Welcome To A Road Less Traveled

Well here it is New Years Eve Day. I have been listing what I need to do in order to enhance my life in 2007. First, however, I have been sitting here and listing all that was important to me which occurred in 2006. I have been studying which decisions I made that were effective, which were not effective, and how I could have made better choices. I have been taking inventory of how I was accountable both on the successes and the failures.

Some of the things I have thought about is what in my personality attracts positive people. Yet what other parts of my personality attract negative people. What can I do in 2007 to detour unhealthy people from my life and attract healthy people.

One thing I realized I have been doing the past few years is I got in a rut and was afraid to take any risks. My life stagnated as a result and was going nowhere fast. Having stepped outside that safety zone, I have been able to move to a part of the country which is more condusive to the type of things I enjoy doing and more me. I have also been able to purchase a home. Hence; If I do not risk in my life it will not go forward in a healthy direction and I will short-change my experiences in the world.

Part of my 2007 decision is to let past heartaches and failures go. Some were extremely long lived and I need to let them be a vague memory that does not dictate my life or hinder my life.

As far as having a life partner I actually let someone in my life after seven years and terminated the relationship as we knew it a few days ago. I still am open to having a life partner, but I do not need one to be complete, fulfilled, or happy. Next time I will give it a longer time to be sure they are what I really want.

Another thing I am working on and learning is in my business affairs is to ask questions and research first in order to make informed and stable decisions. This will serve me a lot better than whining over the surprises that show up as a result of not asking.

My goals for 2007 are to finish getting my degree, get my property fixed up, add more avenues for my spiritual life, and to do one fun thing a week away from the house.

I can honestly say this is one of the best Christmas Days I have had in a very long time. I was blessed with spending the day with my cousin and her family. I was nervous and apprehensive when it was about time to leave my home to go to their home. Once I got there everything was great. They are such kind and caring people.

During this portion of Christmas it has had me take a hard look at what Christmas is truly about. At one point during the Holidays I remember hearing the old story about Santa Claus and his gifting would be regulated by which children had been naughty or nice. It suddenly occurred to me what a message this gives to children who are less fortunate to see other children who are more fortunate to receive in such abundance. With that I began to explore what Christmas really means and how we could get the true meaning of the holidays back irrespective of cultural differences or religious preferences.

I am new to the area I live so I do not know who the seniors/disabled people are in the area I live. This is the first year in a few years I have not prepared a Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner for a few seniors/disabled people that were homebound. I miss that. I promised myself that next year I will resume doing this again. It feels so good to see someone so happy that they were thought of. I have considered adding someone next year that others tend to shy away from for being different than others as well.

Well I had a great Holiday and want to remind myself to love others and be there for others througout the coming year.

For those who pass through here, I hope you had a wonderful Holiday Season thus far. Regardless of your religious beliefs, know there are others out there who care about who you are.

Well here it is less than a week before Christmas. While I am enjoying moving forward and away from where I lived, I am actually missing the Christmas dinner at various restaurants I had the last few years with my friends in Corpus Christi. I miss Taz and her laughter and jokes. I miss her a lot, but this time of year especially. I miss seeing the crafts TC created for her friends over the year. She was so creative and talented. There was always something special about the two hours we spent at our yearly dinner.

This year is a different year and while I won't have a tree this year I have so many blessings in my life to be thankful for. I am enjoying my new friends I am making and that is a Christmas blessing all in itself.

This will be the first year in many years I have been able to spend Christmas Day with relatives. I am excited about being able to spend the afternoon with a relative I care much for and the rest of her family. I will be spending the morning with my girlfriend and then head on over the bridge. I have not invited her to go with me and feel a bit selfish about it, but I really need to be able to do this on my own. Don't know why really, but it is important to me.

I have been looking over the year at many blessings. It was a pretty rocky year in some ways, but it held so many gifts... Friends who loved me enough to help me pack and get this far east on the Gulf Coast... Renewed hope that my right arm can be fixed... And gratefulness that my left arm is now pain free for the most part and almost totally functional. I have a church I love very much and a congregation within that church that has embraced my transition down here. I have my new home and am looking forward to working on it. While my belongings are scattered hither here and yen right now, I am grateful I have a place to scatter them.

While I did not put up a tree, I have hundreds of southern pines surrounding me and that is gift enough. I still have to finish my Christmas shopping and will go sometime this afternoon.

