Mortgage Monday: A Means To Reconnect

There has been an unexpected benefit to moving into our own house that we have enjoyed over the past several months. Since the day the movers unpacked our furniture and belongings at our new address, we have been able to get together with a number of people with whom we have lost contact over the last couple of years. With all that has transpired we, for lack of a better term, closed ranks for a while just trying to get through some of the tougher moments that we have encountered. Since moving we have been able to open up and reconnect with a myriad of people that have been nothing but supportive and understanding of all that has gone on.

Recently, we were able to invite our Rabbi and his wife to our new home for lunch. I personally owe this man a lot for helping me become who I am today most notably in serving as my mentor during my conversion. My wife and I owe them both a great deal for providing us with the support and guidance over the years specifically during a rather interesting Aliyah experience. We were lucky to have them close by when we were living in Israel and were able to meet with them on several occasions to help us with our difficult decision to return.

As I mentioned previously, this has also been the impetus, or at least one of the contributing factors, in motivating us to restart our family newsletter. It is reassuring to know that in future years these annual reports will always be coming from our home… there is no longer the question of from where the newsletter will be sent. And we no longer have to include a section about moving. By the way, after a few unexpected delays, they are finally in the mail!

Most importantly, over the past few months, our home has been a means to reconnect with people. As I have admitted before, I am not the best person at keeping in touch with others. This has proven to be a great way to restart long dormant conversations and a means to discuss updates with friends and find out what they have been up to. Of course, now the goal is to keep myself from reverting back into old habits and putting forth the effort, and finding the time, to have substantive conversations with friends and family that I truly enjoy talking to and with which I continue to have great conversations.  

Changing the Schedule

I try to keep a pretty accurate schedule as there are a lot of things that I have going on at any given time. Events, calls, and appointments are all planned out but I also have to track my hours and keep to my check list throughout each day or things are missed. It is by no means a 100% reliable system but it has worked thus far and it keeps me, more often than not, from having to push things off or reschedule certain tasks. Of course, as I have written about before, sometime I get behind and there is no other alternative than to shift things from one day to the next.

Those moments when I realize that things need to be moved is not a very pleasant one as I know at the very least it is going to ripple across my week if not the entire month. Some things, like taxes, have even been pushed back several months. Even with all of these things that have been transitioned to other dates and times, there have been a few things that have been cancelled altogether. This mostly applies to lodge activities and events but it still opens up my calendar just a little bit so that there is some hope that I can get caught up sooner rather than later.

Lately in particular there has been a lot of shuffling going on in my calendar. Some things are unavoidable as schedules and situations change but, in the end, it all works out. My work, lodge, and personal calendars have all been in flux with events being cancelled, appointments rescheduled, and calls rearranged. Oh well, such is the nature of work, life, and the lodge.

So, as I write this post, I am finally up to date on most things but by the time you read these words I am, most likely, way behind and trying to do whatever I can to catch up. There will have been things moved, rescheduled, and cancelled. I guess this is why I can never give a definitive answer as soon as someone asks if I am free as even when I think I know the answer and that slot may have been open yesterday, it doesn't mean that I am still available to attend or get on the phone.

Thankfully, the adoption of a new phone has been a huge help in keeping things organized as I have been able to sync all of my calendars to a central location/device. I never gave too much thought in the past to the importance of this simplicity but it has made a huge difference in my ability to get things done and accurately plan for future days and weeks. Don’t get me wrong, it is still a bit of a cluster but at least it is a bit more manageable.