Part 1

 Happy New Year! Hope it is happy so far. Mine has been the usual up and down and all the way around.  Some good news, some horrible news, some improving the new and some changing the old.  

I have intended on keeping this blog pretty lighthearted. Maintaining the humor but keeping it at an appropriate level as to not make it seem like i am insensitively poking fun at matters which are truly not meant to be funny.  At the same time, this blog is ultimately about life. And life as we know it, is not always funny.  While you may not laugh at everything i write, I don't want anyone leaving here feeling bad about anything either.  So on that note, this will blog will touch on the last and one of the most important things on the list of what you may get out of this blog, that i mentioned on Day 1  Blog--

HEY!!! NO CHEATING, STAY HERE. DONT GO BACK TO DAY ONE JUST YET.  

I think you will figure out what it was by the time this blog concludes, and if not, I will reiterate it in one of the closing lines. 

I will tell you honestly that this blog is going to be a difficult one for me.  I am probably releasing the flood gates from my eyes already, lol.  I am not the most of emotional people. In fact i have been told I am emotionally hard and insensitive. This is SSSOOO not true. I just don't wear my emotions on my sleeve, and have a firm grip on when I believe emotional exposure is appropriate. That combined with the fact that i have been dealt some pretty hard blows in my life, that it takes a bit more for me to be affected by things that may crumble others. 

But there are  a few situations and people that just get me every time.  So grab your tissues, or your handkerchief, or the sleeve of the person sitting next to you;) and if you choose to listen, thank you, if you don't- i understand- just never come back here again, you, you JOY CHASER!!! lol just kidding.  

I mentioned my grandmother, Manga in an earlier post. And while it was brief, there is not enough ink or paper in the world that could ever fit all of the wonderful things I could say about her.  I spent most of my childhood with her, and a lot of my tween years until she ended up moving out of state. Devastated me to the core. But when i got older, i tried to make it a habit of surprising her, and my grand father (equally wonderful) by showing up at their house a day or two  before Thanksgiving and knocking on their door.  Grandpa always was the one to open the door and when he did,  his eyes would light up, he would put his hand over his heart and take a few steps back pretending to stumble in shock. I could hear my grandma, Manga, call from the kitchen, 

"who is it Ron?" Ron is my grandpas name. 

And he wouldn't say anything, he would just open the door a little further so she could see who was at the door.  She would turn her head looking over her shoulder and when she saw it was us, she would pause for a split second as if she was hallucinating, and let out this beautiful half shriek, half yell, all tears and surprise, put her hands over her mouth and then run to the door with her arms open wide. 

Home at last . 

She always wore the same perfume and their house always smelled like something wonderful cooking. Her hugs were amazing and she would hold onto you until she felt she had caught up on all the hugs she missed out on since the last time she saw you.  

Growing up she took such good care of me and taught me so much. She had rightfully earned the title of my guardian angel well before she actually became one. She was beautiful inside and out and she was full of love.

On February 20, 2021, the day of her 76th birthday, she passed away. It was unexpected but her later years she had been dealing with some health issues. I was crushed, still am. There is a lot of regret for not being quite as good of a granddaughter as she was good as a grandmother.  Then there is the regret that the day before her birthday, I was writing her a birthday poem. And while i was writing it, i held it for a second and something told me she would never read it. There was litteraly less than three hours until her actual birthday, but for some reason I knew, that by the time was intending to read it to her the next day, it would be too late.  I talked myself into thinking i was being ridiculous and to stop thinking negative thoughts, put the poem away and went back to work.  The next morning, I had a missed call from my sister-we are close but don't tend to keep in contact as much as we should. Her "butt" calls me more than she does, and unfortunately, the same for me.  I didnt need to call her back because i already knew. I didnt want to call her back because then it would be confirmed, but i did, and it was exactly what i suspected- and feared above everything.  I couldnt bear the thougt of going to work after such news but my intention was to fly out to see my grandfather and be with him a few days.  I couldnt afford it though, and would have to work that night if It was even an option.  So somehow i pulled myself together and got ready for work. 

