I Knew it Would Be Good...

So, last year at this time, I said “goodbye” to 2016. It had been a really tough year—with my thyroidectomy, knee problems, and my mom’s rapidly failing health after two broken hips in a row. When she died in September of 2016, I knew it couldn’t get much worse. 

But I was positive that 2017 was going to be a better year, and man, did it ever exceed expectations! Now, I’m sitting in a hot bath after two days of driving  and dropping callie off at the airport, and reflecting on the year.

2017 began with a silent prayer—asking God to forgive me for my moments of ingratitude and self pity as taking care of my mom’s needs began to take its toll. And I thanked Him for the extended period of gentle and loving goodbyes we got to say to each other before she passed away in her sleep. 

And then I thanked Him for granting me a New Year, with new chances, new friends, and new opportunities. I thanked him for blessing my kids. And for the blessings I overlooked while looking after my mom. 

And this year, I thank Him sooo much for the reprieve from stress and strife that I’ve enjoyed this year. 

And I thank Him for bringing an amazing man into my life—the man who I’ll spend the rest of my life with. 

And I pray that if it is God’s will, this year will continue to build on 2017’s successes. Opportunities seem to be opening up left and right, and I’m feeling in a much better place than I was last year. 

The holidays were especially wonderful this year, as I reunited with family I’ve truly missed, and I was also able to spend real quality time with all three kids , as well as with James.

Oh! And we visited Monet!!!

You might ask if I have any resolutions for the New Year. Not really—I guess my resolutions are to keep having fun doing things I love, with people I love. I want to step up my boxing routine, and be in the best shape of my life by springtime. Other resolutions are to make sure I help Callie where I can have a smooth transition into college—whether it be Berkeley or Brown...

Here’s Callie and Joe in A’Viking:

Another is to get Joe driving. I recently had the Rav detailed for him—he’s just got a few more hours to log before he gets his license. Joe will also get an opportunity to be a foreign exchange “diplomat” to New Zealand this summer, and I’m excited about that! Here is the letter of recommendation his guidance counselor wrote for him. I think that it was an amazingly generous thing for her to do—to take time out of her busy schedule to write such a personal letter of recommendation. 

And of course I’m excited about starting my job. Everything about this practice seems perfect. 

The Naples house is coming together nicely, and I’m looking forward to a pool/bbq/friend filled summer.

So, Welcome, 2018! May your days be bright to continue to light my path, and guide me down the “meaningful,” not “moneyfull” path. I’m excited to see what opportunities open up as I gain confidence and some kick ass. 

I hope to be a little more lenient on the bitter less fortunate, and a little more “fun.”

Anyway, New Year’s Eve is calm, with the distant sound of fireworks like a calm foreshadowing of some wonderful things coming to light in the months ahead. 

I pray you all have a happy and blessed New Year!

Happy Day

UPDATE: ChaseChat is down due to malware on the host server, and will be back up soon. Mr. Anonymous, I wish you would stop implicating yourself every time the site goes down. Makes you look stupid. More stupid than your usual poor grammar indicates. :)

A good day in the making! 

So, for the last few days, I’ve had three extra boys—Joe’s friends from NSB, and it’s been fun watching them have fun. They cooked, played lots of pool, swam in the swimming pool, and watched scary movies. It was comical to hear their comments throughout the movies. 

Anyway, I’m driving them back home tomorrow, which will also be a good thing. Lol. Time to rest a little from all the action...

Oh! And they went to the mall and Joe got me something I’ve been looking for for a LONG time in the US:

I promptly ate it. 

And I’ve thoroughly enjoyed having Callie for her visit. I’m taking her to the airport Sunday. She spent a lot of her time here filling out college paperwork. I’m so proud of her!

And...

https://goo.gl/images/ujuvoU

Yeah, Man, Good Stuff Coming

And no, I’m not going to trash anyone. I’m just going to make you think. At least, I hope to make you think. That’s the goal.

I’m going to tell you cool stuff about why the majority is always wrong, and how to be in the 3% that actually do things right. 

And more stuff...to make you think a little, and hopefully, enable you to see things in a clearer light.

Yeah, buddy! 

But first, I have to take four boys to an escape room and Star Wars and what not.

Merry Christmas Eve!!

We’re heading north for a vacation home so we can spend a very merry Christmas with all three kids! Peace to you all!

