Birthdays and the Vision Board

Had a wonderful birthday on Tuesday. My mother and sister brought me b-day cards with money in them. The best gift. So we spent the day shopping. Bought a baby corral for Babygirl, and a booster seat so she can sit at the table and eat with us, freeing the highchair for new baby. We also got her a rocking horse, which is just plain adorable. We finished the day eating dinner (the whole family!) at a great little Mexican restaurant downtown (my favorite). Everyone got along. Everyone was happy. Even the teenagers. Wonderful day!

So, I'm hoping the baby corral will help out with my space problem. If I have babygirl contained, maybe I can really break out the paints and paint at the dining room table. I'm hopeful. She's not too happy about being trapped behind her little fence, but if I stay close, it might be manageable.

Also, put the first image on the vision board: one of the houses we like in a suburb way south of town. It's a newer ranch with 3 bds and 2 baths on the main level, along with a living room, dining room, kitchen and laundry, and two car garage. No stairs!!! But, it also has a full unfinished basement which we can turn into more bedrooms, a family room and a studio. The space is there, at least, and I can set up a studio in a corner somewhere. Who needs walls? And R can have the garage for his workshop and large assortment of mostly unused tools. Yey. It has a huge yard, which is not landscaped, and sits on a corner lot. I can't really see any houses around it, but we plan on driving out there this weekend to really check it out. I'm thinking it will be perfect. More space, one level. Everything will come together. I'm thinking of renting the old Victorian, which in this horrible sellers market, might be the best choice. Then we can keep our town house as an investment, hoping the value will go up instead of down.

Everything is good today. Babygirl even slept all through the night without wanting to share my bed. I'm thinking I should take a photo and put that image on the vision board: Babygirl sleeping in her own bed all night long.

Still reading Wayne Dyer books. A new thought...I always thought when I fell off "the path" it was about living spiritually, thinking in more profound ways, and following my calling. I have spent a lot of time trying to get back to art and more enlightened ways of thinking and living, trying to relocate my spiritual "path." But, Wayne Dyer suggests that "the path" is one of unconditional love towards all people and all things. At least that's my take on it. That's it. If I can practice this unconditional love everything will start to come together. Harder than it sounds, but certainly worth the effort.

And the Universe put it to the test, right away when my oldest girl's school called to tell me she hasn't been there for a couple of weeks. Interesting, and I won't get into the details of that conversation, but I tried to constantly remind myself to let go of the anger and disappointment and hold onto the unconditional love. I'm still telling myself that. We'll see.

Adventures and dreams

Had a most wonderful adventure Saturday. Took the happy bus and the family to visit my Aunt in a little town about 45minutes away. She bought this property a few months back that has a cute little cottage and an enormous greenhouse. The yard has many grape arbors and a pond with a fountain. But the greenhouse is the most interesting part of the property. It has a kitchen and a bathroom, so of course she is staying there with her two little dogs. Her son is living in the cottage. The plants are thriving. So far she has an abundance of houseplants, but plans on starting vegies and flowers soon. It was great. The atmosphere was fabulous...warm, natural, cozy. It reminded me a great deal of the Earthships in Taos and the few others I have visited.

I have wanted to build an Earthship for many years because of the atmosphere, but also because they are self-sufficient houses, off the grid, with water collection systems, solar, and a greenhouse across the front of the house. It is a dream. Lately we are considering a manufactured home on some acreage. I'm afraid, like most of the projects here at home, R would never be dedicated enough to work on an Earthship. A manufactured home is finished when it arrives, or mostly. The best part is that it would be one level (I'm so tired of the narrow steep stairs to the second floor of our old Victorian) and cheaper than our current house.

Another option we have been tossing around is moving to another city a little south of where we are. The cost of living is lower and there is a development just outside of town that still has empty lots, which would work for a manufactured home. There are also finished homes that are selling for significantly less than anything in our town. If we could sell our house in the current market, that might work. We could get a bigger, newer, ranch style house for much less, which would help our finances considerably.

We need a bigger house now. I'm still trying to figure out where to put all of the children with the new baby coming. And forget about studio space in this house. Although, ironically I suggested hiring someone to finish the basement room and R spent a whole day working on it. It's getting closer to being done, little by little. I've been waiting two years. It was supposed to be done before the baby came...the first baby girl. Maybe for the second baby.

I dream of studios and Earthships and not having neighbors so close. I dream of greenhouses (but not to live in) and rose gardens and room to roam. Maybe there are more adventures to be had. At least there are some new dreams now.