At the time i was a bartender at a casino. I was always cheerful and outgoing and social. Its a small town and a good majority of my patrons were regulars who had gotten to know me and my general upbeat nature.  So i knew that they would instantly notice my change in demeanor that night. So i got a note card, scribbled a few things on it and within minutes, one of my first regulars looked at me and said,  "is something wrong?" To which i looked down and handed him the note card. He read it, and i could see the immediate look of sad on his face when he looked up at me, but then he said, "can i get a beer and a shot please". That note card just barely saved my sanity that night. kept my composure until the minute i left eyeshot of customers during breaks or lunch, when i would burst into emotional devastation. But i managed to make enough in tips to cover plane tickets for myself, son and partner to fly up to their house, and surprise my grandpa in usual fashion.

Unfortunately there is a part 2 to this blog. I have to take a break for the sake of my own emotional wellbeing.- and because the part 2 of this is requiring another unexpected trip of me, that i need to prepare for- but more on that later.

 So you will also have to wait to find out what list item that this blog is about. 

oh and if you want to know what was on the note card-this is what i wrote...

"I just lost my grandmother today. I am not okay. Please do not hug me or ask me if I am ok. I am trying to hold it together, so please just keep me busy."

Thanks for reading. See you soon.

Take care.

Complaining 101

Hello All!-or One or two or ALL. Hello to whoever may be here right now. I hope all is well and everyone is healthy and happy.  

Today, I am going to talk about Complaining-but don't worry, I am not actually going to be complaining about anything.  It something I really try not to do for reasons which will be covered in today' s lesson-

Complaining 101

    -and just for fun, I am going to be unnecessarily "formal" in the format presentation of this topic; ) 

Let's get started, shall we?

What is complaining?

c Com·plain

/kəmˈplān/

Learn to pronounce

verb

gerund or present participle: complaining

1. 
   
2. 1.

   express dissatisfaction or annoyance about something.

   "

   Similar:

   protest

   grumble

   moan

   whine

   bleat

   carp

   cavil
3. local authorities complained that they lacked sufficient 
4. resources"

^^^From Oxford Dictionary

Why do we do it?

When someone is bothered by something, they tend to let others know it bothers them.

What are the effects?

This can be answered in many ways , so i am going to break this down into two groups, which I call "Inefffective (or improper) Complaining" and "Effective (or proper Complaining"

We will start with the most common-Ineffective/improper complaining. 

This is the see-it-every-day type of complaining: the unruly customer, the kids who don't want to do something, nosy neighbors, "underpaid and underappreciated" coworkers, those types of situations.  They all have something negative to say about something or another.  What effect does this have? Well aside from irritating anyone on the receiving end, or causing another's lightbulb to go off as they realize, "oh yeah... that is true. I should complain about it too", the ultimate effect or end result is... wait for it....     .

...nothing.

 Absolutely nothing. 

In order to summarize the meaning of Ineffective /improper complaining, we will continue its definition using a few of its most accurate synonyms and phrases: "pissing and moaning", whining, b*tching, and quite simply, "talking sh*t".

Effective/proper complaining is much more rare.  And unlike it's counterpart, its a bit more complicated. In order for it to be deemed as effective/proper, it must contain three key elements-

1) It must have a valid reason behind it or done with a legitimate purpose, 

2) It must be directed towards the appropriate person, and 

3) it must be followed with a reasonable solution.

These may seem obvious, but meeting this criteria is much more difficult than one might think. Usually one, two or all of these elements are missing, thus in-effectuating it in its entirety.

Now that you have their definitions, let's take a situation and compare both types of complaining.

example 1-Person A is complaining to a coworker that  it  is not fair that Person B gets every Saturday off of work. 

example 2- Person A would like to have Saturdays off, and complains to his/her boss that he/she notices that person B has Saturdays off, and would like to suggest that the Saturdays be divided up equally so both Person A and Person B will have some Saturdays off.

 Do you see the difference? 

Example 1 person is going to get nowhere, but irritated, or irritating with that form of Ineffective Complaining.  

Example 2 person avoids engaging others in complaints which they are not involved in, has a valid point in the reason for the complaint, AND, most important of all elements, has come up with a reasonable solution.  

