Time Capsule

    My plan had been to give each member of my family a sheet like this (below) to fill out on Christmas. I'd save them in a sealed envelope to open in ten years. Haha. This was not an activity that anyone was interested in. HOW ARE WE EVEN RELATED? Maybe you or YOUR family would want to do it for New Year's? 

• ·         I am
• ·         I love
• ·         I think
• ·         I know
• ·         I have
• ·         I wish
• ·         I hate
• ·         I like
• ·         I miss
• ·         I fear
• ·         I smell
• ·         I crave
• ·         I search
• ·         I wonder
• ·         I regret
• ·         I eat
• ·         I ache
• ·         I am not
• ·         I believe
• ·         I dance
• ·         I sing
• ·         I cry
• ·         I win
• ·         I lose
• ·         I am employed
• ·         I never
• ·         I always
• ·         I confuse
• ·         I listen
• ·         I can usually be found
• ·         I need
• ·         I am scared
• ·         I am happy
• ·         I imagine
• ·         I write
• ·         I work
• ·         I hope
• ·         My superpower
• ·         My favourite possessions:
• ·         Words that I live by:
• ·         If I could be totally wild, I’d:
• ·         I still can’t get the hang of:
• ·         I’d like to learn:
• ·         I wish I’d known:
• ·         First thing (or two) I’ll say to God:

My answers for the end of this decade:

• ·         I am a woman (in this gender fluid time in history). My preferred pronouns are her/she.
• ·         I love God, my fam, sunsets and long, rich, deep conversations.
• ·         I think I daydream too much.
• ·         I know I live a blessed life.
• ·         I have too much crap. Also, breast cancer.
• ·         I wish "divorced" wasn't my marital status.
• ·         I hate oysters, getting needles and selfish people. Also coffee. 
• ·         I like getting head massages, everyone in the kitchen helping with meal prep, and having people who call me mom.
• ·         I miss holding hands.
• ·         I fear dementia.
• ·         I smell ALL THE TIME. Yeeeesh. Hot flashes are the worst. 
• ·         I crave fresh, cool air all day long while at work.
• ·         I search for my keys FOR HOURS EACH MONTH. 
• ·         I wonder if I'll be able to retire. I wonder what that will look like?
• ·         I regret letting myself go. Why oh why couldn't I have found a (physical) activity that I'm passionate about? 
• ·         I eat alot. Often. 
• ·         I ache, well my heart aches, when people I love are hurting.
• ·         I am not an athlete. Or extroverted.
• ·         I believe I was created for a purpose. 
• ·         I dance rarely, self-consciously, but with joy. 
• ·         I sing poorly but enthusiastically if the music is loud enough. 
• ·         I cry easily and often. 
• ·         I win sometimes but really just enjoy playing. 
• ·         I lose my mind when I'm with indecisive people. 
• ·         I am employed, full time, doing something I'm pretty good at. 
• ·         I never drink beer or get out of bed happily.
• ·         I always pray in my truck when I drive out to the lake. 
• ·         I confuse names all the time. 
• ·         I listen to 80's rock, friend's fears/sorrows/dreams, and sermons.
• ·         I can usually be found easily in a crowd because of my blonde hair. Or so I've been told.
• ·         I need to feel loved and needed. 
• ·         I am scared that everyone I love won't be in heaven. 
• ·         I am happy in the summer. Especially when I've got my feet in the lake, a book in my hands and sunshine on my face. Even better if someone I care about is sitting beside me. 
• ·         I imagine an alternate life just before I fall asleep. 
• ·         I write lists all the livelong day. 
• ·         I work at being kind and encouraging. Sarcasm is my natural first language. 
• ·         I hope to be a grandma, someday. No hurry. No pressure, kids. 
• ·         My superpower, sadly, is the ability to cry on demand. 
• ·         My favourite possessions: camera and laptop. 
• ·         Words that I live by: "this is just a chapter in the story" or "this season won't last forever"
• ·         If I could be totally wild, I’d: take a one year leave of absence to travel. And maybe have plastic surgery.  
• ·         I still can’t get the hang of: communicating easily with my boys. 
• ·         I’d like to learn: three things, (just to ward off Alzheimers ...) another language, to swim and how to play piano. 
• ·         I wish I’d known: about pensions earlier. I should've got a government job back in '98. 
• ·         First thing (or two) I’ll say to God: Thank you. And why mosquitoes? 

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three things I'm thankful for:

1. A daughter (in law) who sends me pics of her, her sister and the boys in Sunpeaks:

2. I'm thankful that I had the energy and resources to help them learn how to snowboard when they were young. Such good memories of being on the school snow trips and those early days of Sunpeaks holidays. 

3. I am thankful for the past decade. The last of my kids graduated from high school, Clint graduated from SFU with a BA, Max graduated from BCIT with a DipTech in Marketing Management. We travelled as a family to England, California. I joined Sue in Vietnam, Cambodia and Japan. Accompanied Sandra on her business trips to Florida and Arizona. Saw a concert at Red Rock Amphitheater. Hosted a birthday cruise for 18 friends from San Diego to Vancouver. Max got clean. We said goodbye to my dad. We welcomed Dani to the Ofam. Had two major break-ins; 2012 at our house in Murrayville, then again in 2017 at the lake. Learnt so much about myself as a result of both. My time at Arrow ended, and my season at Focus began. My circle of friends expanded. As did my waist. I learned how to pray without ceasing. And I read a couple hundred books. I have a good life.