What can I say...blogging takes time and that is one thing I seriously lack. Well, most people lack extra time and, in general, I think our country is dysfunctional in this way. No one (not many people) smell the roses. Crisis here, crisis there, panic and stress everywhere. This is a self-incrimination. My life, for the last 12 years has been ridiculous in many ways. It feels like one of those crazy spinny things on the playground at your grade school. The one that is big and round, low to the ground, and has large metal hand-holds. You can stand on it or lie down, but someone (preferably someone abnormally strong for their age...it's grade school, remember) grabs hold of one of the hand-hold thingies and just runs around and around building speed. All the screaming kids on the spinny thing realize, quickly, that they are involved in something that they didn't sign up for. The scariest thing is that once the strong kid who started spinning the spinny thing stops running, the spinny thing keeps it's speed for a LONG time. It never seems to stop. The screaming kids are screaming and holding on...for if they let go they will go FLYING and hit the hard ground, getting the horrifying wind knocked out of them! It's the law of inertia; cause and effect...an early lesson in it.
Well...to make a long story long, the last 12 years have been the result of the previous 20 years of inertia, or momentum, or whatever. I have been holding on and screaming for the last 12 years wondering when the sickly feeling of nausea will come to an end. MY big strong kid whose job it was to grab the spinny thing is named Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). I hate even saying it...it's SO cliche. Still, it has been a game changer to say it, accept it, and make steps to do something about it.
Thirty years ago, when I was in the midst of my educational journey as a 4th grader, I didn't even KNOW anyone who had ADD. At least it wasn't discussed in the mainstream anything. Now, labeling a child with ADD is like labeling a child as one who likes cake. It seems really common. Who knows exactly why. That's a whole other novel...environmental toxins, food toxins, biology, cooped up kids, sugar, preservatives, soda, fast food, the list goes on and on. My parents, who are very loving and thorough in many many ways, never thought to get me "tested". Hm. Oh well, water under the bridge. I was born to a heroin-addicted prostitute (NOT Joan Gibson, my beloved adopted mom, but a woman named Beverly) and was addicted to methadone myself. That probably, for me, was the determining factor.
Thirty nine years later...one destroyed marriage (DESTROYED is an understatement), second strained marriage and three high-need and "exact" children later, it occurred to me that maybe I should get some prescriptive assistance. I hate prescription drugs. It took a hernia surgery three years ago to get me take, an accumulated, two vicodin. Motrin, Vicks vapor rub, and herbs are my friends. So conceding to take a minimum dose of an almost-considered-criminal prescriptive drug took some time to process and agree to.
Nine months later, my life has begun to feel less like a child-like frenetic self-created prison of indecision, emotional roller coaster, moody moody moody trip, and incomplete projects, and more like a victory that a functional adult might experience. It's tempting to ponder what I or my life choices may have been if I had been given a prescription twenty years ago. Perhaps I wouldn't have picked the easiest major in college (and I still managed to need a post-senior year summer class to graduate). Maybe I would have KNOWN my dreams and pursued them instead of dreaming about and living out every silly whimsical idea that ever entered my head. Maybe I wouldn't have been such a crazy person in every relationship and MAYBE I would have HAD fewer relationships. The list does go on and on and on. It isn't a good idea to go down that road of "what if...". We are a result of our lives, for better or worse, and I believe that God, our perfect and kind Father, brings about ALL things for the good of those who love him. I am trying to focus on that.
I am homeschooling my kids with a KILLER curriculum that demands focus and endurance and is a GREAT foundation for their education. I couldn't have done one speck of it before I accepted treatment for ADD. I am not flying off the emotional handle as often, at all. I can finish sentences. I can express my thoughts and feeling without melting down. I can be the person I have always wanted to be, but didn't know how. I can't give pharmaceuticals full credit, of course. There is grace, love, wisdom, Jesus, fellowship, life...but I can now receive and proceed with all that is given to me with MUCH better tools.
Ok...that is it for this post. Let me say, in a quick update since my last post that was 9 months ago, that our Australian adventure (due to family medical crises, and financial crises) is on hold. We moved in with my parents to help them in various ways, and for them to help us in various ways. This is a journey that we began almost 8 years ago (helping my parents and living close to them) when Taylor and I moved from Colorado with our first baby in tow. It took 8 years for that plan to come full-circle. Who knows when the Australia move may or may not happen. I have open hands to the will of my perfect Father.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
floods and fires and seeds of doubt
Wow. Australia is hurting right now. Poor Australia! Floods, cyclones (their name for scary nasty hurricanes), and now wildfires. It's all in the news. Not to mention poisonous spiders and snakes that make the critters in the USA look like characters from Disney World. I'm feeling cold feet. I am picturing a blood-curtling scream from my kids' rooms as they see a spider that is the same size as a daddy's hand and could render them emotionally scarred for life. I am wondering if we are crazy for considering this.
