone starts reading instructions. 🙃
Still, it was fun, and no one playing was super competitive, which makes it a lot more enjoyable, my niece (and others) walking me through what to do and suggested strategies without any regard for how that might affect her position in the game. 🥰
I threw in the towel about midnight, when we were only into either the second or third of several rounds of playing. I think maybe five or seven? I don’t remember.
Even though I’m waking up wide awake, since I’m waking up after not having gotten enough sleep, I’m hitting a wall fairly early in the middle of the day, and I was pretty tuckered out by midnight.
I also seem to be fighting off getting sick again? 😶
The last two nights, I’ve gone to bed with the scratchy throat and the desire to cough when breathing. 😅
And this morning, I woke up with a very slightly congested head.
Hopefully, if it’s a sickness, I can beat it back. 🤞
Makes me wonder if it has something to do with that tooth it’s giving me the most problems. I’ve heard about other people having tooth issues that end up keeping them sick.
🤷
We’ll see.
After turning into a pumpkin for the night, I came out to my piles of laundry, spent a bunch of time putting all of my clothes away, and then spent some time updating my journal with notes for future writing.
Gratitude:
- I’m grateful to be able to be here and spend some time with my wonderful family. I’m grateful for the kindness and love.
- I’m grateful for my sister for making me a little cup of herbal tea this morning to help fight the potential sickness.
- I’m grateful for the opportunity to do my laundry. I was down to basically zero pairs of socks. Plenty of clothes left that I could wear, but either zero or maybe one or two pairs of socks?
- I’m grateful to have been able to spend some time chatting with most of each of the members of my sister’s family. It’s nice to catch up. It’s nice to build / try to maintain good relationships. It’s hard living over half a very large country away…
- I’m grateful to have a little more space in Rover with all of my clothes clean and put away instead of tucked under my pillow or in my dirty clothes bin.
Success:
- Ummm… I don’t know? I guess I overcame my pride and asked if it was okay to use their laundry. It’s awkward for me to ask for favors when I’m living a life I’ve chosen to live (in my van with no in-house laundry facilities, and I can certainly afford a laundromat. Hard to feel ok about favors when part of me feels like I should just take responsibility for the consequences of my own actions).
Improvement:
- Hmmm… I’ve been sitting here for a while trying to think of something to have done better. I don’t know whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing that it’s taking me this long. 🙃 I guess maybe I’ll just leave it open for today. 😊
Loves!
Lift the world.
Bring it on.
~ stephen
Lift the World 