Now, example 2 person will have a higher chance of getting that complaint heard, unless the boss is a total d-bag and ignores it all together, at which point you tell him/her to take the job and shove it... just kidding. I do NOT recommend that last step.  However, if you do have that type of boss, I would definitely reconsider my position with that place, but that's on you.

MY POINT IS.... if you are going to do something, do it right. Do it in fairness, with reason, and maintain professionalism at all times. 

And the next time you have someone complaining about something to you, and you are not the person which it should be directed at, there is only one question you should ask them... which will either stun them to shutting up-OR- get them to really think about their answer. Either of the outcomes will generally get them out of your hair. Your golden question...

"So what are YOU going to do about it?"

Bye for now! Take care!😉

Nutshell Ramblings

 Hey. How are you? Sorry It has been a while, but as tradition would have it, every year, or pretty much every year, around Thanksgiving, my world seems to take a dramatic shift in another direction. Such has been the case for as long as I can remember- at least for most of my adult life.  For now I will spare you the details, and just say, its glad to be back to my blog again. 

What I will say, though, is I am back on the job market. Sooner than expected, but I know it is for the better. Despite the day of personal meltdown due to the shock of such an unexpected event, I am glad I don't have to dread going to work anymore-something I always said I would never do-at least I didn't do  it for too long. Phew!!

So besides the full speed ahead job search, I have been working on the other aspects of what I want to turn this blog into. I will still be writing here of course, but like i mentioned earlier, I plan to include many of my other interests and knowledge as well.  Where to start, and how to organize all of the stuff up there onto the limitations of single web builder sites is quite a challenge-and even more time consuming, especially for a selective perfectionist such as my self. 

What is a selective perfectionist you ask? Well, I don't believe in the perfection of everything I do, and it does not rule my life, thank goodness. But the things that I am particular about perfection, absolutely MUST be perfect.  And I am my own worst and terrible critic. 

 Arts/crafts/design stuff- total perfectionist.  My partner always says, "Leave it alone, it looks fine, you are going to mess it up!" And he's usually right. But maybe if he said another word other than "fine" I may actually listen to him and NOT mess it up.  Maybe I should tell him that. Hmmm.

Mascara- perfection necessary. Okay so this may seem odd, or insignificant, but for me, it has to be perfect-Why? Well, because it is the only makeup I wear. I will occasionally opt in for some eyeshadow, liner and maaaaaybe some no smudge, no smear, can't belt sand it off lipcolor, on special occasions, but day to day, mascara only. I never ever wear any coverup/foundation or face makeup. Yuck. I work too hard to put something on my face that I am just going to sweat off later. Besides, I don't care how "natural" or hypoallergenic it is, its not good for your face- and the more you wear it, the more you need it. Why, again? because it can cause you to break out due to clogged pores and then you have to wear it because you are trying to cover up the blemishes, which only begin looking bigger so you cake it on even heavier- sounds like a money-maker for someone to me. eh-hem.. anyways. Mascara, Yes! 

Cooking- Okay, so this is almost a sore subject for me now, but let me give you a bit of a backstory.  Growing up, I spent most of my time with my grandmother, "Manga" is what I named her. I was her first grand child and after I couldn't say grandma, it came out Manga, and it stuck with her for the rest of her time. She was beautiful, an amazing wife and mother, but the best grandmother ever and a phenomenal cook. Everything always from scratch. I spent years with her, cooking in her kitchen. I watched everything she did and somehow it implanted into the depths of my memory.  Everything from homemade beans, enchiladas, tortillas, and the most complete and delicious Thanksgiving dinners. When I got old enough to get a job, I worked for a few restaurants as a waitress, and being that I had my meals at work, I never did much cooking, if any. Besides, I was in college and usually ate in the cafeteria during the day, and at work at night. Fast forward to about 15 years ago, when I met my partner, and I started working in an office.  One of the first weekends I went to visit him, I told him we should stay in and eat instead of going out and he was fine with it.  I should have looked in his pantry before saying anything.  Keep in mind, he had been single for a while, just bought his house, and was working away from home most of the time as a Paramedic. So, it should have not come as such a surprise to find almost nothing in his pantry.  

