In 2008, I attended my dear friend’s beautiful wedding in London. Another friend was originally going to join me then the two of us would go to Greece together. However, she was unable to go on the trip in the end. Initially, I didn’t think I could go traveling alone. And then, I thought, why not? I’d always wanted to go to Greece and if I didn’t just go for it I would always regret it.

So, after a wonderful whirlwind four days in London, I got on a plane to Santorini. I had booked a spot on a Gap Adventures sailboat but wasn’t meeting it until the evening. I arrived in Santorini at sunrise and had the whole day to myself to explore and take in the incredible beauty. Everywhere looked like a postcard; it lived up to all my expectations.

When I met up with the other 8 people on the boat that evening, I was glad for some company, but also feeling pretty confident that I could have travelled around on my own too. Over the week we sailed around to different islands – Naxos, Ios, Mykonos, and Folegandros. It was amazing! You could explore each little port town together or go off on your own. Most of the time, I found I wanted to experience Greece with my new friends (because they were awesome), but not being tied to someone else meant I could go, see, eat where I liked when I liked.

When you are tired, go to sleep. Nothing good can come from pushing through exhaustion. Good night 🌙

My husband was telling me about someone he knows that got let go today. The person was not expecting it and was obviously very upset. Anyone who’s been through knows the awful feeling. Ugh.

The Rock (aka Maui in our house), recently posted a video on social media from his hotel balcony in Vancouver.https://youtu.be/7iye7YYJt6A

In it, he shares his experience being in the CFL – who knew – and playing his first game in Vancouver…and only game. He was cut after that. Dreams of pro football demolished. Devastation ensued, followed by desolation. Yet, he declares that it was the best thing that ever happened to him. Why? Well, clearly things worked out for him in the end right.

Not that I would wish anyone to have a dream smashed to smitherines, be laid off, get their heartbroken but if it happens it can be a blessing. If you can get through the muck of disappointment, you may just find yourself in a better place that you never imagined you’d be. I’ve experienced all three of the above and it sucks. But each step led me to where I am now. And having experienced what I thought would be the worst and coming out of it kind of takes away that fear of failure and allows freedom to try.

What makes a grownup. Yesterday at our family barbecue, a 🐝 bee got caught in my hair. I calmly asked my cousin to help me get it out. She remarked at the lack of freak out, and I replied laughing, “I guess I finally grew up!” I was half-joking but got me thinking.

My little girl is really into the Peter Pan story right now. It’s probably mostly because of Tinkerbell for her, but it’s an interesting idea. Peter Pan is the boy that never grows up and gets to have a life of adventures in Neverland. The rest of us are not so lucky. What happens to transition you from youth to adult? Getting married, having kids and a mortgage are the traditional moments and of course they do accelerate it.

I feel like it’s a series of smaller moments though, that may have gone unnoticed by anyone else. Making a difficult decision or helping someone selflessly or letting go of hurt or resentment towards someone. I have not always had an easy time with that last one. But I hope that I am learning and can be better as I move into the next decade of adventure.

Today, Koda went back home to his family who returned from their holiday. After two weeks of his constant presence, the house felt empty without him. Yes, it still smelled like dog and his black fur is everywhere. But we really missed him.

He was constantly right next to you, generally in your path, tripping you always trying to catch your eye in the hopes that he might get a belly rub or any morsel of affection you could spare. And when you did, because it’s impossible to ignore those eyes, he returned the affection tenfold. No matter what. Bad day? No biggie. Stressed? Who cares! Belly rub followed by snuggles solved all. Dogs love you unconditionally and shamelessly. There’s no guessing or angles with a dog; there’s just adoration and affection.

Of course, now our kids desperately want a dog of our own. The jury is still out as to whether it’s a good idea to be full time dog owners at this stage, but for the time being, having a dog in our lives for even a little while has made us all happier and somehow closer. Thank you Koda!

It rained today. Real rain for the first time in I don’t even know how long. As nice as it would have been to use it as an excuse to have a cozy (lazy)indoor day to get caught up on work/life stuff, the reality is we have two high energy kids and, at the moment, a dog – all of whom need fresh air and a good long walk.

So out we went to our forest and it turns out I had underestimated just how wet it was and wasn’t dressed properly. I got cold and grumpy. So did the kids. Just when it was about to get gnarly, we found the fairy house. Who turned this ordinary rotting stump into a magical place? Not sure, but it brought so much wonder and excitement to my wee ones that it couldn’t help but rub off on me.

“Fairies are real, right Mommy?” Her energy and vivacious spark reignited. I gave the most truthful answer I could, “I like to believe they are.” It satisfied her. And me. I live in fast-paced, data-driven reality most of the time where there is little space or credence given to things which cannot be proven. I can’t go back to the time when fairies or will of the wisps or whatever held my fancy were truly real to me, but I can keep that corner of my mind open just a crack to the idea of believing it’s not impossible.

It opens the possibility to what else is possible.

“Don’t you know that everybody’s got a Fairyland of their own?”

—Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers

Today marks 40 Days before I turn 40 😮. Leading up to this milestone, I plan to share some life lessons that I’ve learned over the past 39 years and 325 days.

Plans are made so that you take action and move forward. That’s all. If it becomes apparent that pivoting and changing direction is a better course of action, go with it. This lesson was learned in 1997 with Nikki Rutherford Kenyon at a train station in Berlin. We wanted to see 3 more cities in Europe but only had 2 days left on our train pass. Someone suggested that if we changed our route and not stick to the linear path we had planned, it was possible. I struggled to let go of the plan but went with it because I couldn’t argue with the logic.

The result was what we wanted, the journey just changed.