Getting Ready for the Good Things to Come

What happens when you have time off before you start a new job, have 4 states left on your bucket list to visit and you have more adventure in your spirit than may be good for someone of your age??? You start debating whether you should stick around and hang out with friends and family, get in the car and drive to Oklahoma or Arkansas or head to a state that at least promises warmth and sunshine.  And when adventure takes over common sense...you book it......not even knowing what you are booking and what is on the island you decided on.  All I know is Hawaii here I come.  The only thought I had as I made the decision is that when you are in rhythm with the universe, that everything will work out as it is supposed to.  Keep that thought in mind as you read about the adventures that have preceded the trip......

What adventures you may ask..........

Well, for starters I lost my Coach coin purse in a taxi and now I have an unmatched purse and wallet set that will drive me bonkers.  Guess I really must need a new purse and accessories.  That might be what is supposed to happen.  The rhythms....

And then JT, Jessica, Flannery, Grady and Ellery came to visit to see the Lighting of the Mag Mile and the closest we got to that was about a mile back from the street in a sewer smelling block that no matter how high you tried to lift the kids, or how many people you tried to push in front of, there was not a chance that we would see any part of the parade.  Poor Mickey, Minnie and Santa missed the smiles that the little Johnston's would have sent their way.  Of course the night went even better when this Nina didn't think too much about the little ones but wanted to give the parents a nice treat at the Italian Village restaurants.  It was not relaxing, the walk to get there was super long and they really didn't get to eat it as we had to ask for everything to be boxed up so we could take it home since the excitement wore off and the tireds took over for the g-kids.  Poor Aunt Alissa didn't get to spend much time with them either.  Of course 5 people in my queen bed and me on the blow up alone in the living room was the icing on the cake for the Hopkin Johnstons.  Again, I thought a movie with the kids and falling asleep would be great.  They just had other ideas.  But things happen.

Sunday did not fare much better. Once the family got on the road to go home, I hiked over to the Buddhist Cultural Center to chant and get my car.  The chanting went well, but somehow I got home and realized I lost my diamond pendant.  Needless to say,  I was worried, wondered what lesson I was supposed to learn from this, but luckily the Buddhist gods were with me and someone had found it and turned it in to the reception desk and I was able to smile and chant in Thanksgiving.  See, good things do happen.

Then comes Thanksgiving for real and I had a great dinner with sister Cindy, brother-in-law Mike, Mom and Kurt, Danielle and their two little ones.  Great food, good time watching the Lions lose and fun playing Yahtzee with mom and Cindy.  Lots to be thankful for, and when JT and Flannery stopped by on their way home from Hesperia, I was feeling like life was good.  I was with family, had a fun trip scheduled, had a job waiting for me, and things were going my way.

That was until I encouraged Flannery to come back to Grandma Gene's with me and spend the night and I would take her back to Hopkins in the morning.  Aunt Cindy came to the rescue with a T-shirt to sleep in, a sweatshirt to wear in the car and Grandma Gene had a new toothbrush she could have - so we were set to have a girl's sleepover.  Well, we did have icecream and watched a movie, but the sleepover did not go as planned.  Around 11pm she wanted to go home, and like a good Nina I wanted her to be happy so we tried calling Mom and Dad, packed up the car to go and set out for Hopkins.  Easy drive, lots of chatting and talking and even more calls to Mom and Dad.  Doing the right thing...

Well, the right thing might have been to sit up and talk all night since we could not reach Mom and Dad via phone, knocking did not seem to work and setting off my panic button on my keys was not much of a wakeup either.  Good thing I had a sleeping bag in my car as Flannery and I tried to put the seats back,  get some sleep and stay warm.  (see why the sweatshirt was helpful...as well as the box of clothes for Goodwill that I had in the trunk so she could put a sweater on her legs)  The joy of being six is that you are little and that when you fall asleep, you are fairly comfortable.  The joy of being 60 plus is that the arthritis kicks in at night, you are too big for the seat and that even if you take everything out of the backseat and try to get comfortable, it is not going to happen.  Sometime in the tossing and turning episode and the sound effects of the wind, it occurred to me that all my plans on having water in the car, thinking of where I could drive to and who would let us in and hopefully no one would come to the door with a gun, it occurred to me that JT's car was in the driveway and he probably had a garage door opener and if we were lucky, the door to the house was not locked.  Yes,  3 hours later Flannery and her Nina were snug in the house and in beds.  See, things do work out....

And finally, I head back to Chicago after great visits with Cathy and Pat, Sally and Jerry and start thinking and getting ready for my trip to Hawaii.  I am going to take it easy, trust that I will figure out what and when I am going to do things and not put too much pressure on myself.  No matter what, I will accomplish checking off one more state on the bucket list and that was primarily what i wanted to do.  Therefore anything more is a bonus.

So, the best bonus I had before I left was getting to go with Alissa to her UltraSound appointment.  At first I had no clue what I was looking at, but the Tech was wonderful and she was able to show me the hearr, the legbone and the  best of all.........a 4D picture of  little Mr. O'Hagan.  The boy has a cute nose and hair.  What more could a Nina want.  An early peek at one of the g-kids.

So, going on that high note, I was sure that I was finally in rhythm and that the next week would be a breeze and a breath of fresh air....not quite. 

I am still ready for the trip, but the trip must not have been ready for me.  The natural timing of the universe  was not synced with me today.  I  was packed, ready to go and organized to the max.........got on the elevator and planned on taking the train to O'Hare.  If only  I got on a couple of minutes early, if only I did not talk to the people that got on a couple of floors below me, if only I checked  to make sure I had everything when I got out of their car after they encouraged me to take a ride with them since they were taking their freind to the American Airlines terminal at O'Hare too.......if only.......I might not have left my purse in their car and was unable to make my flight today.  If only..... there has to be a reason that all of this is happening.  I honestly did not get all that bent out of shape, was abe to rebook for tomorrow, will only cut the time by a day, but I will still be able to check this off my bucket list...Something will come out  of all this in the end.....I will let you know when I figure it out....

 One positive thing........I get to see the full moon from my balcony.in Chicago.  Same moon that will be in Hawaii.  At least I think.  Will let you know....

So stay tuned.  Hawaii 6-1 starts tomorrow.  At least I sure hope so.....after all, I am packed and ready to go.