Back and forth we go!

John and I came home to Canada on Thursday of this week after almost two weeks in New Hampshire.  It was good to get home to this home and it is Canadian Thanksgiving here.  The weather was not wonderful and it is getting cold here.  I am trying to wrap my head around the changes that seem to be happening in our lives right now.  I am adjusting to the fact that we will not be in South Carolina this winter.  A big adjustment but I am making my peace with it.  Prior to our trip to New Hampshire we had arranged to have a real estate agent come to the Canada house with a professional photographer and to list this house for rent.  We were hoping that in an ideal world, the house in Canada would rent for six months during the winter and that the South Carolina house would rent for six months during the summer.  Well, the South Carolina house rented in eight hours for the winter – no big surprise there actually.  However, we thought we would go ahead and see what might happen if we listed the Canada house with an agent.  The question of the hour is – “Louise, have you given any thought to the fact that we might be homeless if the Canada house rents and the South Carolina house is rented?” – well, yes and no.  I am part of a wonderful Facebook group called “Letting Go, Step into the Flow” and guess what, that is what I am doing.  Have no idea where this will go but I am sure it will be an adventure.

We had a visit from a South Carolina friend on Wednesday and it was wonderful to see her.  Our daughter Katie came home from Argentina after a great work trip and went right into Parent Conferences at her Jack’s school.  We went to a football game and watched our grandson play guard at the school that I worked at for nine years.  It was wonderful.  I cannot believe how big he is but I guess that is the shoulder pads!!!!  So happy for him and for us that we are able to be a part of his life even for a little bit of time.

A wake up call, a reminder to love and laugh now.

Dear friends of ours lost their son three weeks ago.  He died of heart failure at the age of 41.  He is the father of an 11 month old little girl and step-father to three older girls.  His service was on Saturday and I had the honor of singing in a pick-up choir that filled the church with soothing music.  There were over 300 people there and the service was beautiful.  So many came from so far away to be there to support the family.  We are celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend and we are holding each other close and are being so very grateful for our family and friends.  We also celebrated my mother’s 91st birthday yesterday.  My brother and his wife are here as are my sister and her husband and two of their children.  We have a wonderful evening together.  Here Libby and her great-grandmother who are 81 years apart in age are reading birthday cards.  Love the multi-generation events.

Work stuff

Part of what I am trying to deal with is where am I going to have my coaching business.  The part of the course that is a plus is the Coaching that we get to help us start a business.  We ask good questions about where we might do a workshop and what the subject matter might be.  I am loving our Coaching Circles and we had a really good session on Thursday of this week.  Small groups with a terrific coach and we get to have our questions addressed and we learn from each other.  The focus this week was on public speaking.  In my other life I did quite a bit of public speaking and presentations at conferences and I always loved doing the talks.  I would like to be able to take that skill and translate it into Health Coaching.  A phrase that resonates with me is “Teach what you love” and that is what I am going to work on in the coming weeks.  We are closing in on the end of the course and I find myself actually being sad that it will be over in a few weeks.  I have loved the whole thing and seem to manage to get the work done and to learn.  What a great experience.  Where do I go from here???  Not sure but again, an adventure.

Great Walks

Fall gives us a wonderful opportunity to get out and enjoy the beautiful colors.  This week saw the trees turn, almost overnight, and the colors are brilliant this year.  I am a walker.  It has been a mainstay of my life for more years than I can count.  Every month I set a goal to walk 100 miles.  Most months I come close, some months I actually make it.  As part of my rehab from my heart attack I started with a little walk every day and worked my way back up to the 3.5 to 5 mile walks including substantial hills that I was accustomed to.  It is the first thing I do when I go somewhere.  I look for a safe and beautiful place to walk.  It used to be that I did this because of my dog or dogs but that is no longer the case.  My poor Buckingham can’t do the long walks anymore and neither can Miss Q. They just get too tired.  Today, Buck decided that he wouldn’t walk anymore so he just lay down on the side of the road and refused to move.  Luckily John was on his way home from church and he was able to stop and pick the dogs up and take them home.  So my walks are solo or with a friend now.

As it is now autumn we turn to heartier fare to warm our hearts.  I love chili but don’t always like to eat meat especially as I watch my heart healthy eating.  Here is a hearty vegetarian chili that I have made for our New Year’s party.  Enjoy!

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