In the "spice cabinet" some protein shake mix, vitamins, and salt and pepper. Freezer-bags of chicken breasts, Pantry- a few cans of vegetables, one jar of spaghetti sauce and a bag of egg noodles. Oh and a few scattered packets of parmesan cheese from the last pizza order.  Oh-kay.. WT...do I do here? So I put the chicken to grill on his countertop "drain all of the flavor out of the chicken" grill, with some salt and pepper, boiled the borderline stale egg noodles and put the sauce in a pan. Not too much later it was all done and I put the plates on the table, and called him to eat. Sitting down he asked me when I went to the store. After telling him I did not, he said he didn't know how I made something out of what he had available.  He was just as surprised as I was.  To this day he says it was the best meal i ever made. Im sure that's not true but the memory made it that way.  Needless to say, after that he was hooked.  

But the takeaway from it was that I had no idea  what a great cook I was. I actually had not done it since before high school. It really just came naturally to me. I had a great pallet and taste for flavors that meshed really well together. I would come up with these really random, meals out of whatever there was available. The best part was, that I really loved it. It was relaxing and my family really enjoyed it as well. 

Fast forward fifteen years, about four months ago. I got really bad Covid. Like, misery of the worst kind. Never been sick like that ever. I am a very healthy and active person. Nothing takes me down. I work through my sicknesses and carry on. Not this time. I tried. Day two and I feel like crap, but even crappier because there was stuff I needed to do, and I didn't have time to get sick. So I get out of bed and put on my work boots and hat, determined to work this out. 

"Where are you going" my partner asks

"I am going outside to work through this sickness"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Okay", he smiles and half laughs under his breath while shaking his head. "good luck"

Now, if I knew what he meant by good luck at that moment, I may have given it a second thought. But, I am stubborn and when I set my mind to something, its better if you just either leave me to it or get out of my way.  

I flung the door open, walked down the three steps, and grabbed the rake. One minute later, I flung the door open again grasping the railing and my chest trying to pull myself up the stairs. I was gasping and spinning, wheezing and out of breath. Sweat burned my eyes and my legs felt weak. My head pounded and my joints felt as if they were bound by metal and going to dislocate at the same time.

"What happened?" He already knew the answer, he smiled.

"I...(wheeze)...wanted...(gasping) to...(is this COPD?)...never....(gasping)...mind."  I face planted into my bed, arms at my side, kicking my boots off, well, one boot...I didnt have the energy to kick the other one off. 

"Need some help?" My silence gave my answer as he gently removed my other boot and hat which sat awkwardly from being smashed into the bed. 

That moment began four weeks of the worst, death wishing sickness ever. Two weeks of migraines, acid-like sore throats, joint pain, shortness of breath, loss of voice, hearing loss in one ear and sheer exhaustion. After two weeks, I had just enough energy to walk to my car, change my mind, and get back in bed. Three weeks i made it to my car drove to get take out and back into bed. By week four, I was still so tired but knew I had to get back to work because my partner ended up getting it too so we had both missed a month of work and our savings ran out. Week five i went back to work one day, and only made it four hours. week five, one full shift. 

But not everything returned to normal. I don't know if this is the worst part, because it was pretty bad, but it is definitely the one thing that has taken the biggest toll on me. Around the end of week one, I lost my sense of smell and taste. Today, four months later, and still nothing. It is the single most...oh sh**....

Ok sorry for the interruption but I had put some soup on to boil before writing this and totally forgot about it. Normally I would smell it as it heated up but, like I was saying, I almost just burned a huge pot of homemade chicken soup. This sucks. Life without flavor is like life without flavor.  I can't be a perfectionist of cooking when I can't taste it. My partner really tries being a taste tester for me. He's a good sport. I just hate when we are arguing and I'm cooking and I have to go into the room and be like...

"Can you please taste this for me?" half grumbling and mumbling through clenched teeth, head down, holding out the spoon. He just looks at me with this "oh you need me now?" look of sarcasm, and takes the spoon. 

He says its good. I try to believe him. But is it to MY standard? I may never know. Hopefully one day, I will know again.

Thanks for listening!

Take Care!!

Don't Start at the Beginning

 You know what is kinda crazy? There is one issue I have always had with writing and it has plagued me since high school.  You would think I would grow out of it or figure it out by now, but no.