Not to mention the fact that a few people have all directly implied that we are horrible parents for not putting our kids' needs first by considering this move. Oh, I am also in the middle of my "week of celebration". That's what we call my week of my "period". It is a week of celebration because we aren't quite needing an "oops" resulting in a 4th baby right now. We would deal with it, but wouldn't immediately see all the benefits outweighing the "oh my gosh"es. During my week of celebration, everything that comes up in my world is as big as a male funnel spider, the size of a man's hand, and as deadly as drinking 10 glasses of cyanide. Everything. I DID, however, start taking Evening Primrose, in the last six months. It does help, believe it or not. I only cry once or twice during the week of celebration, not, as previously, 6-10 times while I huddle on the bathroom floor in a total freakout. Maybe it wasn't THAT bad, but VERY close to it. I would freakout 2 or 3 times and end up on the bathroom floor. So, hooray for Evening Primrose.
My response to those nay-sayers attacking my parenting: Go take a hike, and tend that fire in your own backyard. God bless you, really. We all do the best we can, don't we? Who sets out to hurt their children? We all want to give our kids a life full of love, security, protection, education, richness, faith, a lack of hypocrisy, and perhaps some adventure. It looks different for everyone because we are all different. So...if my way is not YOUR way then OH WELL. I'm sure we could find some holes in YOUR way, if we really looked. But we won't, because that's between you and God.
The truth is that we really don't know what's next. Taylor is taking a 6-day trip to play music with our visa "sponser" and meet with the 10 pastors who are "sending" the "team" (of which we would be a part) out to do this Australia thing. This trip of his will provide more answers.
Life, when taking the path of FAITH, is like taking the path of salt water taffy. It pulls on you. It pulls on your sense of what you think you need to be comfortable. I would never change that. I have made some VERY big mistakes. They have all made me who I am today. I, for the first time in almost 40 years, am starting to see that God LOVES who I am. It is no mistake that he has used my mistakes to mold me and teach me and show me his ENDLESS mercy and patience. He is there to help me manage the details of who I am and how I work. I am sure that my parenting is absolutely not perfect. It is, however, from the heart. I am pretty sure that I will have to be humble and accept my shortcomings with my kids when they get older and when they feel the freedom to share WHERE I fell short. I think that's part of the process, too. Kids watching their parents asking for forgiveness and seeing them show humility. I would have appreciated that a little more. I got it for the BIG problems, but there is still this perceived INVINCIBILITY that my parents hold over me. I don't want to be like that for my kids. While they are young, we will take them where we go and teach them how we teach them. All the while asking for the Holy Spirit's wisdom and courage. For now, that will be enough. So, if we are truly supposed to go to Australia (I AM asking God for plenty of confirmation on this!), we will go. It will sure be an adventure if it comes to pass.
Not to mention the fact that a few people have all directly implied that we are horrible parents for not putting our kids' needs first by considering this move. Oh, I am also in the middle of my "week of celebration". That's what we call my week of my "period". It is a week of celebration because we aren't quite needing an "oops" resulting in a 4th baby right now. We would deal with it, but wouldn't immediately see all the benefits outweighing the "oh my gosh"es. During my week of celebration, everything that comes up in my world is as big as a male funnel spider, the size of a man's hand, and as deadly as drinking 10 glasses of cyanide. Everything. I DID, however, start taking Evening Primrose, in the last six months. It does help, believe it or not. I only cry once or twice during the week of celebration, not, as previously, 6-10 times while I huddle on the bathroom floor in a total freakout. Maybe it wasn't THAT bad, but VERY close to it. I would freakout 2 or 3 times and end up on the bathroom floor. So, hooray for Evening Primrose.
My response to those nay-sayers attacking my parenting: Go take a hike, and tend that fire in your own backyard. God bless you, really. We all do the best we can, don't we? Who sets out to hurt their children? We all want to give our kids a life full of love, security, protection, education, richness, faith, a lack of hypocrisy, and perhaps some adventure. It looks different for everyone because we are all different. So...if my way is not YOUR way then OH WELL. I'm sure we could find some holes in YOUR way, if we really looked. But we won't, because that's between you and God.
