Todd’s Life

Today I got to take care of Joshua who is a couple of months old.  I’ve never held such a dense, heavy child.  He sure feels heavier than 16 pounds.  He’s such a happy baby, smiling a lot and looking content most of the time.  Somehow, I ended up watching him for a couple of hours.  I just put him to sleep.  I tried to feed him, but that didn’t work.  He wasn’t hungry, but he was sleepy.  He fell asleep in about 5 minutes just rocking him.  I thought he would have been hungry.  Am I the new Mama Chella?:)

Well, the first leg of my trip has gone well.  My flight from Hawaii was delayed about 2 hours, so we arrived in Portland Oregon at 9 am or so.  I rented my car and drove up to Seattle.  This part of the U.S. is so beautiful.  I wouldn’t mind living here someday.  There are so many beautiful places in the world.  Reflecting upon my experiences recently, it is certainly liberating to walk away from a job and set off on a adventure.  It isn’t for everyone, but for me, it just feels good to do.

I am currently staying at my Uncle’s house.  Last night, I visited my 91 year old grandma and we talked for about an hour about life.  I asked her about the Great Depression, FDR, and all the historical things that I was interested in.  She mentioned that the Great Depression was difficult, but somehow they made it through that period of our history.  It was nice to come up here for a day and visit family.

Today I’m going to visit my good friend Michelle and we’re going to go on a Duck Tour of Seattle and out to eat with her boyfriend.  I haven’t seen her in a long time, but once friends with Michelle, always friends with Michelle.  You could say that she the female version of Todd.  Now if I could just convince her to quit her job and write a book with me.   We could be rich.  Ha.Ha. 

Then it will be back down to Portland to hang out with 2 of my brothers for about a week before I fly off to Santiago and the real start to my adventure.  I’m sure that when I step off that airplane that I will be wondering, “What have I wrought?”  But isn’t that what adventures are for.  Ultimately, we all have the same time in life.  It’s how we spend that time that determines what we get out of it.  No matter the circumstances that we experience in life, we can always make it adventurous in one way or other.  We can always take classes in something new.  Life is meant to be lived.  I guess that is what I am doing.  I wish all of you great adventures as well.  As I always say, “Life is only lived once.”

Finally, people keep asking me if I am afraid to go on this adventure.  I admit to a little hesitation, but that if I was going to go to South America and learn Spanish, this was the perfect time.  You can’t let fear hold you back from experiencing something different.  Fear is a powerful creature, but it must be overcome and sticking to your dreams and beliefs is one way to overcome it.  We all have fears, but those who succeed the most in life are the one’s that conquer their fears.  God bless all of you.