 I always have the most difficulty with the very first sentence of anything I write; stories, reports, letters, anything!  I will be all ready to go, with the thought engine fired up, just to sit in from of the screen with my fingers stationary on the home keys. Pause...long pause...even longer pause...distraction...mission failed. 

 When I had to write in high school and college, I started avoiding the opening sentence and jumping right into the content, then later fabricating an opening line when I was done. This actually saved me  a lot of time and preserved many potentially lost ideas. Maybe it goes against all the rules of writing or maybe cheating? somehow? You never know. But it has generally worked for me. Whatever it is, I like to call it "a chronological reconfiguration of a writing systems to enhance the utilization of time and increase thought flow preservation". ;)  On a positive note, once I got passed or skipped the intro, it was full speed ahead. Rarely, if ever, do I get writer's block within the body of my writing. Only at the beginning. Hmm, strange, lol. So as tradition would have it, I still encounter this as I write these blogs. It may take me half an hour on the first sentence, but then twenty minutes for a couple pages. But despite that, I have thoroughly enjoyed writing this blog. There is nothing better than being able to take whats up there and put it somewhere else, like here. Thanks! 

 Now that I have mentally distracted myself from the frozen intro issue, I can now proceed with the originally intended blog. So, on we go! When it comes to blogs in general, most of them have a central theme or idea. Recipes, home decor, educational, autobiographical, event tracking, etc, are just a few of the millions of possibilities for blogs. And generally, those blogs stick pretty close to that one thing. While sharing a single expertise works well for many people, I, personally, as a writer would find that to be just a bit boring.  There are also  some of the blogs where one writes everything about themselves and their daily affairs on every post, which is fine, it is just not my style. One thing you will learn about me, and through my site, is that I get bored with things rather easily. This is true in my day-to-day life as well. At any given time, I will have multiple "projects" going on, as my partner would say. What he views as bad habit of never finishing what I start or taking on "more than I can handle",  actually comes with a legitimate reason for this method of madness. You see, being prone to boredom, I have to constantly be changing things or doing something different. So, yes, I have multiple "projects". If I am working on one, and get frustrated or bored with it, I move on to something else for a little bit. If I spend too much time with one thing for a long period of time, I get bored and then I leave it as it is, never to return. In order to prevent abandonment of a task, I allow myself to be fully immersed in it until I get a little tired or slightly frustrated, depending on the task. Once that feeling starts creeping in, I move onto something else.  Then, I can always come back to it later.  Just to keep the record straight, I DO finish projects. They are just broken up  in order for me to keep my motivation towards finishing it. Call it distractions if you will, but it is the most effective way for me to always feel like I am doing something new, and getting something done, or at the very least- "making progress.

 Getting back to the point at hand.. theme blogging- you're not going find that here. At least not specifically.  Much like my practice of project doing, I cannot sit here and write about the same subject or idea for an extended period of time. I have to give credit for those who's blogs encompass one thing, finance blogging, fitness blogs, fashion, advice...Don't they ever run out of things to say about the same things? Yes, there are various changes in the factors, but a bank is a bank and a runway is always a runway, so where is the fun in that? I say... Never limit yourself... or your blog . 

Talk soup today and s*#t tomorrow! 

 Ok, well, not exactly, but I'm sure you get what Im saying. Since I personally never know what I am going to come up with next, I can tell you a few things you CAN expect from this blog, and we wiill go from there. This will also give you the chance to unboringly and unsaturatedly (not a real word, I know) get to know more about me. Deal?