The truth is that we really don't know what's next. Taylor is taking a 6-day trip to play music with our visa "sponser" and meet with the 10 pastors who are "sending" the "team" (of which we would be a part) out to do this Australia thing. This trip of his will provide more answers.
Life, when taking the path of FAITH, is like taking the path of salt water taffy. It pulls on you. It pulls on your sense of what you think you need to be comfortable. I would never change that. I have made some VERY big mistakes. They have all made me who I am today. I, for the first time in almost 40 years, am starting to see that God LOVES who I am. It is no mistake that he has used my mistakes to mold me and teach me and show me his ENDLESS mercy and patience. He is there to help me manage the details of who I am and how I work. I am sure that my parenting is absolutely not perfect. It is, however, from the heart. I am pretty sure that I will have to be humble and accept my shortcomings with my kids when they get older and when they feel the freedom to share WHERE I fell short. I think that's part of the process, too. Kids watching their parents asking for forgiveness and seeing them show humility. I would have appreciated that a little more. I got it for the BIG problems, but there is still this perceived INVINCIBILITY that my parents hold over me. I don't want to be like that for my kids. While they are young, we will take them where we go and teach them how we teach them. All the while asking for the Holy Spirit's wisdom and courage. For now, that will be enough. So, if we are truly supposed to go to Australia (I AM asking God for plenty of confirmation on this!), we will go. It will sure be an adventure if it comes to pass.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
wierd
I am back at my shiny new toy this morning! Ok...totally random thing happened at 3am this morning. I awoke to crying...not uncommon, but not very frequent. I bolted out of bed. I went to the girls' room and Ivy wasn't in bed! Scary. I still heard crying, and it was downstairs. Wierd. I went downstairs, and there was Ivy, standing in the middle of the living room holding a container of Rescue Remedy, crying. If you don't know what Rescue Remedy is, it's a "flower essence" made by Bach (a flower essence maker) :). It's great if your kids are stressed, fall, hurt themselves...it's flower drops to calm them down.
Why was my two year old downstairs in a 59 degree house, holding a box of Rescue Remedy? I will never know. I hope she doesn't sleep walk. That would be a not-so-good Different Drum thing.
Why was my two year old downstairs in a 59 degree house, holding a box of Rescue Remedy? I will never know. I hope she doesn't sleep walk. That would be a not-so-good Different Drum thing.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Can I survive not having my herbs and other wonderings
Sigh. As I research the import list of acceptable imports into Australia, I am so horrified. I realize that I can't bring any of my expensive homeopathic remedies, herbal remedies, wool products, wood products, etc. In fact, the immigration website link to some government imports approval agency says it's just better off to buy everything there. Hmmm. I wonder who wrote THAT suggestion? Could it be the Australian government??? Ok, I do understand their need to keep foreign bacteria and such quarantined. I do get it. My pocketbook does not like it, though.
I think I can bring a three month supply of Rescue Remedy. Thank God. That will be a parent's traveling God send. Sleep may actually happen during the 24 hour flight for the little chillins. Yes, the said flight is 8 MONTHS away (present plans) and I am thinking about how to get the kids to sleep. HA! Who says I don't plan??? Oh, the good news on the Australian herbal front (I do LOVE LOVE LOVE the herbal thing!)....there will be no shortage of Eucalyptus. Sweeeeeeet!
I had to go "fetch" our mail (currently collected by a neighbor) from our house in Durham that is currently on the market. I popped into the house, a.k.a the freezer (we turned off the furnace), and went to the basement. There are 2 inches of standing water in the basement. There is also ice forming in that standing water. I am wondering how we will be able to live here, sell there and continue to get rid of 75% MORE of our belongings without going mad. We have some things here, many things at our friends house, and REALLY many things in our huge two car garage in Durham. Oh, there WERE a good number of things in the basement...uh, the skating rink. I am not sure what is where. Wierd feeling. That is one of the "Different Drum" parts of this post. Most wives/mothers/grown-up girls know how to organize a move, execute a move, and keep things in some order. I don't seem to have that under my belt. I think the most important things (the things we will send to Australia...barring import approval, and the sentimental keeps for our return, Lord knows when) are at our friends' house in Brunswick. I think. Packing things was all a blur.
The issue of what to bring, what to sell, what to pitch, what to leave in storage has been a brain shock. I do know, however, that it is REALLY easy to accumulate tons of crap. Yes, crap. I am discovering that we don't need about 65% of our things. Even kids do well with less. Still, with that valiant perspective aside, it's hard to know what to do with all the remaining THINGS.
