Another Year Gone By

Another year gone by...

Current mood:nostalgic

Here it is, almost September again, and about 4 days away from the ol b-day. This has got me thinking back over the last couple of years. Saturday, I put my earring in. Lori had mentioned I dont wear it anymore. I had thought the piercing had closed, because I have not worn any jewelry since my accident. She went and got it and put it back in, and that made me think of all of the things that have happened since last I wore it.

I have been blogging for one year this month. My first blog was in September of 2005. Many of you reading blogs at MySpace may not realize there is a button to the left that says "Older and Newer" and that when you hit the end of a blog, there may be older posts lurking. I have 4 pages of content in my blog.

Back in the 90s, I kept journals for several years. I am not sure why I quit, but I did. I have them tucked away...about 5 years of daily handwritten ramblings. I may have to transcribe them to the pc someday. I used to post about what was happening in my life at a karaoke forum I haunted...and it is cool to read the archives and see the drama around the hurricanes, and the accidents, and the deaths... Kind of like an early attempt at blogging, since the public could post responses. I probably should archive them as well incase anything ever happens to their server.

Was looking at some of the old posts about taking care of my Mom and her inevitable demise. While I still think about her daily, I do not miss her suffering, and selfishly, the demands that her care placed on my brother, Lori and I. But I would do it all over again tomorrow if I had to . No complaints here, just observations.

Then there were the hurricanes. The current forecast has me waxing nostalgic over dealing with those things, especially in 2004 when we got the big whammy. I am not ready to face another major hurricane season, but if it comes I suppose I have no choice. Not much of a chicken little here...most of my preparation involved raising my insurance limits.

2004 would have been a good year to be blogging. This month will mark the two year anniversary of my accident. I have come a long way since then, both physically, mentally and financially. I had an amazingly fast recovery, but the full recuperation will take time, and is still ongoing. Still having good days and bad days, and I am sure that I will have lingering effects for the rest of my life.

Financially, it is a pretty hard blow to lose your income, maintain your current expenses, then add in all the medical expenses from the injuries. I managed to keep my head above water thanks to the generosity of my community...friends and strangers alike, who donated to my benefit fund. Now that I am getting on my feet, I find myself with a much more charitable nature. I see the point of helping when I can...that others may need what I have more than I do. It made a profound difference in my life, and I fully intend to pay forward all my contributions made to me 2 years ago. I understand the value of quiet, anonymous benevolence.

I work 6-7 days a week right now, merely because I can, and because the work is there. In my business, it can be feast or famine. All it takes is a change in the public favor, or for a venue to go out of business or change formats to cause you to lose a job. Fortunately things fell into place for me this year at the start with some better paying jobs, and all my days filled. I vowed to try to keep the pace for a year to get my debts in order. I had to do some financial juggling of my resources to make things happen, and now SunTrust has a very big hand held out to me monthly, but, I am aggressively taking care of it, putting every penny I make toward my problem this year. This is my rainy day plan. This way if something comes up in the near future affecting my income, I wont have any pressure immediately. AND, if all goes as planned, maybe next year I can schedule a day off, and the year after that, actually work a shorter work week and smell the roses a bit.

Lots of other personal changes this year, as well as changes involving those around me...friends, family, pets... My little puppy has turned into a lovable moose, lol, my other dog is showing more signs of her age and I think about her emminent passing. She is the Lulu to my Sidney Poitier. Her and I have come a long way, and I am looking forward to getting a similar result from Foster. He is already getting a little more obedient, and I take him outside off the leash. Will look forward to maybe walking him off the leash one day, like I do with Tiny. She was wilder than he was at the start so there is hope.

Samantha's 9 month old is a frequent lodger at the homestead. (I am reluctant to use the g-word...grandfather? LOL!) I am not a big fan of kids, but I will concede that if you had to have one, he is a pretty good specimen. There, how is that for antiseptic praise, LOL!!! No really, he is pretty cool...

Well, I could keep going on, but I think I will save it for another day. Lets see what another year brings in this life. Still feel and look younger than my age, although I have a grey stain on my soul patch that I cant seem to wash out, and Lori loves...I just tell everyone it is dry milk.

Best to you all...