 So... I am an avid and dedicated DIYer ("do-it-yourself-er"). This covers all things from crafting, home repair, repurposing, and the at-home creation of anything which may cost you an arm and a leg, and maybe an ear, if you were to buy it instead.  You can also expect a few of my favorite projects ("how-to's" included) to show up here from time to time.  For many years, I have worked in Market research (aka, review writer, secret shopper, audit and reporter), so don't be surprised if there is an occasional place or product that I am offering my opinion about. You may hear a rant or rave here and there, but never a complaint without a valid reason and a reasonable solution.  If you are looking for a political, religious or non-autobiographical history--- you have come to the wrong place. I lean towards not discussing things that I don't feel I am confident enough to try to argue, let alone prove my point. Plus, I believe everyone is entitled to their own personal beliefs, and should not be judged, nor punished for them--- unless it includes any infliction of harm or detriment to anyone, or any living being, and especially not to puppies-because that is when we should get all Salem witch trials on them:)    

As I said in an earlier post, I am not in short supply of life experiences from many sources. Some that have changed my moods, others that have changed my life. Either way, there are some that I will feel need to be shared for whatever reason, but never for no reason at all. On the other end of things, I do want to include ideas from whoever may be reading this. I intend on creating an idea page where readers can bring up discussion topics, or make content requests, ask questions, and contribute in general... because without you, this blog is nothing more than a journal that ...

 And just when I was just going to come up with something brilliantly poetic here, I was interrupted by my very silly partner talking about drunk monkeys and how my typing is "quite lovely"-a term not in his regular speech. He is half asleep and trying to figure out what I am writing so much about. -When I wrote about having that fellow traveler who will jump out of a plane and into the island of unknowns-- well, I am one of those lucky  enough to have found my fellow traveler. We haven't jumped out of any planes yet but we have definitely traversed many islands of unknowns together..and he really is funny when he's overly tired. Speaking of tired, it is 4am.  I think this is a good time to take a break until the next post, as I probably should get some sleep myself.

Good night, everyone.. or anyone. See you soon.

Put yourself out there.

 I am sure we have all been told, or told someone else, to "Put yourself out there!". Whether it was an introverted friend or one who is still mourning a rough break-up. Maybe someone who just needs to suck it up and go get a job.  Whatever the case may be, it is a situationally universal phrase as much as it is the most motivational sentence we can  appropriately muster up at that moment.  Think of a time when you have said or even been told exactly this. 
When it comes right down to it, putting yourself out there is actually pretty easy...no, really, it is. But then... 
What happens when you are out there? Dun..dun... duuuuuuunnnnn!!!
Honestly, this is the true hard part.  Think of it this way-
Say you are planning a self-guided trip to some remote island or wherever. You have completed all the necessary packing, preparing for the trip, and now you just have to get on that plane and go. Which, you do. Easy peasy. Next you just have to jump out of the plane because the only way to get there is by plane and there is literally no place for it to land. So, with parachute ready, you are staring out over this huge island, and all you have to do is jump, aka put yourself out there. While it seems like the hardest part, as scary as it is, it could fail in comparison to what you don't know is out there. With a bit of hesitation, you close your eyes and jump. After a moment of freefall, you begin to feel a bit of relief realizing it really isn't so bad and the view from there is really quite lovely. Congratulations, you are officially "out there". ahhhhh.
But then, it all changes again. Now that you are out there, the real difficult thoughts and questions come into play. Where am I going to land? Am I going to be safe? What am I getting myself into? What is waiting for me on the ground??? Even if you manage to pull yourself together landing with both feet on the ground and not in a tree, you are still faced with more of those self-doubting questions.  So now you are on this remote island with no direction, limited supplies, and plagued by your own fears of the unknown.  But... the adventure has just started. 
Our lives and our world is much the same as this situation. Exactly almost, except with some variations. You may embark on your journey as a lone traveler, or be one of the few who is fortunate enough to have found the perfect partner who will brave the elements by your side. You could be jumping out of the plane to find that perfect partner, a remote "singles" island maybe. :)
The difficulty lies in all the unknowns.  The waiting... for something...for anything... hopefully not for nothing, right. And how long should I wait?  When I mentioned "self-doubting" questions, its because that is what we are doing. If you are going to put yourself out there, put your best foot forward, and make sure that foot is wearing the right shoe. Instead of asking yourself questions, give yourself answers. 
I AM going to land okay. I AM going to keep myself safe. I AM ready for what I'm getting myself into. 
And maybe you do end up in a tree or walk five miles just to reach a literally unscaleable mountain that blocks the journey you mapped out. Then what? Do you lie there and wait for the elements to take over your being. Hopefully not. Instead, you change direction.  Does that mean you screwed up and mapped a horrible route and its all your fault?  It means that sometimes, the path you chose was interrupted by those unexpected, unforeseen and frustrating  things called "Life". And it happens, more than we are comfortable with and often more than we are prepared for. 
Those interruptions and detours become what you make of them.  A learning experience, a painful memory, a bad choice, a chance to do better, a chance to start over... Its all about what you want to get from it, and how much you will allow yourself to be humbled and grow instead of retreat. 
I am about halfway between old and young, but I have lived through ages, or at least it seems. I have changed my career many times, changed addresses more than 250 times, and still always seem to be reaching for something greater, yet completely out of reach.  Still, I keep going. Even when I don't know how the hell I am going to have the emotional strength to open my eyes for another sunrise. But, so far, I have, and still do.  And so can you .
 I have been a writer since the third grade. Inspired by a phenomenal teacher who simply took an interest in what I was writing and encouraged me to take it as far as I could.  Over the years I dabbled in it here and there but have never fully immersed myself in it. Honestly, I am not sure why not, as it has always done wonderful things for me on an emotional and mental level. There have been a few submissions here and there, some small writings that maybe no one would ever read, but maybe. All in all, I have never quite dedicated enough of myself to make anything serious of it. But, I would like to change that, with this.  
I never make promises about anything because, well, life happens, and I don't want circumstances to be the reason for disappointment. Especially if it is someone's disappointment in me for not following through on a promise.  So I won't promise a blog a day or that I will still be writing here for the next five years...but I do promise to try-because that is a promise that cannot be interrupted by life. 
Thanks for being here. 
See you soon:)