Well I have to go to Daphne today and do my pre-admission for my surgery on January 5th. So I may add to this sometime later tonight... Perhaps add to why I titled this The Christmas Spirit. I guess I don't need a reason, do I? LOL This is my blog. :-D

More Later...

Here it is about 1 AM in Bon Secour, Alabama. So beautiful here; Quiet and serene. I woke up because of the racoons outside. I have purchased property, but it needs much work on the floors. The good news is I am house sitting while I work on my property. I am really enjoying house sitting in Bon Secour. I am out in the country... Far enough out the Postal Service does not come here. I am staying in the kewlest house. It was originally designed by one of my friends. More nooks and cranny's than the law allows. There are so many different types of birds here. So much color and variety.

The people who own this house also sold me my house. They have given me all they chose not to take with them. It has been like going on a treasure hunt while packing down their home to prepare it for going on the market. Everything from old antique trunks to antique dressers, to old unusual pictures. It has been such fun. I have enjoyed seeing the history of this dynamic couple. The irony is the things that have been left for me are exactly the type of things I enjoy but never could afford. I enjoy old and I enjoy funk. They were a bit of both. One of them told me they don't have any bad memories in living in this home for the 19 years they were here. I can feel the love that was held in this home for so many years. It is a great feeling.

The hard part to take is the reason they were leaving is one has Huntington's Disease, which is a combination of altzeimers and parkinson's disease. They consolidated and moved to the Tennesee Ridge to enjoy the remaining time they will have together. They were together since the youngest was 19 and she is 52 now. Should any of us be so lucky to be with someone with so much love and dedication.

While being here I have come to appreciate birds, as there are many bird feeders that I keep filled with food. I am blessed with seeing red Cardinals, finches, and birds I have no clue what they are. Additionally I have come to love the wild cats they could not take with them. I am going to catch them and take them to my property when I move in so I can continue to care for them.

This home has a unique layout. There is a loft upstairs with two bedroom. Downstairs there are rooms in the most unusual places. It is somewhat like a maze. I love and appreciate its uniqueness. There are out building that also contain little bits of this and little bits of that.

The neat thing about the things they gave me is it is like having a part of them still in my life even though they have moved away. The abundance that I cannot use I will share with others who will appreciate them.


Now about my new house. I am still grateful... I will get pictures when I go up. The floors need replaced and joist repairs must be done. The good thing is it is a block home and the interior walls are fine. I have to remind myself the materials are less than two or three housepayments for most people. Additionally I have to remind myself to be patient. When all is said and done my housepayments will be what I paid for housepayments in the early 70's. I also am learning to reach out and ask for help to get things done. I can actually picture my newfound furnishings in this home.

Well there are a couple of more things about my house. I have crayfish mounds in my yard. Guess I won't go hungry and guess I will have lots of bait. The house was built on top of a natural underground spring. At first it concerned me, but I found that there are ways to keep the moisture where it belongs because it is a block house. About half way down my property line I have a creek as well. You cannot see it very well as there is so much in the way of trees and folage. There are also berry trees. I think blackberries or blueberries, but I need to find out which.

The other thing is there are many pockets of clay, so I will have plenty of clay for my potters wheel. I have to say in spite of the complications and the fact I must be patient this sure will beat paying rent, having to move when rents go up or the building sells, or being around the element in rentals I can afford. I also appreciate the fact that I will be able to have livestock and critters.

Well it is off to bed for me. I guess mostly this post is about being grateful for all the gifts God has given me.

Well I finally did it!!! I have purchased a two bedroom block house that is a fixer upper. It is on 3.6 acres in Northern Baldwin County in Alabama. When I asked God to provide me with property I could afford I forgot to specify location. The house has a lot of potential and I am excited about the acreage. There is a creek running through the property and it is loaded with pine trees and oak. The property longates rather than runs deep. This area is not zoned, so I will have a lot of latitude towards how I use it. I will be able to do my pottery and grow as needed.

My wish at this point is that my upcoming surgery will be successful with a quick recovery time so that I may work quickly at fixing it up. How I am going to finance this is beyond me, but I will take it a step at a time. God has provided me living space that is mine and I am sure God has no intentions of letting me down now.

Well off to bed for me as we go hang new doors tomorrow. That and fix the floor and I will be able to move in while I do the rest. 90% of what needs to be done is a good old cleaning and cosmetic.