Life has a Plan of its own

When you plan not to plan, everything goes by the plan. We try to embrace life as it comes and as it flows, but even with this approach, unexpected life changing events are happening to us all the time.

Practical Move

Thursday, April 21st, 2011 - It was Last Wednesday when I received a phone call from my son – “Can you come and pick me up?” he asked. “Sure, I said, I am on the way! That was the beginning of the move.
My son and I were always in contact, but not as near as I wanted it to be. His mom and I went through a bitter divorce, and it was not easy to keep in touch., as I had always the feeling that the kids are detached and repressed. This time around it was very different. My son opened up to me and we got closer. Much closer.
So since last Wednesday he is with me here, in the RV. This is a big change for all of us. I wake up at 5:30 every morning (yes I said five thirty) preparing lunch and drive my son to school – 30 minutes away. I then go to Starbucks and work from there until 2:00pm when I pick him up and drive back home. But this is just one example – there are so many things that change when another person comes to live with you, especially in a very limited space like an RV. Overall – I am extremely happy to be with my son, but this is not a long term solution. Something will have to change.
I have no idea at this moment where this leads. I don’t think that his mom will let him live with me, even though it might be his choice and the best thing for him.
Our planned trip to AK is now not a for-sure thing anymore. We might do it with my son during his summer break, or might not do it at all. It is possible that he may change his mind, and we will go as planned after all. And after that – this is one big question mark at the moment. The best that could happen is that my son will move in with me and his mother will let me have custody and move to a different state. But this is a wishful thinking. Keep on dreaming Motty…

Busy busy busy

Projects are picking up again, but my time is much more limited, and with the early mornings and late nights I have hard time staying awake, in focus and productive. Patti did not feel good at all last week. She went through a bad flair that just now started to fade away, but this tied her up to the point she could hardly move. The hike we planned for the W/E was cancelled and we pretty much stayed home.
The stress level started picking up on Tuesday. The original plan was to drive all three of us in the morning, let Patti work in the city while I go to the Dr. (Physical) and go from there to the Sedder, but since Patti did not feel so well, plans were changed. I drop my son at school in the morning went to my appointment and picked him up just to drive back, get dressed real fast and drive all the way back again to Aliso Viejo, where the Passover Dinner (The Sedder) was (about it in a sec).
Then on Wednesday I woke up again very early, drove to school and back, got the RV ready to move and drove with the RV to the shop. Drop the RV, drop Diva (our Pom) at the groomer, found a place for Patti to work (A nice coffee shop with Internet) and drove all the way to pick up my son (over an hour away). When I got there, I found out that his mom convinced him to stay for the night at home, so again – driving all the way back by myself to the shop, hooking up the RV and driving back to the campground.
While all this is happening – I had to deal with urgent issues at work, paying and handling the RV and answering endless number of phones in between. Very stressful day…
So how was the sedder? This is a nice reform congregation (Beth El) in Aliso Viejo, CA.  We were surprised to find out that the both the Rabbi and the Cantor were female. Nothing is wrong with that (IMHO) but this is the first time for me to see that. The evening itself was interesting, we met some locals and had a great evening. Patti and my son enjoyed it too, although he would not admit to it. Did I say he is 13?
Earlier that day, at the Dr office, I was informed that I have to change my life style. With high blood pressure and being overweight – this is not a good thing. Not that I did not know that, but this was a reminder. So there… I need to exercise more. I am not sure if I will give up some of my afternoon nap time, my 4 O’Clock tea time, or my noon siesta…

Looking forward

As much as I try to restrain my eyes, the fog is just too thick. No idea, not even a clue as to what we are going to do in the next few months. It ranges from giving up RVing, settling down somewhere and raising my son, all the way to simply continuing what we have been doing.
I think the key word and our motto is – embrace life!