Organized Chaos!

The house is ready for the "Cuenca or Bust" garage sale tomorrow and The living room is littered with boxes and our suitcases are semi-packed. In other words, it's organized chaos around here.

A frequent phrase that pops out of my mouth is, "Do you know where I put that?" As soon as I find what I'm looking for, I've already lost the thing that I just found! The boxes keep shifting.

Yesterday, I found out that my clothes were taken to the incinerator by mistake! I'm not sure that Mark will be making that one anytime soon. Now, I keep a tight reign on the "throw-away" pile and don't let it out of my sight until I'm certain it's ready to go.

The wedding is in eight days and I had the distinct privilege of writing the guest list on rocks (Cleveland rocks). I thought it was a clever way for our son and his bride, Kim, to incorporate their new home into their wedding. They will be living in the Lakeside Community by the shore.

As I wrote the names on each rock, I thought about how the waves (yes, Lake Erie does have them!) cause the crevices to form...some are rough...some are smooth and some are a combination. I wore out three fine-tipped pens writing on the rough, craggy surfaces. And finally it was time to pick out the bride and groom's rock. I found one that was almost in the shape of a heart; it was smooth and almost flawless. As I wrote their names in cursive with a purple pen, "Jonathan and Kimberly Pombo" I realized that my job was finished (not just with the rocks), but in my role as a mom. Although Jon will always be my son, he now has a new life with his lovely wife -- Kim.

After the calligraphy on the rocks, I headed down to the basement to bring up some more garage sale items and found a book laying on top of Mark's suitcase, titled: The Book of Us: A Journal of Our Love Story. It was a gift for Mark on Valentine's Day almost 11 years ago. I filled out every page in detail, except the last chapter..."The Later Years!" It's hard to believe that we're already in that phase of our lives!

Going through 35 years of "stuff" has taught me that the things that matter most are treasured in our heart and although a lot of those things aren't physically with us, we have the joy of knowing we can revisit them at any time (they're called memories!).
Tonight, I put the rocks to bed; I cleaned up the remaining dishes out of the cupboard, organized photo boxes to send to my mom in California, and looked around the dining room (the only place that still has chairs) and thought, So this is what organized chaos looks like.

Until next time....hasta luego!


Connie and Mark