I love this adventure. I love all the adventures God has allowed me to have! I have lived in so many different places. Never overseas, but in the USA. I am so blessed. I have lived in the following places...birth to now (this is MY blog, and I can ramble about such things :)): Duxbury, MA- Amherst, MA- Coral Gables, FL- Kingston, RI- Scarborough, RI- Ft. Collins, CO- Aurora, CO- Denver, CO- Parker, CO- Springfield, MA- Littleton, CO- Louisville, CO- Westminster, CO- Drake, CO- Lafayette, CO- Falmouth, ME- Saco, ME- Durham, ME- Orr's Island, ME...and as of June 1st, 2011, WHO KNOWS! It's all an adventure. My alter ego, Lara Croft, thrives on such things. My almost-forty self is getting a wee bit tired. :)
LONG and rambly blog coming to a close. I don't think they will all be this long. A new blog is like a new toy. It's all mine, mine, mine and I like to play with it.
Blessings.
PS. Proof-reading is SO NOT bottom-line. I don't usually do it. Yes, I know there are grammatical errors. Still, don't worry, my kids will turn out fine... :)
I think I can bring a three month supply of Rescue Remedy. Thank God. That will be a parent's traveling God send. Sleep may actually happen during the 24 hour flight for the little chillins. Yes, the said flight is 8 MONTHS away (present plans) and I am thinking about how to get the kids to sleep. HA! Who says I don't plan??? Oh, the good news on the Australian herbal front (I do LOVE LOVE LOVE the herbal thing!)....there will be no shortage of Eucalyptus. Sweeeeeeet!
I had to go "fetch" our mail (currently collected by a neighbor) from our house in Durham that is currently on the market. I popped into the house, a.k.a the freezer (we turned off the furnace), and went to the basement. There are 2 inches of standing water in the basement. There is also ice forming in that standing water. I am wondering how we will be able to live here, sell there and continue to get rid of 75% MORE of our belongings without going mad. We have some things here, many things at our friends house, and REALLY many things in our huge two car garage in Durham. Oh, there WERE a good number of things in the basement...uh, the skating rink. I am not sure what is where. Wierd feeling. That is one of the "Different Drum" parts of this post. Most wives/mothers/grown-up girls know how to organize a move, execute a move, and keep things in some order. I don't seem to have that under my belt. I think the most important things (the things we will send to Australia...barring import approval, and the sentimental keeps for our return, Lord knows when) are at our friends' house in Brunswick. I think. Packing things was all a blur.
The issue of what to bring, what to sell, what to pitch, what to leave in storage has been a brain shock. I do know, however, that it is REALLY easy to accumulate tons of crap. Yes, crap. I am discovering that we don't need about 65% of our things. Even kids do well with less. Still, with that valiant perspective aside, it's hard to know what to do with all the remaining THINGS.
I love this adventure. I love all the adventures God has allowed me to have! I have lived in so many different places. Never overseas, but in the USA. I am so blessed. I have lived in the following places...birth to now (this is MY blog, and I can ramble about such things :)): Duxbury, MA- Amherst, MA- Coral Gables, FL- Kingston, RI- Scarborough, RI- Ft. Collins, CO- Aurora, CO- Denver, CO- Parker, CO- Springfield, MA- Littleton, CO- Louisville, CO- Westminster, CO- Drake, CO- Lafayette, CO- Falmouth, ME- Saco, ME- Durham, ME- Orr's Island, ME...and as of June 1st, 2011, WHO KNOWS! It's all an adventure. My alter ego, Lara Croft, thrives on such things. My almost-forty self is getting a wee bit tired. :)
LONG and rambly blog coming to a close. I don't think they will all be this long. A new blog is like a new toy. It's all mine, mine, mine and I like to play with it.
Blessings.
PS. Proof-reading is SO NOT bottom-line. I don't usually do it. Yes, I know there are grammatical errors. Still, don't worry, my kids will turn out fine... :)
what's next?