Any other time than this.

 For a long time, I have been aching to start writing again. I would say, "if I had a laptop", or "when I can find the right blogging platform" or "when I am not so busy", you get the point. But during that time when writing was inconvenienced by a false inconvenience, I was flooded with thoughts and ideas for the perfect story or blog series. There were so many, I wanted to write them all down before I lost them or they got tangled within the highways of neccessary information and side roads of trivial facts all occupying my mind. Unfortunately, I am not as young as I once was, being able to hand write pages and pages  for hours with no wear. As it would be expected, the harder you work your hands over the years, the harder it is for their cooperation without their aches and complaining.

Now that I have temporarily put my false inconveniences to rest, finally purchased a laptop of sorts, found a blog platform that seems to be a good fit thus far, and am significantly less busy than usual thanks to the notorious Covid- but that is a story for another day. I find myself here today, writing again...

Or, staring at the screen with my fingers on the home keys trying to recall all of those fantastic and exciting topic ideas I had before I ran out of reasons not to write. go figure.

If you have made it this far without leaving the page out of sheer boredom or disappointment for the time it took to read this mini-intro, thank you. 

But I do want you to know that despite the lack of whatever you may be looking for at this moment, if you stick around a few posts, you will find a few things may happen;

1. You might actually learn something useful

2. You will discover the true meaning of the saying that "truth is stranger than fiction".

3. You will embark on an incredible journey of stories from  a life, describable by a "series of unfortunate events" and WTF moments.

4. You may end up with a greater appreciation and understanding of gratitude.

5. You may become and expert DIY'er and hyper-independent super-person capable of amazing feats!

6. Or you may just read something that hits home, from someone who shares many of the difficult moments and small rewards,  trying to maintain positivity, while struggling to hold it together

I don't intend to bore anyone with my stories, they are simply my stories. Not every post will be about my life or struggles or dreams, or recipes with unnecessarily  long back stories, when all you really want to know is how to make the dam.... 

anyways.  

I am a serial gets-bored-too-easy person with diverse and sometimes scattered knowledge. Because of this, I know a little bit of a lot of things and would eventually like to know how to do almost anything and everything. So, should you choose to come along for the ride, you will be exposed to a circus of experiences-without the clowns. But, you wont likely get bored. It won't be all fun and games either though- especially if you haven't caught on to my type of sense of humor. 

Although this first post may seem a bit short, they won't all be this way. I just have to take a moment to go through my thought catalog and try to figure out where all those amazing writing ideas are hiding.  Feel free to close whatever device you are using to read this, it could be a minute... or two. 

See you soon!

-and- thanks again for sticking around.