Welcome to my blog titled “Five Things” where you can expect just that - five random musings or reflections from the previous week or so. In addition, at the end of the blog, I’ll keep a running itinerary of our travel plans. For a photo gallery of our life on the road, our pets, and miscellaneous things I find interesting, you can follow me on Instagram @tabithalord.

So here are this week’s five things…

1. Happy New Year! It’s been just over a year since Ray and I set out on our adventure. We remember making our holiday reservations while standing in line for a ride in Disney World, Florida, and it all seemed so far away! I hope your holiday was full of love, peace, and joy. It’s truly joyful for us when all our kids are together, and this year they were. Our third son made it home from his study abroad semester in London just in time despite crazy last minute flight cancellations. My mom and dad, and sister and brother-in-law rounded out our group, and we spent the week together celebrating. Highlights included a festive day in Disney Land, a terrific performance of A Christmas Carol, a party with my brother-in-law’s family featuring amazing Persian food, a drunken present-opening extravaganza, and lot’s of hang-around time with excellent meals courtesy of my sister and dad. All in all, this holiday will provide lasting good memories for years to come.

2. Pet lover’s pro-tip: If you have a kitty with any kind of behavior issue, try a pheromone collar. Our oldest cat has the onset of kitty dementia, officially known as feline cognitive dysfunction, and the collar had been a game-changer. She went from wandering around all night crying to regularly sleeping beside me in bed. She still has a few ‘episodes’ now and again, but they pass quickly and she spends most of her time purring contentedly.

3. I have so many pictures from our journey, and I vowed to organize them all into a memory book. I’m a little behind, but going forward, I’m going to organize them monthly so I don’t have a whole year’s worth to sort. At least, that’s my plan…

4. I love beginnings. I love the beginning of the week, of the day, of a semester, of a project… you get the idea. I think it’s because beginnings hold so much potential. I also love lists, planners, calendars, and basically anything that helps keep my life in order, so it tracks that I love to make detailed lists of my New Year’s intentions. I like to call them intentions rather than resolutions, but that’s just semantics. Anyway, I have them all sorted into categories, and then subdivided into first quarter goals, etc. etc. Again, you probably get the idea. I won’t bore you with those lists, but I will say that this year, I prioritized my health and well-being before my professional goals. It was a symbolic gesture, I simply wrote them out on the first page of my notes, but I think it was an important one. You know how on the plane, in case of emergency, you have to put on your oxygen mask before assisting others? That’s how I’m thinking about my personal intentions for the year. They need to come first so I can show up as my best self everywhere else.

5. “We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.” – Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Our itinerary, subject to change:

November 19 - January 3, 2024: Orangeland Park, CA

January 3 - February 2: Chula Vista, CA

February 2 - 16: Palm Springs, CA

February 16 - March 1: Las Vegas, NV

March 1 - March 5: Meteor Crater, AZ

March 5 - 14: Albuquerque, NM

March 15 - 18: Oklahoma City, OK

March 18 - April 5: Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX

April 5 - 12: Fredericksburg, TX

April 12 - 19: Hot Springs, AK

April 19 - 24: Ozarks, AK

April 24 - 28: Topeka, KS

April 24 - May 12: Kansas City, MO

May 12 - 24: Chicago, IL

“Not all those who wander are lost.” - J.R.R. Tolkien