zen motherhood

Husband: I watched you on Find Friends (Find My) while you were driving. Looks like you stopped for awhile outside of the school? Me: Oh yeah, I had to stop and wait for a goat to move out of the road and then a chicken. This was an actual dialogue exchange.  Driving in Barbados has been an adventure to say the least. It feels like rally car driving in an urban setting. The two major highways are in fair shape but the side roads are a force to be reckoned with where there are always spots of construction, erosion, and then there's the added obstacle of livestock. I didn't drive for the first few weeks. Husband is a great driver and I like to do a little recon before I venture into something dangerous. So I remained a passenger for a bit. Also, they drive on the left side of the road and you sit on the right side of the car. I felt I needed time to wrap my head around That. So the above exchange was on my first adventure, out on my own. I don't actually drive with my husband...

I couldn't think of a catchy title for this post. However, I think it's appropriate for my final post about our move. Mostly because this whole post is about the one member of our family who has tried every ounce of my patience, stretched every string of tolerance I have, all the while securely wrapping my heart strings around his fuzzy little paws. There isn't a fancy title for that, it is just- The dog. He is, I am sure, the reincarnate of the little boy I never had. He never listens. He never obeys me. He sometimes eats what I give him but usually eats something else, like my slippers. He only comes to me when he's sad, sick, or needs to go outside. Which is typically between 2.30am and 3am. I open with all that to outline an understanding of our relationship. We are not close and I secretly think he loathes me and that I'm in the way of his true love, dad.  But I feel this odd sense of dedication and responsibility to this animal so getting the dog to Barbados w...

 I love road trips. I never really went on any when I was a kid, but I love them. I love the planning. Planning the snacks. Planning the best route.  When the kids were young, planning out games or movies for the ride. So when we decided that once the house was sold that we would go on the mother of all road trips, I was excited. I had it all figured out- our first few weeks of moving out of the house we would spend locally. Starting off with a treat to a luxury local hotel and then transitioning to something more practical to say our good bye's and wrap up loose ends.  We would then venture to South Carolina to see my parents but ensure to  practice safe covid protocol and social distancing. Then on to Melbourne, Florida to see the rest of family and prepare for the last leg of the trip. Our final stop would be in Miami to board the plane to - Barbados. It felt like a very solid plan and living on the road with a dog and only one child in tow sounded like an episode...