Why a blog about moving to Australia? No one reads blogs. So why bother? Well, it is one thing to fantasize about doing something, it is quite another thing to actually do it. I think we've all fantasized about moving somewhere exotic. Some of us have done it, some of us have not. I live in the realm of fantasy-pretend land. I like to think about fun, cool adventurous things. Case in point, I auditioned for "The Amazing Race" with the hope of finding my true 40 year old self. So as I approach my 40th birthday in October, it is quite the norm for me to defer to my alter ego, Lara Croft. Back to doing a blog about moving to Australia. I have found in my preliminary research regarding actually moving to Australia that there are so many aspects of relocating to another country that are like reading a fantasy novel. As I embark on this process, I have tried to find blogs on the subject - Americans moving to Australia... and it is not easy. There are assorted resources, but I realized in this preliminary research that this process of moving to another country is very unique to each person. I decided that journaling this process AS the process is unfolding would be beneficial in two ways. First, it would keep my feet grounded as a journal type of experience - it would be like 'pinching myself' in this dream experience. Second, it may end up being helpful to someone else who is thinking about doing the same thing.
There are many nuances to our life that make this relocation very unique. We home school our kids. Taylor's job is portable to anywhere in the world, so we can live wherever we want. Our particular invitation to move to Australia is both a musical one and a spiritual one. Taylor does not have a company moving him so we have to do all the legwork ourselves. As I consider moving to a country where they drive on the left side of the road, and have 8 of the 10 most poisonous snakes in the world, I get a little antsy.
Not to mention that, now, that poor continent is getting drenched with floods. I think we will live outside of Sydney. We have friends also moving there, and they want to live in Sydney. It is a city of 5 million people. I have never spent more than one night in a city of 5 million people. I was not a fan. The lights never go out. You have to have really thick curtains. Sirens ring throughout the night all night. Very different than my bright stars in the night existence for the last 39 years of my life.
We shall see where we live. FIRST, we need to get the visa. Getting a visa to live somewhere else is very difficult. Well, at least in desirable places like Australia. Your fate is truly in someone else's hands. I am praying about getting a visa A LOT. We can plan all we want, but it all comes down to the visa.
I will keep you posted on that. Fortunately, my husband is flying out to California the second week of February to meet and play music with the man who is "sponsoring" "nominating" us for a visa. My husband can play his way into anyone's heart! The man who is nominating us is named Steve Grace and he has a very cool music ministry in Australia. He plays beautiful worship music for native Aborigines in the outback and people in Papa New Guinea. I think Taylor would visit those places too, when we move! Hooray!
More later…time to get my day going. My different drum day….breakfast at 9:30, teach the kids, chores, housework, take the cat to get his nails clipped (if the snow stops) and then whatever else.
notice the evidence
Case in point...as I march along this life I refuse to pay attention to details. Notice the double posting of the same entry. HA! I already forgot that I posted it. Welcome to my brain. It's entertaining, at least. I LOVE how silly life is. I need to go now, and homeschool my children. I promise, they will turn out ok. :)
THE BEGINNING
What do you get when you take two very visionary, passionate, spontaneous, headstrong people and smash them together into a marriage? You get a very interesting, unpredictable, sometimes unreasonable yet adventurous life that marches to a different drum.
My husband, Taylor Mesple, and I, Rebecca Mesple, are those two people. This blog is called "A Different Drum", and it will summarize the past, highlight the present, and share the future as it happens.
Many thoughts and facts will be presented in a nutshell. I live in a nutshell. I often express in incomplete thoughts. Give me the bottom line. The process hinders completion. I detest re-runs and love a new plot. I want to be Lara Croft, not Edith Bunker. My visionary-ness is unpredictable and active. My husband's is not. His visionary-ness is ruminating, savoring, contemplating, and full of warmth. He watches the same season of "Key West" five hundred times. He lives on "The Office" re-runs like a Koala lives on Eucalyptus. Repetition paints a backdrop for Taylor's different drum life. He is my Dustin Hoffman in "Rainman".
How have these two paradigms come together in harmony these past ten years of our very interesting and awesome marriage? I suppose, in a nutshell, great minds think alike just not in the same way. We have become two vastly different cogs with vastly different jobs in the same machine. To make our machine even more complex, we now have three children in the mix. Children bring out the best and worst of your being. I have said things to them I never thought I would say. For instance, in my low moments, "don't make mommy tan your hide like they did way back then". That comment was met with blank stares, completely ineffective. Or, the deeply profound, "Seriously? Seriously. Seriously! Like I said, I speak in incomplete - hey, I just thought of something. Not the best approach with children. They need steady. They need calm. They do not need Lara Croft. They need Rainman. That is where Taylor shines. In this journey of a different drum, he is steady. Often very headstrong, but steady. We are two cogs in this machine. Now back to the purpose of "A Different Drum".
