If you follow me on social media, you'll know that my beloved dad passed away on November 23, 2018, the day after Thanksgiving. It happened peacefully, at home, where he was surrounded by all of us - his wife of almost 50 years, his three daughters, his three sons-in-law, his nine grandchildren. Then a week later, we said goodbye to his body and celebrated his life with an overflow crowd at the most fancy church for my simple, farm-boy dad.

 Today is the two month anniversary of that celebration of life and this morning at 4:45 a.m. the car alarm on his Maxima that my mom gave me started randomly going off. It's done that a few times since he passed away, the first time being outside of Starbucks as we were about to leave. My girls were with me and they were mortified to have attention brought to us in this way...my dad was great at mortifying us in public with his antics, so this was just par for the course. A couple of times the alarm has gone off "in the middle of the night" for no apparent reason; I mean, the key fob doesn't even work to set the alarm.

 I have set an intention, which I started on yesterday, of getting up by 5 a.m. each morning to get going on this new rhythm I'm discovering that is to include a daily blog post. Last night I was not confident that I would actually obey my alarm this morning and get out of bed. That's really not the best way to be faithful to my intention, and I am choosing honesty here. I did apply my oils...Rutavala over my wrists and ears and neck for sleep support, Dream Catcher on my big toes and over my pituitary gland, Joy around my navel for emotional support...and I did not do my affirmation or think positively about getting up.

 So, I guess God and my dad agreed that the car alarm would be the best way to get me up and out of bed for sure. I mean, I had to wake up, run down stairs, grab the keys, hurry outside in the cold (barefoot, I might add) to stick the key in the door in order to stop the blaring horn and flashing lights before the neighbors get as annoyed as I would be if someone's car alarm was going off before 5 a.m.

 Sighing as I came back inside, I leaned into the early morning and started my routine...15 minutes early. And it's a good thing too because I have required the extra time to journal and write out my grief process and feel my deep sadness as I still grapple with the disbelief and heartache that comes in waves when I remember simple things like my dad's white t-shirts he always wore underneath his clothing.

 Later today, I'll post a few pictures and remember more about this day two months ago and my journey hence on my social media. You can follow me on Facebook here and IG here to read that post and others.

 It's time for me to move on with my day...business meeting to attend, lunch and a trip to a rock shop with a friend, homeschooling help for my kids.  But first...an acupuncture treatment for our German Shepherd that must get administered (by me! No, I'm not an acupuncturist...my vet taught me how to treat her...a story for another day!