Flattery

If reading someone’s forum and posting about it is the “highest form of flattery,” I know of one blog that is all about flattering me and flatters me several times a day. Especially when they say my blog has “no readers.” Well at least they got it partly right. There are a few “nobodies” who read my blog several times a day! And how about this absolute gem— a forum supposedly about FF and the Chase NEVER TALKS A BOUT THE CHASE. To me, that’s hilarious. I get way more press time than F does on a blog supposedly about F and the chase. And at present, I’m not even “chasing” right now. My daily life appears to be very important to some. And some seem to revel in a false belief that my world is crumbling all around me. Yeah, okay. Remember that shirt that said to just sit in your wrongness? Lol! If constantly posting about a particular person is “flattery,” who “flatters” me the most?

Oh, and Christmas is almost here! I’m excited for a fun time with my family. You know what’s funny, though? That other blog will post about me posting negativity at a time of a year that should be promoting good will. While they keep on with their daily character assassination. How is that not hypocritical?

I Heard...

I heard that some people want to buy me gifts for Christmas. That is very thoughtful! However, I like to collect shirts with numbers on them (I think its an Asperger's thing).

I took the liberty of finding the ones best suited for me.

And I like tee shirts that say a little something of my ancestry:

And as my Viking blood courses through me, you all know I am not afraid of a good fight:

This is one I'd proudly wear as a message to some guys out there:

And sometimes, you just gotta block out all the delusional loons that screech every time you post something happy in your life:

Other days, this is what I'd wear as my message to them:

And I ALWAYS remember the One who gives me strength:

And one that shares a little bit of what makes me stand out in a crowd:

So there's some ideas for ya. You can ship them to The Winner's House, Naples, FL 34120. The postman will know who you mean. :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS! May we all find a little light and laughter this holiday season!

Christmas Time

Update: I’m going to be busy through Christmas, but I’ll be updating on Instagram and maybe Twitter, so feel free to follow me there. :)


We won one of the prizes in the holiday Christmas house decorating contest! Well, I should say James won, because he did 99.99% of the work. We/he won the prize for "Best Theme." We tried to go with the nostalgic Christmas TV specials, and I guess it was a hit with the judges.

While the outside is decorated to the hilt, we like things a little simpler inside:

Zuri likes to hang out on the rug by the tree. She reminds me of when I was a kid in the days before Christmas when my mom would have Christmas music playing and I would lie down on the carpet by the tree, breathing in the blue spruce-y scent and finding a kind of cozy comfort in the twinkling lights and festive sounds. 

We also have a Charlie Brown christmas tree, which reminds us to treat everyone with kindness.

James gave me my Christmas present early. He went WAY overboard, but its something we can all enjoy:

It is a very peaceful and contented time of the year, but I will miss my mom especially this year. My mom was responsible for some of my best Christmas memories, and I know she knows that. That's comforting to me. 

So, in the spirit of Christmas (which should be all year), let's take a break from the back and forths. and enjoy time with our friends and family. Let's concentrate on spreading joy, not gossip. Let's open our hearts and not so much our mouths. Let's take the time to reflect on the gift God gave to save us from ourselves--Jesus Christ. 

Good Stuff and Good News

It looks like I have the dream job! If I accept the job offer, I'll start after the New Year. I'm very excited about it, but I also have another job opportunity that looks like it'll pay just as much and be just as enjoyable, so I'm weighing my options and told the office manager of the first offer that I'm very honored and ecstatic to be offered the job, but that I have another opportunity that I'm weighing, so I'll let her know for sure next week. She was very cool about it, and said she understood and it was wise to consider my options. It'll come down to insurance, I think. Both jobs offer great insurance, but the first offer slightly tops the second. Insurance #1 includes medical, dental, and vision and has a premium of $40 a paycheck, with a $1500 deductible. The second job offers a couple different plans, and both have about the same premium, but higher deductibles. So, I'm talking to some people from my old job to see which one would be the best for me.

For those of you anxious about Presby, I'm putting together a timeline of his own posts that will show who he really is. I will also provide screenshots of posts by one of his aliases that prove they are the same person. It'll take me a little time.

I've been kicking up the workouts lately, and am starting to see some really positive results. I love boxing...it's such a great way to focus on coordination, strength, and endurance. I'm going to get James in some headgear tonight and tell him to try and stop me from a "knock out." I won't hit full strength, though. I just want to practice against a real person and concentrate on looking for openings, and speed.

James is doing a good job putting up outdoor Christmas decorations. He's been working hard on it, and hopes to win the community's decoration contest.