Our family, starting on August 11, 2001, (our awesome wedding date) has never followed convention. Ironically, we are very traditional in our beliefs, but very unconventional. We got married in a bar called "The Soiled Dove". I believe that is an old-fashioned, western movie type name for a prostitute. Gulp. Ironic, also, considering the fact that we are full-on born again Christians! If I really dig deep into the symbolism of the situation (which is much more Taylor's territory), I would say it is a perfect start to our life together. We both came from very difficult and rocky pasts, filled with soiled choices. Then we came together with a deep desire and movement to let all things be made new! Amen!
Back to "A Different Drum". Our life together started on a different path and ever continues to be on one, with our wonderful kids bumping along for the ride. We have lived in rentals, friend's master bedroom (with friends having moved to a small bedroom to help us), a teeny 700 square foot cabin in the mountains of Colorado with Elk fighting in our backyard, Taylor's parents' house, an in-law cottage in swanky Falmouth Maine, a gang-ish neighborhood in Maine, a middle of nowhere beautiful 2-acre home in Maine, a winter rental Island cottage 30 feet from deep water ocean in Maine, and soon... if all things collide in God's realm as my very scary 40th birthday approaches, we shall be taking our three kids and our different drum selves to moving across the world to Australia. AUSTRALIA!
This blog will be about that process. Come journey with me and my Lara Croft alter ego into the vastly unknown next step on our journey to "A Different Drum".
Monday, January 24, 2011
Kicking this all off
A Different Drum
What do you get when you take two very visionary, passionate, spontaneous, headstrong people and smash them together into a marriage? You get a very interesting, unpredictable, sometimes unreasonable yet adventurous life that marches to a different drum.
My husband, Taylor Mesple, and I, Rebecca Mesple, are those two people. This blog is called "A Different Drum", and it will summarize the past, highlight the present, and share the future as it happens.
Many thoughts and facts will be presented in a nutshell. I live in a nutshell. I often express in incomplete thoughts. Give me the bottom line. The process hinders completion. I detest re-runs and love a new plot. I want to be Lara Croft, not Edith Bunker. My visionary-ness is unpredictable and active. My husband's is not. His visionary-ness is ruminating, savoring, contemplating, and full of warmth. He watches the same season of "Key West" five hundred times. He lives on "The Office" re-runs like a Koala lives on Eucalyptus. Repetition paints a backdrop for Taylor's different drum life. He is my Dustin Hoffman in "Rainman".
How have these two paradigms come together in harmony these past ten years of our very interesting and awesome marriage? I suppose, in a nutshell, great minds think alike just not in the same way. We have become two vastly different cogs with vastly different jobs in the same machine. To make our machine even more complex, we now have three children in the mix. Children bring out the best and worst of your being. I have said things to them I never thought I would say. For instance, in my low moments, "don't make mommy tan your hide like they did way back then". That comment was met with blank stares, completely ineffective. Or, the deeply profound, "Seriously? Seriously. Seriously! Like I said, I speak in incomplete - hey, I just thought of something. Not the best approach with children. They need steady. They need calm. They do not need Lara Croft. They need Rainman. That is where Taylor shines. In this journey of a different drum, he is steady. Often very headstrong, but steady. We are two cogs in this machine. Now back to the purpose of "A Different Drum".
Our family, starting on August 11, 2001, (our awesome wedding date) has never followed convention. Ironically, we are very traditional in our beliefs, but very unconventional. We got married in a bar called "The Soiled Dove". I believe that is an old-fashioned, western movie type name for a prostitute. Gulp. Ironic, also, considering the fact that we are full-on born again Christians! If I really dig deep into the symbolism of the situation (which is much more Taylor's territory), I would say it is a perfect start to our life together. We both came from very difficult and rocky pasts, filled with soiled choices. Then we came together with a deep desire and movement to let all things be made new! Amen!
Back to "A Different Drum". Our life together started on a different path and ever continues to be on one, with our wonderful kids bumping along for the ride. We have lived in rentals, friend's master bedroom (with friends having moved to a small bedroom to help us), a teeny 700 square foot cabin in the mountains of Colorado with Elk fighting in our backyard, Taylor's parents' house, an in-law cottage in swanky Falmouth Maine, a gang-ish neighborhood in Maine, a middle of nowhere beautiful 2-acre home in Maine, a winter rental Island cottage 30 feet from deep water ocean in Maine, and soon... if all things collide in God's realm as my very scary 40th birthday approaches, we shall be taking our three kids and our different drum selves to moving across the world to Australia. AUSTRALIA!
This blog will be about that process. Come journey with me and my Lara Croft alter ego into the vastly unknown next step on our journey to "A Different Drum".
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