"...They will tell you life is sweet, in spite of the misery..." - Natalie Merchant

This is us. We live in a bus. A blue bus, in Hawaii to be exact. Some days it's wonderful, and some days are really hard.... but any time I call the cell phone company or any other company to pay a bill or say that I moved they say,"oh, Hawaii eh? That must be rough". So, somehow we missed the memo that if you live in Hawaii your life must be perfect. Well, hopefully this blog will set you straight:) Our life is not perfect by any means. But it IS full of adventure, which is just what we asked for!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Fevers and tangerines.




It’s been forever since I have made time to do this… but miraculously time was made for me by forced conditions. Lily and Gabe are sick, lethargic, achy, coughy and feverish, so we can’t leave, we have no internet, and we live in a bus. I have cleaned, read, cleaned more, made breakfast, made tea, made snacks, read books, and now that I have run out of things to do, I am forced to blog. Or at least write a blog that will possibly never be uploaded because who knows when I will find internet to make that happen?

So, the truth is that this blog intimidates and overwh
elms me because I am so far behind…. How would I ever be able to catch up on what has taken place since Christmas? Ha! You know what? I’m not going to do it! I’m just going to talk about today.

I was just washing the dishes and thinking about how living in a bus might be making me crazy. OR, it might be making me strong, adaptable and content. You see, it can change every 30 minutes. THAT is how fast things can get better and worse when you live in a small space. To anyone out there who has done it, do you know what I’m saying? It’s a struggle to keep my perspective right, it feels kind of like when I was in labor. But when I push through these hard, hard moments, I feel amazing, and I want to do it again. Just that battle inside, where I want to lay down, give up, cry and feel sorry for myself, and then this stronger woman is right in there too, challenging me, urging me on… I love it when that girl wins. But it takes a lot of humility, meditation, intention and prayers for her to win, it really does.

What I keep thinking about today, is that this is where I get stronger. I tossed and turned a lot last night, Johnny sleeping on the couch to make room in our bed for feverish kids, who cried and coughed all night long. I seriously feel like I was praying all night. I don’t know what to do, both Johnny and I feel overwhelmed right now, where to live, where to work, how to MAKE things work….yet I feel some deep inner peace that it is all going to be amazing, and I just need to keep my head up, do my best and watch beauty unfold. It takes a lot of patience to do that. It’s taking my children being so sick that we are bus-bound, for me to just slow down, think, and just be. I know I can make things happen, I know I could go find us a great little house, and I can always find ways to bring in money and be a super hard worker…. But it’s not the time for me to do that. I really feel like I need to wait, hope, love, and be happy in the meantime.

So here’s how I’m doing that today….

I’m taking such good care of my sick babies. Pau d’arco tea, essential oils, Echinacea, ginger, tumeric, colloidal silver… and IBU profen when it’s bad. I cleaned this bus and organized yet again, and have to say, it’s a cozy little place. Yesterday was so hot I felt crazy, sweaty and grouchy in here, totally hopeless and little depressed…. So today, I opened all the windows, got a breeze going, and lit some candles. I have a lot to be thankful for. Panoramic windows all around with green things growing right outside, birds calling, clean air.

My friend Ann-Marie made the day even brighter by dropping by with fresh avacado and a big bag of tangerines from her back yard… all sliced and clean! Fresh vitamin C for all, and they are SO delicious, I just stood over the sink just pounding tangarines til I had my fill!

So there are always breezes and tangerines in your day if you look for them…. And living in a bus can be just awful, or a grand adventure depending on which way you let your mind take you…. Believe me, I go back and forth many times a week!