Monday, October 11, 2010

This Time For Real...

Okay, so things didn't take off like I'd hoped after my last post...  But here I am, a month later, this time honestly renewed, refreshed & ready for changes!  (This last phrase will look familiar to those of you who are my friends on Facebook.)

My son & I just got back from a trip on Saturday that had been about three years in the making.  On our last cruise in 2007 we had heard about the new ship Oasis that Royal Caribbean was working on.  When we heard about it, my son said, "That would be a great ship to sail on!"  I realized that it was supposed to come out the same year my son graduated high school so a plan was put in place to take the cruise as a graduation celebration.

Well, life happened and between the divorce, remarriage and economy troubles we almost didn't end up going.  But thanks to some wonderful friends & family we were able to make it.  I had meant to discuss the trip before I left but in all the chaos of life that just didn't happen.  But now we're back and I can say the trip was awesome!  (Yes, I use that word a lot...it's the Southern California girl in me coming out...)  The best part about the trip and cruise was that my son & I really got to connect on a new level.  He is now officially an adult and we had some great conversations along the way that I probably wouldn't have had with him a couple of years ago.  There just seems to be more of an "openness" to our discussions now--probably because he feels that now as an adult he can't "get in trouble" for saying the wrong things.  Who knows.  Anyway, after we got home, before I went to sleep, he came in and thanked me for taking him on the trip and said it was so worth it.  That was the cherry on top of the sundae for me.

So, now back to life.  You know, being away from the rest of your family (i.e. husband) for ten days can give both of you time to think and reflect on things.  Sometimes unfortunately we have to get to a place that seems like there's no hope to realize just how much there is.  I think it did both of us a lot of good and without going into major personal detail about our life lately, we are both feeling refreshed and ready for changes.  Changes for the good, like taking control of our out-of-control house, trying to get some of our bills paid off, and looking into eventually moving into our own house.  Not to mention making more time for ourselves and making sure we take the time to slow down and appreciate each other.

Life is good.