Mission: Cleaning the Den

I worked for Jan Gilbertson, Jenn's mom helping her clean her den yesterday. The den was her husband's room. He passed away a few years ago from a tragic car accident while on a work trip. I tried to be as distant with my emotions as possible. I was remembering a man I had never met...and validating those memories for Jan and Jenn. It was hard work, but it felt good to see the amazing progress when we got half done. Jan was excited to make it a craft room, and her excitement was contagious and kept me going. Dennis had a lot of random things, including toys, stashed everywhere in that room. It was an oddly comforting feeling running across these bits of his personality.

I tried something new with Sabrea. I put a radio in her room, and let her listen to that when she went to bed. I need to invest in a safe nightlight. She fell asleep at 9 (instead of 4 a.m.)! She only woke up a couple times just to call out to me to make sure I was close by (I always am).

With this extra time to myself in the night, I was able to take a WONDERFUL warm bath with Epsom salt and patchouli bath powder. I nearly fell asleep in the tub. It helped ease the sore muscles, and was just plain relaxing. My old place did not have a tub, and I couldn't fathom the importance of one until now. Baths are AWESOME! I did shower to clean off all the residue, but that bath made my night. I reveled in the scents and feelings, and was really "in the moment." It was just an amazing experience.