I've been going through the last of my boxes in the garage, and found yet another box of mostly Chase stuff, including my "grease stain" page, which I've been looking for!

So, lots going on. I'm looking forward to spending Christmas in NSB with Aidan, Joe, Callie, and James!

A Perfect Thanksgiving

I had the most wonderful Thanksgiving this year. Since I had to go to CA for a personal business matter, I decided to coincide the trip with Thanksgiving, because I miss many members who were once, and I still consider to be, family. Like my niece Kiele, who I haven't seen in several years. Here she is with Callie:

And my five years old but new to me nephew, Connor. And my ex's step-mother, Terri (David's mom), who I have a very strong relationship with. And Juli, my ex's sister, who I also get along great with. And of course, the perpetually jolly ad enthusiastic "Uncle David," my ex's half brother. It was bittersweet to have us all around the Thanksgiving table, eating, and laughing at old fun times without my ex's dad there. I definitely missed his booming, infectious laugh and his frequent "Holy Moly's."

So, as we went through pictures of past vacations, "Grandpa Jim" was in many, and you can just see the love he had for his grandchildren in his eyes. I mentioned it, and Terri started to tear up, and so, of course, we all joined her. But it's a good kind of crying, because we have those photos to always remind us how much he loved us all.

Connor was a hilarious little munchkin, and freaking smart for a five year old, counting past 100 and writing the alphabet like a machine. In fact, we sorta have a new nickname of Connor after watching a comedy sketch--The Machine. Connor liked it too. 

Here he is doing one of his favorite raps:

And again without hand motions and a clearer voice:

The first night, after I gave him the BatMan presents I bought him, he tagged along with me, and we played catch with his little stuffed zebra, who he appropriately calls "Zee." Every time he'd catch it, he'd say "Ganny," with the second syllable stressed. I glanced over at Dave for the meaning of this mysterious new word, and he just shrugged. Later on, after about 12,000 "Ganny's," I took a video and we finally found out what it meant.

He is the cutest kid. On Thanksgiving Day, Joe, Callie, Connor, and I played a board game called "Ticket to Ride." Connor was on my team, of course. He picked up the game surprisingly fast, and while most five year olds would just play with the plastic trains, Connor was very intent on learning the rules of the game and playing it right.

Then, later, he played Wii U with Joe, Callie, and Kiele. Mostly Connor ended up dying and floating around in a balloon above the alive players, but he had fun imagining himself inside that bubble, safe from harm.

He also knows when he's ready for sleep:

Everyone was great, and with Dave around, we laughed and laughed. Especially when Dave burned the bacon and still passed it around, saying it was just a "little" burnt.

During the trip, I got to walk down to the beach. I loved the weather and atmosphere there. We saw a baby dolphin jump out of the water twice, and even though I tried to get it on video, he or she wouldn't jump a third time. And I liked all the different flowers growing along the walkway...

Callie took me to see her high school- Santa Barbara High- and it was impressive.

Afterwards, we went to a couple thrift shops, and then a very very cool bookstore with some rare books. I really wanted this one signed by e.e. cummings, but it was too pricy. I got a few other not as pricy books, though.

I even found this one by FF, and it was autographed.

Anyway, we all had a really great time!

Not Much Going On

Update: Thinking hard about something Joe Biden said recently: “To be silent is to be complicit.”


Life is like a tub of vanilla frosting...delicious...until it's all gone. But all you have to do is open a new
tub, and the routine starts again.

I like routine. It's calming to me to have a schedule, even a loose one.

I've been learning to play Love by Lana Del Rey on the piano. It's coming along, but its the most difficult song I've played since I was in my 20's, so I'm learning left and right hands separately, then will put them together once I get each hand down perfect. 

I've been doing my boxing workout four or five days a week. It's one of the best hours of those days. 

I've put in my resume at several orthopedic centers. I had two job offers from places I applied online, but one was located too far away, and the other wasn't quite the job they'd advertised. So I respectfully turned those down.

Joe has been busy with after school clubs. He's doing Model UN, Mock Trial, and just joined the Math Club, Phi Beta Kappa or something like that. He had a big two day Model UN competition this weekend, and it was exciting. They had a "crisis" where an alternate reality played out--Jefferson Davis was poisoned and killed by the Vice President. Joe, who was playing Secretary of State, discovered the crime, and had the VP executed by firing squad. So, Joe ended up being the President of the Confederacy. He said that the planners did a great job of springing the crisis on the students--all of them were surprised with JD's death. 

