Another Missed Week

July 15, 2024 – Taking a Moment for Myself

I am back at work right now. I have made a commitment to come to my office for a 4-week+ office hours for my EDUC 405 portfolio course. I just gleaned over one early submission and it looks FANTASTIC!! I love portfolio as a platform for reflection and celebration. What I love even more is the opportunity to use writing as a means for thinking. I often find myself meandering into different ideas or wonderings when I am blogging. Today’s blog post is not exception. I have missed another “weekly blog post” last week and I am ok with that. I missed a couple in the last month and I have to admit, I was more focused on resting or pausing. Last weekend, I took the time to clean my apartment, do my laundry, and get rid of any expired food from my kitchen. It was an opportunity to GROUND MYSELF (after meeting a July 1st deadline). 🙂

Then I caught a flight to Kelowna last Sunday to meet up with friends to go to the lake. My friend picked me up from the airport then drove an hour plus to her home in Salmon Arm. I had no idea that she commuted that distance to go to work. It seems that most people drive a distance (much like the Lower Mainland) to go to work. In this case, folks are driving to Kelowna. I am so grateful from my 8-minute commute to my workplace and most times I work from home. It’s all about perspectives and priorities, I suppose. A short commute was what I loved about my job teaching in K-12 (many years ago). No traffic, but just the simplicity of going to work, finding a parking spot (easily), and returning home (with ease). Gosh, I love the simple things A LOT!!

We slept over at my friend’s place. I got to meet members of her family (animals included) and we got packed to go to the lake. We drove to Sicamous. My friend’s husband loaded up the truck, the boat, and all of our supplies. He had already made one trip in the morning before coming to get us. We went grocery shopping and my friend made an effort to food plan for the trip. We had a tonne of food. I had no idea where we were going, but we would not be hungry, that’s for sure. We immersed the boat into the water and unloaded/loaded our supplies into the boat. This boating process was a team effort. I appreciated the experience and the ride to the cabin. What a beautiful place!! It’s hidden in the woods with a huge patio and access to the water. Another friend of ours met us at the cabin too later in the day. My friend’s husband was tasked into transporting us all. In the end, we successfully arrived.

The main reason why we met at Shuswap Lake was to talk about our next trip together. We went to Italy last year and had a wonderful and memorable time. We had intentions of going this year, but due to time and work constraints, we opted to go to the lake this year and discuss 2025. We talked about returning to Italy or go to places like Ireland, Portugal, or Spain. We also talked about staying local like going to New York, the Maritimes, or the Hamptons. We also discussed about going to Hawaii because there is a conference there in January, but we also got excited about going to New Orleans. Lots of conversations and Google searches to see what would work for us. I feel that I had to be a bit of rain cloud and I had to share some of my limitations like time of year and budget. Between time in and out of the water, gathering on the patio for meals, or downtime to discuss what’s possible… it might just be Italy 2026.

What I really appreciated about spending about 5-days at the lake was the down time. It was very hot and I felt compelled to be in the water (even though I don’t know how to swim). It was HOT!! That said, I loved hanging out on the dock during the night, taking pictures, and looking at the stars. The photo above is one of many photos I took last week. The air is cool and the water is calm. I just loved being present and the peacefulness that comes with being in and with nature. I appreciated this time to experience “lake life” and learn more about British Columbia. Coming home after our trip, I had a greater appreciation of where I live in the Central Interior and living in a north-facing apartment. It was still hot last night, but I loved being in my place, feeling grounded, and ready to be back at work today. It feels good to be home. Life is good.