Joe won the award for "Best Paper," and was told it was the best paper the staff had EVER read. So, wow, I was proud! And so was Joe--he did a REALLY good job. He's going to do important things, that kid. 

I'm proud of all three kids. Each one is finding their niche, and finding success. Aidan started a new, better paying job at an upscale restaurant. She's an amazing young woman, a true survivor and an overcomer. 

She can be serious and exotically beautiful:

Or she can be silly and hilarious:

Callie has her first job as a barista, and has her driver's license. She bought her first car with her own money, and will probably be accepted to Brown. She wants to be a writer. I'm encouraging her in that--it's her passion and she's good at it. If anyone can be successful at making a living with her writing, Callie can. 

I'm just so proud of all three of them. They are the pieces that form my heart.

Today, I've got a doctor appointment, then a workout. Then household chores--laundry, sweeping, etc... 

Happy Tuesday! 

Once Upon a While

Well, I was excited to get one of my two copies of Once Upon a While the other day. I've already completed a quick read-through, and took copious notes of things that stood out, including a few probably unintentional typos:

Page 8: "Smug sense if satisfaction..." should be "...of satisfaction..."
Page 16: "cardamom" is spelled wrong ("cardamon")
Page 151: "desert" should be "dessert"

Anyway, despite those couple little things, the book was pretty darn delightful. I honestly didn't know what to expect from a book of Forrest's Scrapbooks, containing things I've already read countless times on Dal's blog. Forrest had said it wasn't "his" book, so I wondered if the same care and attention to quality would be put into this one as was in his previous books.

I was pleasantly surprised, because everything about this pretty little book whispers "quality." And gives a snicker or three of fun on the side.

Speaking of "3," this third memoir of Forrest Fenn is chock full of 'em. I counted the exact number "3" or "three," twenty-six times. And that's not counting the nearly 5,000 uses of the word "few."

I counted the number "30" about twelve times, but I may have missed a few because I was tired after counting all the "3's."

At the booksigning, Douglas Preston blurted out that there are "clues" in this book. Immediately, a collective gasp splattered across the chase world. Speculation zinged across the Internet faster than Odin's fastest thunderbolt about whether Doug knew the difference between a hint and a clue, and WHAT ARE THOSE CLUES? And how does Douglas Preston KNOW there are clues unless Forrest TOLD him there were clues?

Well, I believe there ARE clues in this memoir. Heck, just the word "memoir" is a clue. And heck, "heck" might be a clue, too (I noticed that word was used twice).

One thing I notice ever more after reading this memoir is that there're some things Forrest really likes to say. I'm not sure how many of you all notice, but I'm sure there are more like me that pick up on  subtleties and notice patterns--even some that might not really be there. :)

The usual themes are present in force in the book--one's trash is another's treasure, things "dressed" as something else, a lot of things are right and left, home as a warm, almost sacred, space, and "America." I also noticed other words--fortune (or versions thereof), proud (ego), pockets and pepper, as well as a few others--make frequent guest appearances on the pages.

I posted more on these and other themes in a couple threads on ChaseChat, so check those out over there.

Once Upon a While is a surprisingly violent book. Yes, violent! In some instances, you have to read between the lines just a little, but you're gonna read about a lot of explosions. In fact, on the table of contents page, there's an urgent direction to "see page 46!" The word "POW!" and bodies flying willy nilly are depicted in doodle-fashion, which lightens the blow--a little. Thinking about the picture of a "blown up" Skippy too much is an invitation to some deeper thought that you might not wanna think about too much, if you know what I mean.

Page 46 depicts a picture of Skippy we've seen before against a background of what looks like someone that took an almost burnt up, smoldering log and slammed it in the air over the page.

I was really happy to see Renelle's story included in the book. I didn't know Renelle (I had taken a break from searching when she discovered the chase), but I felt like I did just by seeing her smiling face on the full color page. Her story still stirs some deep emotion in me and summons a few tears from my eyes. She is one person I'm sad not to have known personally and her courage reminds me how important determination is, and how giving up can never be an option.

And I was pretty sure the spice story would return for an encore. By the way, here's where we keep our spices:

I know, you guys were just dying to see my spices. I'm happy to oblige.

And here's the original cover of Captain America #109, in case you were wondering:

Anyway, I just wanted to give a quick review and hearty recommendation for Once Upon a While. It's definitely worth reading, and it may just help you connect those last few dots.

But now, I've gotta pick up Joe from Model UN!

Happy Thorsday!